After 20 years on the air,Robot Chickenis finding new life as it changes its release format, which Seth Green and Matt Senreich have good reason for. The Emmy-winning Adult Swim series created by the duo, who also voice a good majority of its characters, is a stop-motion-animated comedy, best known for utilizing various action figures and claymation figures for its sketches, which generally last a few minutes a piece.Robot Chickenis also a mix of original sketches and parodies of popular movies and shows, ranging fromScooby-DootoTransformers.
Having done so since the show’s run,Robot Chickenhas also branched out with half-hour specials, particularlytheDC ComicsandStar Warsepisodes, and is back with a new one in the form of theSelf-Discovery Special. Coming out on July 20, the new special sets its sights on the world of reality TV, poking fun at everything fromNaked and Afraidto90 Day Fiancé, all while surrounded by an arc of The Nerd discovering a sentient growth on his body. TheSelf-Discovery Specialalso features a range of major guest stars, including Freddie Prinze Jr., Katee Sackhoff and Guy Fieri, among others.
In honor of its premiere,ScreenRantinterviewed Seth Green and Matt Senreich to discussRobot Chicken: Self-Discovery Special. The creative duo reflected on their 20-year journey with the animated show, and why it feels as though no time has passed since it began, as well as their decision to shake up the release format for the show going forward, developing a whole special poking fun at reality TV, and casting for it. They also talk about the recent surprise event appearance ofStar Wars Detoursand Joker’s potentialMass Effect 5return.
Robot Chicken’s Format Change Gives Green & Senreich The Chance To “Put All Our Best Assets Forward”
They Also Have A Plan For How Often They’ll Release New Content
Though having previously produced the specials in conjunction with 20-episode, 15-minute seasons, Green revealed in a 2024 episode thatRobot Chickenwould shift its focus solely to specials in lieu of seasons going forward. When looking deeper as to why they’ve decided to go down this path, Green and Senreich acknowledged there were “a couple of things” prompting the decision,the first of which beingSouth Park’s similar shift"moving away from seasons and compressing their seasons", both from a production standpoint, and “how many episodes they’re gonna put on to whatever the external streaming service is”.
Green went on to acknowledge that “a lot has changed” in the world of ad-based television, thanks to the pandemic, as well as “the consumption of all of these streamers by other larger streamers” and “moving us more into a bundled cable model” in which the show can be better suited for ads. This, in turn, made them feelit was “less interesting and possible to produce 20 quarter hours of a show"as studios like Warner Bros. Discovery determine “what they need for the streaming curation, what they want to pay for quarterly” and “what they use to create shareholder confidence quarterly”.
We will have a better time making half-hour specials. They will go infinitely better.
Green went on to share that this new release model will now see them"make two [specials a year]”, with plans to then release at least oneRobot Chickenspecial a year, feeling “there’s a way to do it that makes so much more sense for everybody.” Senreich echoed his creative partner’s sentiments with the show’s new plans, feeling “our specials stand out” and help the show get better noticed by some, much like how “trying to find anSNLepisode is hard these days”, but that viewers “can find a sketch”.
“And it lets us put all our best assets, all our best elements in, because instead of trying to hire somebody for a 15-18-month term, we’re like, ‘I need you for two weeks. I need you for two weeks right here. I need you for one day.’,” Green explained. “Us being able to put the best money, put the best people into a special and make it perfect. It’s a better spend and it works. It works better for us at this moment than making 20 new quarter hours.”
Robot Chicken’s 20th Anniversary Is “A Little Too Surreal” For The Pair
The Show Also Has A Unique Downside For Green
While Adult Swim launched in 2001,Robot Chickenhas remained one of the titles synonymous with the late-night network, even after celebrating its 20th anniversary this past February. However, as the pair explained, they “don’t really think about it as any kind of milestone”, feeling that the anniversary “just sort of came up”,particularly given they had a bigger celebration for hitting the 200-episode mark.
“We were like, ‘Holy s–t,’ and we threw a big party, and had everybody get together, and we acknowledged the hundreds and hundreds of people that have worked on this show over the years, and we were like, ‘Yeah, high five!’,” Green shared. “And then we made another 60 episodes. [Laughs] So, this just sort of feels like it’s happening. I don’t really think about it as any kind of milestone. It’s a little too surreal.”
