Caila Tess

The end of Aqua Teen Hunger Force marks the end of an era for TV animation

Aqua Teen Hunger Force was either the dumbest show ever made by smart people, or the smartest show made by dummies—who could tell? Even if later seasons may have waned, as the surreal lunacy of the early years (Ol’ Drippy!) was gradually replaced by a MacFarlane-esque willingness to resort to gross-out gags and puerile offensiveness (Dr. Wongburger, ugh), it never got bad in the same way as, say, certain later seasons of The Simpsons. The chemistry between Snyder, Willis, and Means never diminished, and really, could any show whose main appeal lay in its cultivated stupidity ever err on the side of too much dumb? But it was lapped by generations of strange shows for whom Aqua Teen Hunger Force was itself an influence, and for whom the original excitement of Coast To Coast was, at best, a distant memory.

Try as they may, however, the absurd high concept of talking fast-food people has never been matched. Perhaps it never will be. As Frylock, Master Shake, and Meatwad ride off into the sunset one last time (the show has been canceled before, after all, we’ll see if it sticks), they leave a TV landscape that was, if not directly shaped, at least midwifed by their success. You can draw a direct line from The Simpsons, Coast To Coast, and the Aqua Teens through to Bob’s Burgers, Too Many Cooks, Archer, Adventure Time—and yes, everything Seth MacFarlane has ever done, for better or for worse.

“In terms of speed and the breadth of material now accessible to anyone in the world, this is really revolutionary,” says audio curator Greg Budney, describing a major milestone just achieved by the Macaulay Library archive at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All archived analog recordings in the collection, going back to 1929, have now been digitized and can be heard at www.MacaulayLibrary.org

“This is one of the greatest research and conservation resources at the Cornell Lab,” said Budney. “And through its digitization we’ve swung the doors open on it in a way that wasn’t possible 10 or 20 years ago.”

It took archivists a dozen years to complete the monumental task. The collection contains nearly 150,000 digital audio recordings equaling more than 10 terabytes of data with a total run time of 7,513 hours. About 9,000 species are represented. There’s an emphasis on birds, but the collection also includes sounds of whales, elephants, frogs, primates and more.

“Our audio collection is the largest and the oldest in the world,” explained Macaulay Library director Mike Webster. “Now, it’s also the most accessible. We’re working to improve search functions and create tools people can use to collect recordings and upload them directly to the archive. Our goal is to make the Macaulay Library as useful as possible for the broadest audience possible.”

The recordings are used by researchers studying many questions, as well as by birders trying to fine-tune their sound ID skills. The recordings are also used in museum exhibits, movies and commercial products such as smartphone apps.

“Now that we’ve digitized the previously archived analog recordings, the archival team is focusing on new material from amateur and professional recordists from around the world to really, truly build the collection,” Budney said. “Plus, it’s just plain fun to listen to these sounds. Have you heard the sound of a walrus underwater?  It’s an amazing sound.“ 

Sample some fascinating Macaulay Library sounds:

The Peabody award-winning sketch comedy series Key & Peele will be ending with this season’s finale. We’re sad to see the show go, but we’re excited to see what the duo does next. Check out our 2013 interview with the guys:

For Key And Peele, Biracial Roots Bestow Special Comedic ‘Power’

“I think the reason both of us became actors is because we did a fair amount of code-switching growing up, and still do.”

– Keegan-Michael Key

Fancy dress is called Cosplay

Carpe diem is known as YOLO

Legal highs are preferred over drugs

Instead of bringing something to a party you’re given a wi fi code

People wear sunglasses on the underground

Everyone has a damn tattoo of essentially cliched and meaningless crap

People play things online rather than just doing them in reality

No one owns any damn music

It does sort of annoy me when so many of us have been pushing for these characters when it WASN’T in vogue, and some creators act like they just now discovered that women characters can be more than girlfriends and hostages. 

Executive Editorial Assistant Connie Ni Chiu is currently obsessed with Annie Fadiman’s book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

I have always felt that the action most worth watching is not at the center of things but where edges meet. I like shorelines, weather fronts, international borders. There are interesting frictions and incongruities in these places, and often, if you stand at the point of tangency, you can see both sides better than if you were in the middle of either one. 

– The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Annie Fadiman