Korgoth of Barbaria

I've been a bit disappointed with [adult swim] lately. Very few of the new shows they've put on (Stroker & Hoop, Squilbillies, Perfect Hair Forever) have been very good, and the shows that I do love (Aqua Teen, Harvey Birdman, Venture Brothers) haven't aired new episodes in what seems like ages. Then I watched Korgoth of Barbaria, and I smiled again.

Korgoth is to He-Man and Conan what Venture Bros. is to Johnny Quest. It's a parody. It's a deconstruction. It's bloody, tittilating and gross. It also seems to have a deep foundation of reverence for the source material. The Korgoth pilot began with a device straight out of a Robert E. Howard pulp novel, the hero is poisoned and forced to work for the antidote, and ran with it. The inclusion of giant riding pigeons takes the cliched Giant Eagles from Lord of the Rings and craps all over them. Like all good [as] shows it takes a healthy dose of mature content but still keeps things light and fun. This episode was just a pilot, but it seems to have generated a lot of buzz since airing over the weekend, so I'm hopeful it will get picked up, because [adult swim] needs more top shelf stuff like this.