I confess; I have a weakness for animated shows. I've been in love with the Simpsons since I first "discovered them" in syndication several years ago. I'm a big fan of Futurama, also created by Matt Groening. Back in the day, MTV's "Liquid Television" was *the* place to catch new, experimental animation (it's where both Beavis & Butthead and Aeon Flux got their start - both shows I *love.*). Ren & Stimpy, Pinky & the Brain, the Tick...I've been devoted to them all at one point or another.
And I've just discovered a new love. The Oblongs, created by Angus Oblong, airing on Adult Swim and TBS. It's actually in syndication, since it originally aired in 2001 and lasted only 13 episodes. But this show has got to be the most radical, subversive thing I have *ever* seen.
Just a quick summary: the Oblongs are a family of variously-mutated people living in Hill Valley. The dad, an armless-and-legless torso named, hilariously enough, Bob, is the button-down, pipe-smoking dad straight out of the 1950's. Pickles, the tall matriarch, chain smokes and drinks. But that doesn't make her a bad mother. The kids are Biff & Chip, conjoined twins; Milo, the bald middle child with every known childhood disorder; and Beth, the cute-as-a-button 4-year-old with an enormous growth sticking out of her head.
The Oblongs live in the Valley - the toxic, polluted wasteland where all the poor people live. Up above them and the cloud of smog, the Hill folk are surrounded by pristine, manicured lawns, live in big houses, and all look exactly alike.
It is in this setting - a microcosm of modern America - that the issues of class are confronted head-on. On the surface, it's just a strangely-morbid sitcom about a mutant family. But barely scratch the surface and you see laid bare the Big American Lie: namely, that we have no classes and everyone can attain the American dream if we just work hard and try hard enough. No other show (that I'm aware of) deals with economic class issues in such a frank, honest, in-your-face way.
I'll spare you my full sociological analysis of the show (since I want to save it for Ms. Magazine), but for more info you can check out the creator's site: www.angusoblong.net/theoblongs.html , or for more in-depth treatment of the characters and history of the show, the Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oblongs . And, of course, you can catch the show yourself on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim at 10:00 CST (opposite another fave, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). The show also airs on TBS on Saturdays, between 2 and 5 am.