TV Goddess: Archibald’s Next Big Thing

I have around 38 years of cartoon watching under my belt. I never stopped watching cartoons, even when most people my age moved onto other things. When I first heard Eric Cartman’s voice in ‘South Park,’ I had trouble breathing from laughing. When I came to, I spent a long time trying to perfect my Cartman impression. My older sister was not a fan of my constant stream of Simpson’s quotes. I remember the Cartoon Network’s 90s revival; it was glorious. Now I have a kid, so I can compare my cartoon watching habits to those of a child who doesn’t always share my taste.

A few Saturday mornings ago I was a big ol’ duvet larva, dozing on and off on the couch. My son was wielding the remote when the image of a heretofore unknown yellow chicken overtook the screen. Enter ‘Archibald’s Next Big Thing.’

“Shit, this looks boring,” I thought to myself. As a rule, I try not to impose my negative opinions onto my heir because I don’t want to taint his personal pop-culture taste buds. So I said nothing.

Then an amazing thing happened: this yellow chicken, the titular Archibald, turned out to be lovely and fun and voiced by the one and only Tony Hale—Buster from ‘Arrested Development!’ I can’t think of a better voice for this happy chicken constantly embarking on zany adventures.

‘Archibald’s Next Big Thing’ is also created by Hale, and it was so fun that we binged watched until our eyes were sore. It’s silly and positive, funny and delightful. The only negative thing I can say is that Archibald has three siblings and only one of them is a girl—a very smart girl. Cartoons need more girls and I would love if some of them were dumb.

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