Review: Maurice on Mars “The Drones of Mars”

Overview:

Maurice is a typical 20-something struggling artist working his minimum wage job at a coffee shop. Except, Maurice lives within a Martian utopian society isolated from Earth. The most outrageous part about Maurice is he seems to be the only one that remembers what life is like back on the human’s home planet. And once he spreads his radical Earth theory about war and conflict, the authorities of Mars want to implant him with a new memory inhibitor chip.

Our Take:

Comedy Central has surprised viewers before with hilarious and successful digital animated shorts. The series Loafy is a prime example of what can be accomplished by some comedians, talented animators, and a few minutes on Youtube. However, just because an animated series is backed by one of the biggest adult animation producers in the country does not mean instant success.

Regardless, Comedy Central hopes to strike gold once more with their latest release, Maurice on Mars. The three-episode series premiering on Youtube has the talent to make it another home run. The small series is written and created by one of the powerhouse comedy minds behind The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Tim Barnes. And on the screen, the show boasts name talent like Lori Beth Danberg (All That) and Dwayne Kennedy (How High).

The first episode of Maurice on Mars was released on Friday, June 10th, with the subsequent episodes set to follow for the next two Fridays. These Youtube shorts rarely garner any promotion, but the release of Maurice on Mars was particularly quiet.

The episode introduces us to Maurice and his inconsequential job at Mars’ only coffee shop. Instead of being a laugh-out-loud animated short, the 4+-minute clip manages to overload us with backstory. Within the small episode, we discover what Maurice does, how he got on Mars, what makes him different, and why he hates his life. Beyond that, the few minutes manage to pack in further contexts, like what is happening on Earth and what separates this Mars colony from the home world.

Unfortunately, this heavy dose of exposition takes away from the series’ potential. If the run-time of the complete three-episode series is going to be at most 15-minutes, we really don’t care about the main character’s life story. Instead of info-dropping the entire concept of the show, Maurice on Mars could have put some energy into making a comedy.

So, the first episode is a bust, a significant bust. However, there is potential. Maurice is a likeable character, especially if he will be continuing his pattern of dissing Earth. Additionally, the series features a lovable robot coffee shop owner and a bunch of hippy-esque college students. The chance of hilarious social commentary is enough to get us to watch the final two parts of this series.

Hopefully, the series can lay down its need to explain itself and put the focus on entertaining audiences. There is no point in producing the first few minutes of a pilot for a full-blown series if you only have a few minutes to capture a crowd. Either way, we will be keeping a watch on Maurice on Mars.