How the hell are Mike Judge and Greg Daniels going to turn Exploding Kittens into a Netflix show?
And why are so many famous people, like Lucy Liu and Tom Ellis, in it?
Aux News Netflix
Here at The A.V. Club’s news section, we tend to veer wildly between “how is this going to be a movie?” and “sure, anything can be a movie,” as if we’re not actually making passionate statements one way or the other and are merely following a whim based on which perspective seems the easiest to write about. But if that were the case, it would mean we were just doing our best to cover the news in a fun and engaging way without really taking a stand on anything, rather than using our platform here to state opinions as facts, and that’s only true some of the time!
Anyway, Netflix is turning card game Exploding Kittens into an animated series, with help from producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels (a.k.a. the duo behind King Of The Hill, to say nothing of the notable things they’ve done separately). This is going to be one of those indignant “how is this going to be a movie?” news stories, even though we’re talking about a TV show, so we should say at this point that that information alone seems absurd. They made King Of The Hill! Now they’re making a cartoon about a card game!
But there’s more to this, courtesy of Netflix’s tweet announcing the show’s cast, which includes Lucy Liu, Abraham Lim, Ally Maki, Mark Porksch, Sasheer Zamata, and Tom Ellis. You probably know all of them, they’re pretty famous! Why are they making a cartoon based on a card game?
For those assuming this animated series will dig into the juicy lore of the Exploding Kittens brand, the game is a pretty straightforward take on UNO with very little juicy lore to speak of. You draw cards with goofy cat characters on them, hoping you don’t draw an exploding kitten card. If you do, you lose. Some of the cards let you avoid losing, some of them let you shuffle the deck, and some of them let you steal cards from other players. If you’re not familiar, you’re in luck: Netflix’s mobile app is getting an exclusive version of the game in May.
The goofy cat characters are obviously where this TV show is going to build its foundation, but there must be some aspect of the game itself as well, right? Otherwise it’s like making a game about Richard from Guess Who? but without any aspect of reducing people down to their physical characteristics. (Richard is the character who came up when we did a search for “Guess Who characters,” so we assume he has the same cultural relevance as the Exploding Kittens creations.)
Exploding Kittens will premiere on Netflix in 2023. If you’d like to try the game, just walk into a Target and start swinging your arms around. You’ll hit a copy eventually.
27 Comments
when i read the headline of this being adapted to screen i thought it was ridiculous but then i saw greg daniels and mike judge are producing so i’m a little interested. there’s also lucy liu.The show, which is executive produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels,
follows the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell as it reaches epic
proportions when both God and the Devil are sent to Earth – in the
bodies of chunky house cats.we’ll see how it goes lol.
That actually sounds like it could be interesting
Presumably they’ll use their abilities as writers to weave some stories to hang a bunch of jokes on, and actors signed on to the project because they like working?
Well now that’s just base speculation! It’s just as likely they’ll take the Netflix money, go on a cocaine binge and never be seen in public again! Just as likely!
Now that’s a movie and/or series I’d watch!
Hum a series in the style of Fear and Loathing starring Mike Judge and Greg Daniels?Pretty sure I can sell that to someone!
Or they’ll do something like Cocaine Bear and tag both bases.
This sounds like it makes a lot more sense than what I was thinking, which was basically just ‘Blow up kittens with dynamite’. Kittens are cheap, dynamite is cheap, combine them and you get Exploding Kittens.It’s probably not the kind of thing that Netflix would sign on for, though.
Mathew InmanThe OatmealCredit where credit is due.
The Batman landed on HBO Max today. Fans probably already know.I have read reviews both “Yay” and “Nay” and I’m not really a fan. But 15 minutes in, I’m very impressed. Reeves gets our attention right away and keeps it, and that isn’t as easy as it looks.
3 hours well spent. Probably the most comicy feeling of all the movies.
Can you see it though? Any dark scenes are already super dark on my TV no matter how I set the brightness. I worry The Batman will be more like a radio play to me.
Hey, erak, I’m not having any trouble and all I have is an ordinary flat screen monitor and a desk top. I do remember having trouble seeing the trailer. The fight scene with the clowns was a little opaque. I suppose you could have an issue with the screen, settings? I know what you’re talking about, though. It’s frustrating.
It’s always a joke…till it’s not.
god is dead
I got considerably more information about this from theOatmeal’s Instagram post (like, for instance, the premise and the fact that he’s writing)
I soured on him after the Tesla shit but I’m slowly coming back around.
I assume you mean the piece where he extolled Tesla and dumped on Edison? What about that caused you to sour on him?
Sorry, I meant his comic(s?) about the Tesla car he got that he wouldn’t shut up about. It felt basically like a paid promotion and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. “Oh, is the 100,000 dollar car fun? Imagine that, Oatmeal, tell us more!”
It’s hard to remember, but there actually was a time when E— M— seemed like the real deal instead of just another tech bro shitlord.
I vaguely remember it turned into an embarrassingly gushy tribute to Elon Musk partway through, but that’s really the only objectionable thing of his that I can think of offhand.
Perhaps they’re going to start with the Kitty Letter game’s story mode? Vortexes and trout slapping and tacocats and whatnot?
So… Tom Ellis better fucking be playing the Devil Kitten… right?
I would honestly hope so, it would kinda be out of place if he doesn’t! 😆😆😂😂
I’m a little surprised Exploding Kittens got a series deal before Munchkin.
From the description, it sounds like it’s more of a general The Oatmeal movie than specifically about the card game. In which case, count me all the way the fuck out. I cannot stand The Oatmeal; the art style, the sense of humor, the writing, its fanbase, all are completely fucking insufferable. I actually get angry when I see an Oatmeal strip in the wild, that’s how much I hate it.