Season Review: Golan the Insatiable Season Two

It’s almost never that you see animated TV shows get a reboot, unless if you are a comic book series of some sort. So, take Golan the Insatiable, an animated comedy that already aired six episodes on FOX’s Animation Domination Hi-Def lineup and ten pickup another season to air on FOX’s Sunday Night lineup right after all reruns. Retool pretty much the entire cast, get rid of the father, and BOOM, now you’re on prime-time.

A LOT could have been fucked over on this show that could have dispelled fans both young and old. Thankfully, Golan the Insatiable proves to be a serviceable show that could (and should) lead a new crop of animated comedies that would air in the summer instead of just reruns. With no more Rich Beekler, it was all on Golan to act as a sort of father figure to a house ran by a single mother of two. This could have been suicide for the show, because Golan was re-cast, with show creator Josh Miller stepping down in favor of the way more talented Rob Riggle. Because of these two moves, all eyes are on Golan to be the star of the show, and it works. This time around, Golan takes on a more Homer Simpsons/Peter Griffin motif, but with magic powers and way more violent tendencies. Mary Mack was supplanted by Aubrey Plaza as the voice of ‘Dylan’, and I gotta tell ya, if you blindfolded me, I would have no idea you had changed the voices.

The funniest character of the series may very well be Maria Bamford’s ”Carole Beeker”. Along with Rachel Butera and Keith Knudsen, Maria is one of the few holdovers from the original series. However, Maria’s the only one who really had to pivot her character, going from the typical housewife role from Season One, to that of a single mother on the prowl for a piece of meat.  As a result, Carole is more than capable of helping take Golan from a 12-minute show to that of your standard 30-minute fare because she’s funny, interesting, and helps ground a show entrenched in fantastical fervor.

At its core, Golan the Insatiable is a buddy comedy crossed with Superjail!, and that hasn’t changed from the first season. Because of that, fans of the first season should be happy. We get to sit back and relax as Dylan and Golan try to take over a small-town in Minnesota in hysterical fashion. For lack of a better comparison, Golan the Insatiable is FOX’s answer to Adult Swim’s Superjail! in that when the super-charged violence gets turned up, the hilarity ensues.

A major…and I mean MAJOR setback for Golan the Insatiable…is the marketing department. For a lot of the same reasons why the Animation Hi-Def lineup didn’t work on FOX, the network’s marketing department was nowhere to be seen in promoting this series. I didn’t see ONE promo on television on the show, nor did I see any sort of advertising campaign take part. Heck, why not just air reruns of Golan season one leading up to the premier of season two instead of reruns of Family Guy, The Simpsons, and others. The show needs WAY more support from FOX, because if Golan is successful, it’s a great litmus test to see if more cartoons could work in the Summer on FOX that aren’t reruns. And who doesn’t want that?