Senreich went on to share how they’ve gone through their time on the show, feeling “like spending time with your friends”,looking at their work as though “you’re playing with people that you love”. “We’ve been doing this for so long that we know everybody so well, that it’s just like, ‘another day at the office’ in a good way,” Senreich warmly shared. “You’re just enjoying it, the fact that we can say we’re still enjoying our job is a big deal. I think that is a fantastic way to look at it.”
Chuckling as he recognizes the “ridiculous” nature of their job and “the people we’ve employed throughout the years”, Green went on to share that the “only downside” of making the show is that, while “I love toys so much that we made a show about it”,Robot Chicken"has demystified the Grail concept" for him and made collecting them “not as important” as they used to be. The Emmy winner went on to explain that the access he has to figures “takes away a bit of the thrill of the hunt”.
“I can’t speak for Matt, but I’ve held every great [toy], like from a J-slot rocket-firing Boba Fett to, like, a two-up paint master of the original Snake Eyes,” Green shared. “All of it, I’m still in wonder about it, but I don’t have the same passion for collecting.”
Nonetheless, the pair took to getting a final humorous jab at each other’s toy collections, with Senreich revealing that Green “wants to actually get customized toys” designed after him,to which his co-creator laughs as he admits “you gotta have a hobby”.
Robot Chicken’s Self-Discovery Special Sent The Writers Room Down Some Interesting Reality TV Rabbit Holes
They Also Based Almost The Whole Special On 1 Network’s Programming
Across its 20-year history,Robot Chickenhas poked fun at the reality TV sphere in a variety of ways, though theSelf-Discovery Specialproves to be its most focused on the genre yet, coming during a new boom in how many different shows are on the air. When it came to developing the special, Green and Senreich revealed they set out by tasking their writers room with"let’s see everything that’s ever been on Discovery", with everyone quickly realizing “those titles jump at you so fast” and making everyone ask “What is this show?”.
From there, Green recalls that they “had several writers get hooked on several of these reality shows” that theRobot Chickenspecial parodied. Senreich reveals thatone of their writers even came back into the development process “being all knowledgeable about these shows"and noting elements “might not be like that show”, with Green echoing her telling the creators “This joke doesn’t work on this part” and expressing “Thank God you’re here!”.
As to the shows they ultimately landed on, Senreich and Green found some quickly spoke to them as knowing “there’s a lot to do with something like that”, withone notable example beingNaked and Afraid, which they parody with Batman and Catwoman. Green went on to share the bizarre diversity in the current reality TV landscape, includingDr. Pimple Popper, wondering “what does that say about us as a species” given it has “millions of viewers”. Senreich also laughed as he pondered whether it will be “the next generation of geekdom” in 20 years.
The Special’s Most Delicious Cameo Was Also One Of Its Most Fun Surprises
Robot Chicken’s Production Also Makes It Easier To Cast Big Guest Stars
As with much of the show’s past,Robot Chicken: Self-Discovery Specialfeatures a number of major cameos, one of the more notable being that ofGuy Fieri playing a fictionalized versionof himself on an episode ofDiners, Drive-Ins & Dives. Where the show would generally see such celebrity personalities voiced by Green or another series mainstay, Green and Senreich ultimately felt “this is the sketch where it would make sense to get the real person”,particularly since it “was less about taking the piss out of Guy Fieri than using everything you know about him to tell a different joke”.
“The whole premise of that sketch, and I don’t want to spoil it for people, is that he is true to this foodie lifestyle, and so unconcerned with the sourcing — not unconcerned, he’s not eating blood diamonds,” Green shared. “But the idea that he’s like, ‘This is great food, and we’re gonna eat it, I wanna see what this chef has to do. I’m gonna let him cook.'”
From there, the creative duo reached out to Fieri to see if he was interested, being happily surprised to find he was keen to work with them for the special and finding he “was amazing in the booth”, particularly as he “improved a bunch” during recording. Denoting that his job as “an on-camera performer” requires him to be such,Green went on to praise Fieri for having “a gift of gab” and “a personality that is incredibly charming”.
“No matter how produced it is, he’s got a personality that is incredibly charming, so he gave it to us, absolutely no-holds-barred, on the show,” Green expressed. “We were really impressed. He’s a true pleasure. I hope I get to hang out with him some other time in real life. It seems like he’d be a great hang.”
