Season Review: TARANTULA Season One

 “Your TV doesn’t love you.  But I do.  I do.”

These are the offbeat lyrics from the surprisingly catchy theme song, sung in almost spoken-word fashion by Echo Johnson, the central character in TBS’s new animated, half-hour series, TARANTULA.  Creator, Carson Mell (Silicon Valley) and Executive Producers Danny McBride (Vice Principals) and David Gordon Green (PINEAPPLE EXPRESS) bring to life this new, binge-worthy (that’s a word now, right?) series that feels reminiscent of Cheers…if Cheers was populated with lowlifes, losers, and lost souls all living well below the poverty line.

Courtesy: TBS

The series focuses on Echo Johnson, the friendliest unlicensed tattoo artist you’ll ever meet, and the other residents of the Tierra Chula hotel; or as the guests commonly refer to it, the Tarantula.  Each week he finds himself recalling some mischievous misadventure involving one or more of the other colorful characters living at the Tarantula.  Those characters include Lucas, the fledgling science fiction writer who lives on the basement level below the hotel bar, The Brass Dragon.  His manuscripts are frequently rejected by publishers for being too racist, sexist, and altogether unpublishable.  There’s Booty, the Tarantula’s newest resident, a soft-spoken and emotional musician who bears a striking resemblance to an off-duty, blue-haired clown without any make-up.  There’s also Paja, a wannabe tough guy who secretly has a soft spot for teaching pottery to old ladies.  Then there’s Bess, an older woman with two daughters who are simply looking to start over.  And thanks to TBS, all ten episodes are immediately available on the TBS app or on TBS On Demand.  If you’re anything like me, odds are after the first episode you’ll be curious to watch more, and after the second episode, you’ll be hooked.

Tarantula has no shortage of outlandish storylines that are somehow made believable by Echo’s calming and typically monotone voice.  There’s the time Echo and Booty go on a quest to find and bring back a gigantic psychedelic mushroom but end up going on a mind-bending trip after making skin-to-mushroom contact.  Even in another episode, when Echo and Bess travel deep into the heart of homeless encampments looking for a fast food manager whose life Echo accidentally derailed, these storylines always feel completely normal for such a unique bunch of misfit characters.

As hilarious as the show is, there are plenty of times where episodes strike a heartfelt and dramatic, sometimes tragic tone.  In the season finale, for instance, the show finally explores Echo’s mysterious past, revealing the personal tragedies that robbed him of his family and his career.  And while the storylines are oftentimes nothing short of bizarre, the methodical pacing of each episode, combined with the somewhat muted energy of Echo, tonally they create a show that makes us feel comfortable.  The show often feels like that moment when Mr. Rogers comes home and changes out of his work jacket and loafers, and into his cardigan and sneakers.  As a matter of fact, there’s even a striking resemblance in the friendly tone and messaging of the Tarantula theme song and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood theme song.  No, seriously.

Courtesy: TBS

This concept originally began as a web-series before ultimately becoming the half-hour serial that TBS is giving us.  All in all, it took six years for Carson Mell to bring Tarantula to life, and it shows in the best way.  The world and its inhabitants feel fully developed and empathetic.  They invitingly draw you in and, before you know it, you feel like you belong there at the Tierra Chula and wouldn’t mind joining Echo for a Big Star beer at the Brass Dragon.  Credit TBS too for not only recognizing the potential in Tarantula as more than just a web-series but for also dumping all ten episodes on us at once.  While the show will also air weekly on TBS, being able to consume all the episodes at once gives this atypical animated series a solid shot at quickly finding and striking a chord with audiences, thus hopefully improving its chances at providing us with future seasons.

Your TV may not love you, but you may love your TV once you decide to throw a set of eyes on this show.

Score
9/10