“Eggland” Pilot from Adult Swim now available

Adult Swim’s renaissance in the past decade should be studied. Always known for its absurdist, oddball humor, it came to a fever pitch in the 2010s as Rick and Morty was an international phenomenon and the block’s biggest blockbuster to date. Follow that up with Smiling Friends‘ massive success, and Adult Swim has its best reputation yet after some 2000s cancellations earned the company some bad faith. Anyone who has paid attention to Adult Swim’s YouTube channel may have noticed a new pilot that aired out of nowhere on August 3rd. It’s called Eggland and it’s spearheaded by comedian Connor O’Malley.

Immediately recognizable by its mystifying animation style where everything seems to jiggle and the grotesque becomes the norm, Eggland is so visually captivating that it’s hard to look away. Its subject matter hones in on Baby Boomer Americans, and while anyone familiar with how these individuals act and interact already knows how these people operate, Eggland captures their mannerisms and short fuses so well that laughs are less forced and more natural. Think King of the Hill, except the main characters are the butt of the joke and are made to be the punchline every time with their irrationality and stupor.

At a mere eighteen minutes that never overstays its welcome, I thoroughly enjoyed the pilot for Eggland, and think it has potential for greenlight based on early viewer reception. One commenter says, “This is the best Dementia Slice-of-Life anime I ever saw… Gimme 4 seasons,” whereas another feels, “Deeply unsettling. Close-up food-eating scenes pushing my limits […] This should get a season”. Adult Swim truly has a knack for being able to find the most out-of-left-field, insane show concepts and giving them a fair shake at getting picked up for their midnight shenanigans. Here’s hoping we see more of Eggland from Connor O’Malley soon.