What if, in one of those apocalyptic scenarios of the religious persuasion, instead of the world coming to an end when the gaping mouth of Hell opens up upon our world everything just kept ticking along like nothing happened? Or rather, not as if nothing happened, like Hell was just another country to be admitted to the United Nations whose citizens could come and go into other countries under normal immigration rules. In that case, inevitably demons and hellish monsters would integrate into society and, like any culture changes to accommodate the new customs immigrants bring with them, men, women, and demons would work alongside one another in a free society. This is the world as depicted in Ugly Americans, and the show manages to squeeze plenty of comedic value out of the premise in a tone that fans of Daria will find familiar.
Brought to life (or death, considering the characters) by rather stiff and mid-90s looking animation, Ugly Americans follows the misadventures of Mark Lilly (Matt Oberg) whose job involves acclimating monsters to life in New York City by making sure they have jobs and are integrating into society. He typically runs into a problem with one of these monsters in each episode, like when a huge blob eats everything and hangs out with mafiosos. However, his clients have help complicating Mark’s life since he lives with Randall (Kurt Metzger) a guy who decided to become a zombie to impress a girl (and now occasionally daydreams about eating Mark) and dates his demoness boss Callie (Natasha Leggero) who likes it rough and suffers from wild mood swings in between their sexual bouts. What Ugly Americans does well in its satirical take on New York is it never loses its grounding. It knows what the life of a 9 to 5 and overtime New York employee is like, it knows the city is overflowing with people, and it just writes demons into the mix naturally. For everyone who grew up watching classic monster-based horror movies, Ugly Americans has just the right comical slant.
Ugly Americans’s voice talent plays out strong. Matt Oberg genuinely sounds like the everyman and has hints of many other actors in his voice. The other standout cast member is Natasha Leggero whose comedic timing is spot on. Perhaps the most impressive part of it all is that Ugly Americans sports an entire cast of voice acting unknowns. Considering how common it is to see the same names over and over again in animated shows (though I’m admittedly a big fan of a good deal of those names), it’s interesting to see a show startup and then excel without any veterans.
In the grand scheme of animated comedy as it stands today, Ugly Americans comes like a breath of fresh air. It doesn’t have Seth MacFarlane’s stamp of pop culture riffing comedy all over it (like Family Guy and even The Simpsons does now – only because it changed itself to imitate) and it doesn’t attempt to push the envelope of political incorrectness. It’s a genuine animated sitcom, with demons and monsters. Television needs more animated shows like Ugly Americans right now, but until that happens try this and hope for a longer second season (which is currently set to be just as short), because 7 episode seasons are criminal when a show is this good.
DVD Bonus Features
The DVD includes episode audio commentaries, art galleries, and a few webisodes. However, the true extra in the set isn’t even on the DVD; it’s the color pamphlet insert titled “A Field Guide to Ugly Americans” with helpful “how to” tips someone living in the show’s monstrous New York might find valuable, like “How to Undergo a Proper Vampire Conversion” or “How to Handle a Wizard Labor Dispute”. It’s fun reading and a suitable supplement for the series.
This is easily one of the best new animated series to come along in a few years.
"Ugly Americans: Volume 1" is on sale December 31, 1969 and is not rated. Animation, Comedy. Directed by Devin Clark, Lucy Snyder. Written by David M. Stern, Aaron Blitzstein, Devin Clark. Starring Natasha Leggero, Matt Oberg, Kurt Metzger, Julie Klausner.
