Exploding Kittens

Animated TV is in a strange place. The past few years have seen a huge boom in animated comedy shows geared to adults, be it {Solar Opposites}, {Harley Quinn}, {Big Mouth}, {The Great North}, {Disenchantment}, {Mulligan}, {Paradise PD}, {F is for Family}, and so forth, and this is without even talking about the often everlasting titans of the sector like {The Simpsons}, {Family Guy}, {Archer}, {South Park}, even {Rick and Morty}. The point is, we no longer look at animated comedy series as something unique, in fact they're a fad, and many of them are either forgettable or boring. It's actually this that drew me to Netflix's {Exploding Kittens}, well that and the fact that the show is actually an adaptation of a card game...

You may have played {Exploding Kittens} before (if you haven't, gather some friends and give it a go, you won't regret it) but if that isn't the case, worry not, this show has very little to do with that game at all. In fact, aside from the title card, the two main characters of Godcat and Devilcat, and the odd reference here and there, this is basically just a comedy series that explores what happens when God is sent to Earth and forced to live in the body of a chubby cat, all because he's been slacking on his usual immortal duties for the past few hundred years. There's no other significant tie-ins to the card game, and while that may be a good thing, it also pushes the series into familiar and forgettable territory.

Because while no one will doubt that {Exploding Kittens} is wonderfully and strikingly animated (as are most similar shows), has moments of comedic gold making you chuckle or even laugh out loud, and has some performances that are worth celebrating and highlighting, with Tom Ellis' Godcat definitely being the shining star here, {Exploding Kittens} also doesn't really do much to make it stand above many of the other competing shows, plenty of which have already been canned after one or two seasons.

This show doesn't have the raw and unhinged dark humour of {South Park}, the charm and character of {The Simpsons}, or the comedic timing of {Family Guy}. It's not a bad TV show in any sense, it just lacks oomph and that extra little bit of class to elevate it above the familiar and forgettable other animated comedies that seem to clog streamers these days. There are moments of brilliance in {Exploding Kittens}, moments that prove this show can go in interesting directions, but at the same time, there aren't enough of these to make me thrilled to continue watching.

With only nine 25-minute episodes to check out in the first season, you won't come away from your time with {Exploding Kittens} disappointed or frustrated with the time you gave it. But you probably won't feel any different to how you would after watching one of the few animated comedies I listed in the first paragraph. This is another cog in the animated comedy machine, there's not much else to say about {Exploding Kittens}.