Not Your Average Sex-Crazed Purple Alien

wp_chode_1024“Tripping the Rift” is not your normal animated show in the fact that it throws all convention, tact and subtlety out the window. Twice as outrageous as “South Park” and equally as obnoxious [in the best way possible] as “Code Monkeys,” the show has managed to garner a cult following. Its third season continues the show’s raunchiness and does so in grand fashion, as the collection of 13 episodes are some of the best in the series.

The first thing that this show has going for it is its gorgeous look. CGI animated, “Tripping the Rift,” is one of the best looking animated shows on television. However, while the show would still be funny if it was animated like every other cartoon, the CGI look allows for it to be as sexy and as close to erotic as it possibly can be. For example, Six, one of the main characters on the show, is well endowed in the chest area and throughout the show, her assets are moving and grooving like a pair of sambas at a Mexican wedding. Is it a huge selling point for the show? No. But it is fun to watch.

The fact that the show is set in space and has a futuristic aesthetic however definitely helps its appeal.

Continuing this process even more is the show’s story, or for lack of better words, its lack of a real one. Effectively satirizing everything from “Dukes of Hazzard” and “American Idol” to “Indiana Jones” and “Desperate Housewives,” the third season of “Tripping the Rift” is anything but original, but it’s still hilarious. This isn’t a knock on the concepts of the show’s creators Chris Moeller, Chuck Austen either. Borrowing even more from other shows the likes of “Star Trek” and “Battlestar Galactica” has allowed the show to quickly attract a fan base and create an animated sitcom that viewers would be comfortable with. Kicking up its sex appeal and laugh out loud hilarity in season three helps things a bit as well.

The end result is a winning formula with enough originality to cement its cult status.

With a great look and a fun atmosphere, the final piece of the puzzle for any animated sitcom is the voice acting. With an excellent character actor the likes of Stephen Root, who has appeared in everything from “True Blood” to “Office Space” and animated shows such as “American Dad” and “King of the Hill” playing main character Chode McBlob, “Tripping the Rift” has all the right pieces in place. Voice-acting veteran Maurice LaMarche, who is a staple in the industry, appearing regularly on “The Simpsons,” “The Critic,” “Futurama” and “Pinky and the Brain” plays Chode’s trusty robot sidekick Gus, who provides a bulk of the off-color humor. Together, they are solid one-two punch that bring the zany adventures in space to life.

Sometimes a show can manage to defy odds when it has enough going for it. That is easily the case with “Tripping the Rift,” as the show is clever enough to bring out the material it’s based upon, while being witty enough to effectively make it their own.

Crude at times and heart-stopping hilarious another, “Tripping the Rift” may still be under the radar when it comes to animated sitcoms, but that doesn’t mean it belongs to be.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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