Spooks

***Spooks*** is an American adult animated horror comedy series which first premiered on SPEED on September 19, 2000, created by Ralf Hat. The show follows a half dead individual, Aaron who lives in Houston, Texas with his best friend, the Grim Reaper and a silent angel. The three get involved in unsettling and bloodcurdling adventures as they fight demons who threaten the planet while attempting to fit in with the mortal world.

Currently having thirteen seasons, with ten episodes in each (149 episodes), Spooks is built up into story arcs which are actually serious and disturbing compared to other episodes outside the arcs, which are more comedic.

First conceived in 1997, Ralf Hat originally pitched the 16 minute pilot, *Death* to air on SpikeTV, but to some causalities, the series was given a pink-slip. It finally aired on SPEED, making it the first and longest running SPEED original series.

Spooks received a generally positive reception from critics, who praise the shows dark humor and atmosphere as well as the characters and storyline. IGN ranked the show #42 on the Top 100 Animated Series. Because of the popularity, Ralf Hat announced a feature film based on the show is currently in production.

## Production

The series pilot (which was shown on SpikeTV in 1999) was a main step up for the show. Originally, characters had different names, the animation was quite cheaper, and the jokes and gags were often random and just plain random. When SPEED picked the series up for a first season, the creators redesigned most of the plots and characters, making the show more serious than random.

The idea of making the show have arcs were thought of earlier before production of the first season. 46 out of the 149 episodes of the show are out-of-arc episodes, meaning they do not belong in any arc but are more seen as comical and irregular towards the rest of the series dark and cryptic atmosphere.

## Characters

### Main characters

* **Aaron**: Aaron is the main protagonist of the show. Aaron is a soft hearted, cowardly, and easily manipulated half spirit. His life was egregious and full of depression which led to his suicide. After his death, he was recruited to be the apprentice of the death reaper (Grimm Mortem), and while half of his soul is in an eternal Purgatory, the other half is permitted to help Grimm Mortem on his missions to defeat the demons who enter the Earthly realm in order to reverse his punishment of eternal damnation.
* **Grimm Mortem**: An easily irked cynical individual, the three hundredth death reaper who holds the passage of life and death in the mortal and spirit world. When he's not doing his job, Grimm is seen as a laidback alcoholic with a rude pessimistic personality. Grimm is currently living with his annoying family, and showing a hatred towards the planet, making himself an antihero in the show.
* **Stephen**:

### Recurring

* **Joseph Norton**
* **Marry Norton**
* **Kevin Norton**
* **Kim Norton**
* **Jeremy Mo. Lester**

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## Episodes

* *Main article(s): List of Spooks episodes*

## Trivia

* Spooks is the first series created by Hat to receive the TV-MA rating in the United States.
* Many influences on the shows graphic violence came from the lyrical imagery of many songs of different metal bands.

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## Film

In 2014, a television film based on Spooks, entitled: *Spooks: Purgatorio* which followed the *Ghoul arc* aired, containing the TV-MA-SV rating. It received a positive reception and was watched by 3.20 million American viewers on its premiere date.

On October 2014, because of the popularity, Ralf Hat announced a feature film based on the show is currently in production. In 2016 Hat later stated that production of the upcoming film is finished, and that the trailer would be shown in January 2017.

## Reception

Spooks is known to be a favorable adult animated series by many. Critics have been praising the shows story arcs, strangeness, and odd atmosphere, while some have criticized the wide use of violence in the show, which may be too distracting. By the start of the first season, ratings have ranged from 0.60 to 0.90 million American viewers, but by the start of the second season, the series ranged from 1.0 to 3.5 million American viewers. IGN ranked the show #42 on the Top 100 Animated Series, admiring the writing, characters, and edginess throughout.

On the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Spooks currently has a 8.0 and a 9.2 on TV.com.

### Controversy

Certain episodes of the show have been involved in numerous controversies. In fact, many countries have banned the series due to it's content and dark humor, which may be unsettling to many of the viewers.

Spooks is filled with violence, sexuality, profanity, and raunchy shocking humor, like other of Hat's shows (Kitchen for example). Its subject matter has made the show infamously throughout.