In addition to Fieri, the special also seesGreen reuniting with his live-actionScooby-Doostars Freddie Prinze Jr., Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard, who have made a handful of guest appearances in the past as Fred, Velma and Shaggy. However, with the trio remaining as busy as ever, particularly withPrinze Jr.’s return forI Know What You Did Last Summer, Cardellini’s work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe andNo Good Deed, and Lillard in theFive Nights at Freddy’sfranchise, it would be understandable if scheduling conflicts could have prevented their returns.
Even still, Green explains that the “upside about recordingRobot” is that, thanks to its elongated production cycle, vocal sessions “don’t have to happen at the same time”, recognizing back inRobot Chickenseason 1 that “S–t, we can get people anywhere” as longactors have “the correct mic in the correct place” as well as “a little bit of sound baffling”. The true test of getting people for guest appearances then comes down to whether they find the right place in their actors’ schedules to record.
“So, when Linda’s like, ‘These are my days I’m unavailable’, we look at our entire schedule, and we’ll temp stuff in, we’ll put things in places, just so the rest of the production can keep moving,” Green explained. “And then we will hold a spot, and we’re like, ‘This is our absolute last day.’ And we’ll even say that it’s the day before the absolute last day, so that when people are like, “I can do it, but I can’t do it until August 12,” we’re like, ‘[Looks at watch] Okay, okay.'”
There’s this playfulness between them all.
Though Green acknowledges that “none of these people get to record together”, Senreich actually finds it “so much fun” to watch his creative partner get to reunite withhisScooby-Dooco-stars,feeling it’s like “a little family when you watch them all together”. Green goes on to share that they would only offer someone an appearance if it wasn’t “something that would suck” and would never “bring people in for something unless they would have a good time”.
The Recent Star Wars Detours Recognition Was A Surprise To Green & Senreich
Green Also Has A Disappointing Update For Joker’s Mass Effect Future
Despite being on track to release back in 2012,Star Wars Detoursremains one of the more curious projectsin the franchise as it had 39 episodes produced, only to be shelved in the wake of Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. However, for the first time in over a decade, fans of the franchise got a surprising reminder of the show’s existence as the studio released a poster for it at this year’sStar WarsCelebration Japan, surprising many who thought it would never be discussed again by the studio.
When asked about the poster reveal, they both indicated they had been surprised by it,while Senreich indicated that Dave Filoni is the one to ask about its release, indicating the Lucasfilm Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer “put it as a nod to us”, which even took Green by surprise. However, Green went on to share that “everybody knows that that show exists”, but laments “you’ll probably never get to see it”.
We can all talk about what we made, and how it got folded into all the things that exist now.
Looking to both the past and future, Green was asked about the prospect of returning as Joker forthe in-developmentMass Effect 5, particularly given the character was still alive at the end of the original trilogy and Liara was seen in the sole teaser for the new game. Unfortunately,the franchise vet revealed “there’s no plans for that currently”, but also remained divided on the possibility of coming back, feeling he is “wholly satisfied with what I was able to contribute” to the series.
Nonetheless, Green expressed that “I really love that role”, describing Joker as being “one of the coolest and more significant things” he’s done in his career, particularly givenhe had been “offered a bunch of different games” prior to the originalMass Effect, but was reluctant given “it’s hard work”.
“You wind up doing, like, tens of hours of recording over a year of time,” Green explained. “And you can hear it, man, my voice, I suffer. But I wanted to do that game, because it was the first game that was going to carry a reputation throughout the game, and through the entirety of their series. And I like the idea of establishing a character, being able to establish a character that other characters would react to based on what they had done.”
Having recognized it being “a massive, huge thing” at the time, Green went on to celebrate how theMass Effectfranchise “went on to be such a significant beach to all the misfits and weirdos that felt like they couldn’t have a squad”. With this leading to him having “an incredibly long and intimate relationship with 1000s of people I’ve never met”,Green found joy in “getting to meet people who have gone on that ride”, and being “open to exploring” any further story for Joker.
TheRobot Chicken: Self-Discovery Specialpremieres on Sunday, July 20 at 11:30 p.m. EST and will begin streaming on Max the next day.
Robot Chicken
Cast
In this stop-motion animated adult comedy show, a variety of original characters, pop culture icons, and notable real-life figures perform a variety of comedy sketches. At the heart of it all is Robot Chicken, a cyborg chicken reanimated by the fittingly-named Mad Scientist.
