Too Many Cooks (short)

Too Many Cooks

The main title screen, with a font similar to that of Full House[1]
Genre Dark comedy
Surreal humor
Created by Casper Kelly
Written by Casper Kelly
Directed by Casper Kelly
Starring
  • Ken DeLozier
  • William Tokarsky
  • Tara Ochs
  • Katie Adkins
Opening theme "Too Many Cooks", performed by Shawn Coleman, Cheryl Rogers, Michael Magno, and Patty Mack
Composer(s) Shawn Coleman
Michael Kohler
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s)
  • Alex Orr
  • Brandon Betts
  • Tony Holley (co-producer)
Cinematography Adam Pinney
Editor(s) Paul Painter
Running time 11 minutes
Production company(s) Williams Street
Release
Original network Adult Swim
Picture format 16:9 HDTV
Audio format Stereo
Original release October 28, 2014 (2014-10-28)
Chronology
Related shows Infomercials

"Too Many Cooks" is a surreal dark comedy short that originally aired as a special during Adult Swim's "infomercials" block on October 28, 2014, at 4:00 am Eastern Time.[2][3] It was created, written and directed by Casper Kelly, and produced by Williams Street. After its original airing, the piece became a viral video online and was repeated each night at midnight Eastern Time during the week of November 11, 2014.

Premise

The video begins as a parody of opening credits sequences of 1980s and 1990s American situation comedies, then television crime dramas, prime time soap operas, Saturday-morning cartoons, superhero live-action series, and science fiction television shows. In the middle of that sequence, it morphs into a surreal narrative that includes slasher film elements, in which many of the multitude of stock characters introduced in the opening credits are murdered, cooked, and eaten by a maniac with a machete. The opening credits sequence ends after about ten minutes and transitions into the "episode", with all the characters from the opening standing in the one house; the short ends roughly ten seconds later, cutting to closing credits before a single line of dialogue can be spoken.[4]

Development and production

According to Kelly, he conveyed the concept of the short to his Squidbillies writer-producer friend Jim Fortier, who in turn described it to Adult Swim executive Mike Lazzo, who loved the idea. The footage was filmed over a period of three days in October 2013 with a cast completely composed of extras from the Atlanta area.[5] Post-production took a year, with Kelly recruiting friends and co-workers to help with the process.[6]

While the video depicts the opening credits of a fictional television show, most of the cast members' real names were used.[5][7][8][9][10][11] According to Katie Adkins, actors were not presented with a clearly explained script, but rather coached on the go, in a somewhat nonchalant manner.[12]

Among the series openings parodied are those of Full House, Wonder Woman, The Brady Bunch, Dallas, Falcon Crest, ALF, G.I. JOE, Roseanne, Family Matters, T. J. Hooker, and the Law & Order franchise.[13] The short briefly mentions avant-garde film director Lars von Trier.[14]

Reception

Upon its release by a third party on YouTube, "Too Many Cooks" became a viral video,[15] with Rolling Stone calling it an "instant cult classic".[5] Director Rian Johnson said that, "no joke", "Too Many Cooks" should have been nominated for an Academy Award for best short.[16][17] Comedians including Penn Jillette, Simon Pegg, Zach Braff, and Richard Kelly tweeted their positive reactions to "Too Many Cooks".[18]

David Sims of The Atlantic wrote that "Too Many Cooks" relied on "the classic anti-comedy premise of taking so long with something that it goes from being funny, to being not very funny, to being boring, to suddenly becoming hilarious again. More than that, it's an excellent piece of non-narrative sketch comedy that sets out boundaries for its own weird reality and then goes about breaking them over and over again."[19] Dr. Julian Darius called it "a sublime postmodern masterpiece" and analyzed its metafictional aspects.[20]

CNN created a parody of the video in March 2015, using it to mock the number of potential candidates in the 2016 United States Presidential Election.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Donahue, Anne T (November 10, 2014). "Too Many Cooks: can you spot all the references to other TV shows?". The Guardian. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Infomercials - Too Many Cooks". Adult Swim. October 28, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Shawn Coleman [shawncoleman] (27 October 2014). "There's a new family on the block-- the PROGRAMMING block! TV! Too Many Cooks, tonight at 4am on @adultswim t.co/7T4wvXfVmm" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 November 2014 – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Reed, Ryan (November 7, 2014). "Watch Adult Swim's Demented, Surreal Sitcom Parody 'Too Many Cooks'". Rolling Stone.
  5. 1 2 3 Fear, David (November 7, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks' Creator Casper Kelly on the Making of an Instant Cult Classic". Rolling Stone.
  6. ↑ Ayers, Mike (November 7, 2014). "Inside Adult Swim's 'Too Many Cooks'". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. ↑ Snetiker, Marc (November 7, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks' creator tries to explain his awesomely bizarre Adult Swim short". Entertainment Weekly.
  8. ↑ Boon, John (November 7, 2014). "This Is the Most Insane Viral Video You'll Ever Watch". Entertainment Tonight.
  9. ↑ Fox, Jesse David (November 7, 2014). "Behind the Scenes of the 'Too Many Cooks' Video". New York Magazine / Vulture.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Kevin P (November 7, 2014). "Learn The Story Behind The Insane 'Too Many Cooks'". MTV News.
  11. ↑ Collins, Ben (November 7, 2014). "How the Bizarre Adult Swim 'Infomercial' Too Many Cooks Took Over the Internet". Esquire.
  12. ↑ Goldman, Eric (November 14, 2014). "Too Many Cooks' Katie Adkins on What It's Like When Your Wacky Short Film Goes Viral". IGN. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  13. ↑ Thielman, Sam (November 7, 2014). "Adult Swim's Warped Viral Sitcom Parody References a Stunning 30+ Shows and Movies". Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  14. ↑ Abramovitch, Seth (November 7, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks': See the Insane Viral Video Hollywood Is Buzzing About". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ Goldman, Eric (November 6, 2014). "Adult Swim's Too Many Cooks Takes Sitcom Parody to the Next Level". IGN.com.
  16. ↑ Patrick Kevin, Day (November 7, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks' takes social media by storm". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ↑ Abramovitch, Seth (November 7, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks': See the Insane Viral Video Hollywood Is Buzzing About". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ↑ Grinberg, Emmanuella (November 9, 2014). "This weekend's trending video: 'Too Many Cooks'". CNN. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  19. ↑ Sims, David (November 7, 2014). "The Less You Know About Too Many Cooks, The Better". The Atlantic.
  20. ↑ Daris, Julian (November 12, 2014). "'Too Many Cooks' is a Sublime Postmodern Masterpiece". Sequart Organization. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  21. ↑ Hartmann, Margaret (March 19, 2015). "CNN Made an Election 2016 Version of 'Too Many Cooks' for Some Reason". New York Magazine. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
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