Cult Corner: ‘Hot Streets’ Is The Most Bizarre Take On The Crime Genre You Will Ever See

When we talk about streaming culture, we’re usually enthusing about what’s new, but one of the best things about streaming is how it’s made old and obscure cult hits available to a new generation. Presenting Cult Corner: your weekly look into hidden gems and long-lost curiosities that you can find on streaming.

As is the case with most if not all of Adult Swim‘s shows, there’s a lot going on with Hot Streets. The animated comedy follows two FBI agents on a quest to take down as many bad guys as possible, but it’s also a family tale about an uncle and the niece under his care as well as story about a girl and her dog. That description doesn’t even account for the mutant brain people that run wild in this dimension or the giant dogs and people that can be ridden like horses. Hot Streets is a very weird show. However, underneath all of its oddities is a brand of dumb, largely inoffensive humor that it’s hard not to be delighted by.

The first time Hot Streets made me laugh out loud was during its 2016 pilot. FBI agents Mark Branski (J.D. Ryznar) and Donald French (Scott Chernoff) hop into their squad car to track down the latest case, and it’s only during the zoom out that it’s revealed both officers have their own steering wheels and are both driving the car. Oddly, that’s a good summation of Hot Streets charms as a show. Brian Wysol‘s series walks the line between being interesting sci-fi and one of the most intentionally dumb shows on the air.

It would make since Hot Streets would achieve that balance considering Wysol’s past as a former writer for Rick and Morty. Wysol’s former boss Justin Roiland even makes an appearance on the series, voicing the hapless and adorable dog Chubbie Weathers. But even without the show’s connection to Adult Swim’s most successful series, Hot Streets is a good addition to the brand. Though there is violence, the show strays away from the aggressive gore that defined such Adult Swim staples as Metalocalypse, SuperJail!, and Mr. Pickles. All three of those shows have proven in their own ways that aggressive violence can be incredibly funny, but a show that doesn’t solely depend on that trope is a nice change for the network.

Likewise, the show largely doesn’t rely on sexist jokes, something that the network has been criticized of in the past. There is a reoccurring joke where you can see Jen’s (Chelsea Kane) cleavage in almost every shot when she’s talking, but as a person with their own cleavage concerns, I found the sight gag to be more silly than demeaning. Jen is a character who is just as developed and important as her uncle, and it’s nice to see a female character be as apologetically ridiculous as Adult Swim’s many crazy, fairly dumb bros.

If you love adult animation and Adult Swim’s pointedly quirky sense of humor, check out Hot Streets. To its compliment, it would be difficult to find a dumber show on TV.

Stream Hot Streets on Adult Swim