Superjail! is an American adult animated television series created by Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick and Ben Gruber for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. It follows the events that take place in an unusual prison. The pilot episode aired on May 13, 2007, and its first season began on September 28, 2008. Superjail! is characterized by its psychedelic shifts in setting and plot and extreme graphic violence, which give the series a TV-MA-V rating (for graphic violence, including scenes of bloodshed, dismemberment, torture, and extreme cruelty). These elements are depicted through highly elaborate animated sequences, which have been described as "baroque and complicated and hard to take in at a single viewing".

Setting and premise

The majority of Superjail! is set inside the eponymous prison, located in an alternate dimension identified as "5612". The prison is overseen by a Willy Wonka-esque individual known only as "The Warden", the amiable yet sadistic and mischievous head of Superjail with apparent shapeshifting powers who uses the prison (and prisoners) to satisfy his numerous whims. Externally, Superjail is built underneath a volcano which is itself located inside of a larger volcano. Internally, it seems to constitute its own reality where the fabric of time and space is fluid and changes at the whim of the Warden. It has been indicated that the prison itself has a degree of sentience and that the nature of the prison is fluid according to the perceptions of the individual. Superjail's inmate population is estimated by Jared, the Warden's primary assistant, to be in excess of 70,000, though the show's creators mention that the prison processes "billions of inmates". In the first season, each episode begins with a linear story revolving around an irresponsible scheme concocted by the Warden to satisfy some personal desire. The episode builds in both violence and surrealism into a climactic psychedelic blood bath during which dozens of inmates are brutally and gruesomely murdered either by one another or an external force. Some episode plots have no resolutions at all, with the story simply stopping when events have reached their most chaotic. Regardless, the status quo is always restored by the next episode, unless the episode is a multi-part one. Beginning with the second season, the creators modified the format of the series to focus more on character development and story, as imagined by a revised writing staff. The second-season premiere "Best Friends Forever" demonstrated an immediate break from the first season's template, focusing the episode on Jailbot and Jacknife as opposed to the Warden, setting half of the episode outside of the prison and lacking an extended murder sequence in the climax. The third and fourth seasons of the show attempted to meld the formats of the first two seasons, continuing a focus on character development and ongoing storylines while reviving the technique of ending each episode with a complex murder sequence.

Development

The series was the creation of Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, and Ben Gruber. Karacas was a member of the band Cheeseburger (who provided the show's theme song "Comin' Home" until season 4), a background designer for MTV's Daria, directed Robotomy for Cartoon Network and later created Ballmastrz: 9009. Stephen Warbrick was originally known for his work on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria, was a digital artist on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and was also an animatic artist at Blue Sky Studios. Ben Gruber originally wrote for Ultracity 6060 on MTV's Cartoon Sushi and later wrote for shows like Teen Titans Go!, Breadwinners, and SpongeBob SquarePants, and would later become a story editor for Jellystone!. Karacas originally created a student film in 1997 for MTV's Cartoon Sushi, entitled "Space War". He then partnered with Warbrick in 2001, creating another film known as "Bar Fight", which caught the attention of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, who allowed them, and Ben Gruber, to create a show of their own. The name "Superjail!" was based on the former name of the Central North Correctional Centre.

Episodes

International broadcast

In Canada, Superjail previously aired on G4's Adult Digital Distraction block, and currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.

Characters

Main

Recurring

Ultra-Prison

Influences

In a Cold Hard Flash interview, creator Christy Karacas explained influences for the show were Gary Panter, Robert Crumb, Sally Cruikshank, Mad magazine, Vince Collins, Looney Tunes, Fleischer Studios, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Schoolhouse Rock!, Sesame Street, the Itchy & Scratchy segments from The Simpsons, kids' art, Muppets, outsider art, underground comics and Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Home releases

The series is also available on HBO Max since September 1, 2020.