Season Review: Regular Old Bogan Season One

So, turns out Australia makes more animation than just Yolo Crystal Fantasy! And just like that show, it looks like crap, though probably not on purpose this time. Regular Old Bogan comes to us from the land down under, having aired over there on TV in late 2020 and now being available to us in the states for us to enjoy, following the misadventures of the Stubbs family dealing with what I have to assume are relatable problems for Australians other than running out of vegemite or fighting swarms of giant spiders and lizards. It’s always neat to see animation from other countries since it gives me a chance to see what could be unique and interesting styles form in a medium that can sometimes blend together if there aren’t enough new styles and perspectives. Take a look at “Ruben Brandt, Collector”, a 2018 Hungarian animated film that is bonkers and bizarre in all the best ways that you just aren’t going to get from typical American animation. Therefore it tracks that Australia taking a stab at this could be a sign of a budding signature style that might help breathe new life into other properties if done right.

Truly a shame we aren’t going to get that from Regular Old Bogan because it looks like utterly lazy shit. Look, I understand that animation is a very complicated and difficult process, so not everything is going to look great, nor does it necessarily need to, but even with the most cost cutting western shows on Adult Swim, the character models look like they can face other directions than STARING RIGHT INTO THE CAMERA. There are so many scenes that are just characters giving dead eyed stares directly at the screen, even when the scene itself is characters talking to each other but one is turning their back to the other, or more often that two sets of characters cut between one direct close up to another direct close up. If that didn’t make it clear this was on a shoe string budget, then the walking “animation” should be. Also, it’s apparently billed as Australia’s “answer to South Park” (which we do not need more), I assume because of all the profanity, but it’s really just a lot of Family Guy clone tropes that got old in 2007 with a dash of Bob’s Burgers (which we also don’t need more of). Wendy is a more angry Lois Griffin, Toby is a slightly older Steve Smith, Mary is a less subtle Louise Belcher, and Gavin is just…an angry Australian man.

With only six episodes out currently, there is always room for potential growth for Regular Old Bogan. First seasons are often rough and this show seems to be having a pretty damn rough one. It certainly didn’t help that it decided to have an episode attempting to satirize a global pandemic by portraying it as a “man flu” made by women to make men have periods…and that episode came out in 2020. But yeah, maybe if they’re given the chance, we can start to see some improvement, but based on what we have so far, I would say give this a pass. Which will actually be pretty easy since this is only available internationally on Tubi, which I doubt most people know exist. So, in summation, better luck next time Australia.