Paramount+ Futuristic Sci-Fi Comedy Divides Critics And Audiences
In the massive landscape of film and television, it seems that adult animated series’ are among the most polarizing watches for audiences and critics. One show that exemplifies this observation better than any other is the short-lived Comedy Central outing Moonbeam City, which is currently streaming on Paramount+. The series has been reviewed horribly by professional film critics, resulting in a paltry 29 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, despite serving as a fan favorite, with an 84 percent score from general audiences.
Welcome To Moonbeam City
Moonbeam City was created and developed for television by Scott Gairdner, who got his start writing for a number of online humor outlets such as Dropout (formerly College Humor) and Funny or Die. Gairdner has since gone on to write for Conan O’Brien and has amassed credits for such animated projects as Alien News Desk, Tig N’ Seek, and the Fox original comedy HouseBroken.
Though Moonbeam City only ran for a single 10-episode season, the series’ bright visual aesthetic, fast-paced writing, and star-studded cast made the project a real stand-out, which still draws audiences nearly 10 years after its release.
The Stacked Voice Cast
The sprawling cast of talented voice acting artists who lead Moonbeam City include Rob Lowe, Will Forte, Elizabeth Banks, Kate Mara, and Scott Gairdner himself. Guest stars for the animated venture include Seinfeld‘s John O’Hurley, Family Guy‘s Patrick Warburton, Rick And Morty‘s Justin Roiland, and even the original Batman actor himself, Adam West.
Rob Lowe particularly excels in the leading role of Moonbeam City as the bumbling Detective Dazzle Novak, who spends most of every episode monologuing about his massive ego or displaying the bizarre reasoning behind his awful police work.
Parodies 80s Cop Shows
The animated comedy has a completely unique visual style that I personally have never seen on television before or since. Moonbeam City offers a sort of 1980s laser-punk aesthetic, complete with futuristic depictions of a city built on literal laser mining, harmoniously bridging the gap between nostalgia and futurism. The series centers on a local police force and loosely satirizes classic 80s cop shows such as City Hunter and Miami Vice.
Critics Compared It To That Other Adult Animated Show
While I personally find Moonbeam City to be a brilliantly written, perfectly acted, hilarious one-season outing, I can sort of understand where the critics took issue with the show. For starters, some of the character designs and jokes seem like they could have been ripped right out of FX’s Archer, which was obviously quite successful and popular when Moonbeam City premiered in 2015.
Likewise, the show’s cerebral jokes were bashed by many critics for “trying too hard,” which is a valid critique, as it’s obvious that the show desires to be regarded as verbose and heady.
Ahead Of Its Time But Streaming Now
REVIEW SCORE
Having reconciled all of that, I still find it shocking that critics saw fit to rank Moonbeam City with a 29 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, especially when general audiences have viewed the series in such high regard. Personally, I feel that the show was just far too ahead of its time and might have found massive success had it come out just a few years later as a streaming exclusive.
If you’re interested in catching Moonbeam City today, the show is currently streaming in full on Paramount+.
