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The latest Hulu original series The Awesomes has the pedigree to be great TV: created by *Saturday Night Live'*s Seth Meyers and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon writer Michael Shoemaker; voiced by some of *SNL'*s best talent; and it's an animated tale about a gang of misfit superheroes. Now, Hulu has finally released the two-part pilot of its latest original series and it's, well, pretty awesome.
The first two episodes, which went online today, are basically just introductions to the characters. First we meet Professor Doctor Awesome, the son of Mr. Awesome, who leads the super-team named (yup) The Awesomes. When Mr. Awesome decides to step down, his Professor Doctor (aka "Prock") offers to take over in his stead. Then everyone quits. In order to keep government funding for his superhero team, Prock (voiced by Meyers) has to go to the C-list of heroes to fill his ranks.
Prock ends up with a roster that includes the dumb-but-strong Muscleman (voiced by *The Mindy Project'*s Ike Barinholtz), Gadget Gal (SNL writer Paula Pell), magic-jewel-holding Impresario (the hilariously deadpan Kenan Thompson), an 11-year-old kid that can turn into a giant sumo wrestler named Sumo, a circus-family reject named Frantic (*SNL'*s Taran Killam), a electrical whiz named Hotwire (*Parks and Recreation'*s Rashida Jones), and the team's wise-ass assistant Concierge (SNL writer Emily Spivey). Oh, and there's also a "bad guy" named Dr. Malocchio, who's voiced by current WIRED cover man Bill Hader.
Based on the first two episodes, The Awesomes has a lot of potential. The writing is quick-witted, the animation is sharp and it's got rag-tag evil-fighters–who doesn't like that? At first blush, it also seems pretty self-aware; it knows the superhero sandbox it's playing in and manages to be reverent of it while also poking fun at it. For example, there's a hero who auditions for the Awesomes named The Advocate, whose power is to turn people temporarily gay. As soon as she takes the stage, Concierge immediately goes doe-eyed and says, "Mmm, I think she's interesting" to which Prock responds, "Oh please, she's tired. Next!" (Get it? Jokes about turning people gay are so 1990s, and worries about comics heroes turning kids gay are so 1950s.)
The show also employs one of *30 Rock'*s greatest pay-the-bills tricks: Adding product placement by making jokes out of the fact that the show is doing product placement. Where 30 Rock had "We all love Snapple—Lord knows I do," The Awesomes brings in Jack Link's jerky for a fourth-wall-breaking scene where the characters pretend to do an ad–while actually doing an ad. Online, and particularly on Hulu, where the commercial/advertising structure is a bit different, it's a smart move to make. And if it keeps the show going, it might just save the day.
Check out the first two episodes of The Awesomes—complete with well-placed Kick-Ass 2 commercials—below.
