Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Farzar’ On Netflix, A Raunchy Sci-Fi Tale From The Creators Of ‘Brickleberry’ And ‘Paradise PD’

Roger Black and Waco O’Guin have created an animation empire based on having people drop f-bombs and genital-based jokes in different environments. After staying earthbound in Brickleberry and Paradise PD, they’ve taken their “style” and applied it to science fiction.

FARZAR: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We see the planet Farzar. A narrator says “Farzar was a peaceful planet, until the evil aliens invaded. But they were fought back by Renzo (Lance Riddick), the czar of Farzar.”

The Gist: The person telling that story, even the part where he talks about facing his archenemy Bazarack (Dana Snyder) and giving him a violent catheterization? Renzo himself, to a bored class of students, one of whom wonders if this is an episode of Futurama or Rick And Morty. “My answer is shut the fuck up,” he yells to the kid as he flies through the wall on a hovering Jet Ski.

Renzo’s life isn’t as glamorous as he makes it out to be. He’s married to the much older Queen Flammy (Grey DeLisle), who demands sex at least once or twice per week (lets just say he has to put out a fire down there after doing the deed), and their son Fichael (Snyder) is basically a kidult who wants to be a general. But for his 30th birthday Renzo finally gives him a task force to lead, called the S.H.A.T. Squad.

In the squad is the human-turned-robot Scootie (Jerry Minor) who snorts cute fluffy drug animals and still has his flesh-and-blood manhood; conjoined twins Mal and Val Skullcruncher (Kari Wahlgren), one of whom is an embittered warrior, the other a preschool teacher; Barry Barris (David Kaye), a top scientist with a multitude of personal problems; and Billy (Snyder), a Russian-accented creature Barry made from spare human and animal parts who whacks off when he feels any strong emotions.

After finding out that he’s never left the bubble of the humans’ gleaming city, Fichael takes his squad outside the bubble to face Bazarack, but when they get there, he finds out something about the “alien invasion” and his father’s role in it that’s surprising and more than a bit disturbing.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Farzar is by Roger Black and Waco O’Guin, the creators of Brickleberry and Paradise PD, so expect more of the same emphasis on f-bombs and gross bodily function humor here.

Our Take: Just like they did with Paradise PD, Black and O’Guin somehow manage to bury the decent story that drives Farzar under an avalanche of “fucks” and genital jokes.

Even though we didn’t laugh once during the first episode, we could recognize that the story that the creators put together could stand on its own; when Fichael finds out that the humans, including his dad Renzo, were the evil invaders who played volleyball with the natives’ heads, his whole view of his existence changes.

With a different creative team — like the ones responsible for the aforementioned Futurama and Rick And Morty — that story would get room to breathe and explore, with sight gags and wordplay mixed in with real character-driven humor. But we just don’t think Black and O’Guin are capable of that. They have seemed to follow the Seth MacFarlane formula of piling gags upon gags upon gags, then layering on a thick icing of dick and pussy jokes. \

Do we learn about the characters at all in the first episode? A little. We actually liked the scene where Scootie is laying on a pile of crushed Snuffle Snacks high as a kite while the rest of the group is being swallowed by a multi-tentacled monster. If there were more sight gags like that, ones that are built from something already established about a character, Farzar would be a whole lot better than it is.

Sex and Skin: We did mention Renzo having to put out a fire after having sex with Queen Flammy, right? And that’s one of the tamer sex-related gags in the episode.

Parting Shot: Scootie is back in the city and says, “I did it! I made it back without losing my last human part!” That joy doesn’t last long.

Sleeper Star: Snyder’s a versatile voice actor, as we have seen over his career, but his Billy Eichner-meets-Rip Taylor take on Bazarack is one of his best roles, mainly because he tries to make Bazarack as unintimidating as possible.

Most Pilot-y Line: There’s so many of them. Maybe it’s the student of Val’s who keeps calling her the c-word.

Our Call: SKIP IT. Farzar could be a good show, but unless you’re a big fan of dick jokes — and we know you’re out there! — you’re not going to find a lot to laugh at with this show.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.