History WesternAnimation / Squidbillies

The show was initially one of the more controversial series to air on Creator/AdultSwim; the pilot debuted on AprilFoolsDay 2004, to horrible reviews (in the show's defense, the premiere was a rough cut - "rough cut" here meaning that some portions were not even fully animated). However, when the series was officially premiered in October 2005[[labelnote:*]]It was supposed to premiere in November 2004, but fell behind schedule and was replaced with ''WesternAnimation/PerfectHairForever'' in the meantime[[/labelnote]], the series slowly but surely found its niche. It now has something of a cult following, and slowly became one of Adult Swim's longest running shows, formally ending its run in December of 2021 with a GrandFinale.

** The malformed Sheriff clone Denny starts out by shooting in the head anyone not melted by Dan Halen's body spray cloud and whittling down his own arm into a toothpick, but by the musical episode has become a HypercompetentSidekick who correctly identifies the raw uranium "yellow cake" and deduces Al-Quaeda's terrorist plan

** The Sheriff clone farm has been largely neglected aside from the existence of Denny.

* NegativeContinuity: How many times has the world exploded in this series?

* AssholeVictim: No sympathy is ever given for [[VillainProtagonist Early]] and [[BigBad Dan Halen]] whenever they suffer a karmic fate.

* BloodyHilarious: Happens quite often, usually involving the Sherif and Rusty.

* DemotedToExtra: Lil, as she was featured somewhat prominently in the early episodes, but now makes pretty much only one major appearance per season.
* DerangedAnimation

** The opening theme, on occasion
* DisproportionateRetribution: During a class reunion, Sheriff [[BoomHeadshot blows Dan Halen's brains out]] for all the times he bullied him in high school.

* {{Juggalo}}: Parodied in "Clowny Freaks".

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Then again as time went on the show gave these two guys their just desserts. Early became the KarmicButtMonkey of the series past the first three or so seasons. He is regularly put through humilation, maiming, and torture -- most of which [[TooDumbToLive is his own fault]]. He becomes HatedByAll, including his own family. There are a number of later episodes that are pretty much [[HumiliationConga dedicated to Early being put in his place]]. Dan Halen has also been losing on a more consistent basis as well.

->''"My dreams are all dead and buried.\\
Sometimes I wish the Sun would just explode.\\
When {{God}} comes and calls me to His kingdom,\\
I'll take all ya sons-a'-bitches when I go."''

In the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia lays a small place called Dougal County. A rundown town ripe with illegal activity, debauchery, strange citizens, and all the alcohol and drugs one can want. Within the county is the Cuyler Clan, hillbilly squids -- the titular squidbillies -- that drink, make meth, mud-bog, and destroy property. The family includes: Early Cuyler, the extremely violent, abusive, and drunk patriarch of the family. His hat always changes between shows, usually saying something like "Booty Hunter", "Sonny Lied!", or "Guns Don't Kill People, I Do". Rusty Cuyler, Early's son. He is more naïve and morally centered, but is also dumb and gullible. He was orignally a WellDoneSonGuy but later episodes have him more mature and well-rounded, effectively becoming the OnlySaneMan of the clan. Granny Cuyler, the feeble and senile mother of Early and Lil (maybe their granny or great granny, it's unclear the exact relation). She often sees visions of squid-Jesus. Lil, who runs a meth operation/beauty salon. [[DemotedToExtra Not quite a common character.]] There is more to the clan but [[TangledFamilyTree they're family tree is so tangled that it's hard to list them all]]. The Cuylers are the last of their species, the Appalachian Mud Squids.

*** Similarly, the Sheriff is MadeOfPlasticine, but you'd be surprised how well he survives losing his organs, losing his head, getting savagely beat up, etc. But it may be because he's a genetically engineered plant man who is constantly replaced by the next ripest Sheriff of the crop.

* ComingOfAgeStory: A ''very'' warped one for Rusty.

* MegaCorp: Dan Halen Sheetrock International.

* OnlySaneMan: Rusty Cuyler, to an extent.

* QuarterHourShort

* {{Yandere}}: Early is this for Krystal, Seriously.

->Early Cuyler plays Gibson guitars

Season six introduces Tammi, a CloserToEarth redneck girl who becomes Rusty's girlfriend. Their relationship kickstarts a StoryArc where the two concieve a son named Macho Man Randy Cuyler. Having more responsibilities and needing to financially provide for them, Rusty becomes more sane and mature as he gradually realizes how awful his family (mostly Early) and home life really is which - would come to head in the final season.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia lays a small place called Dougal County. A rundown town ripe with illegal activity, debauchery, strange citizens, and all the alcohol and drugs one can want. Within the county is the Cuyler Clan, hillbilly squids -- the titular squidbillies -- that drink, make meth, mud-bog, and destroy property. The family includes: Early Cuyler, an extremely violent and drunk redneck. His hat always changes between shows, usually saying something like "Booty Hunter", "Sonny Lied!", or "Guns Don't Kill People, I Do". He has gone to prison and is often scolded by the sheriff for making pinecone moonshine or holding up the convenience store. He was made CEO of the CorruptCorporateExecutive's company to act as a scapegoat. Rusty Cuyler, Early's son. He is more naïve and morally centered, but is also dumb and gullible. He is a WellDoneSonGuy but later episodes have him more mature and well-rounded, effectively becoming the OnlySaneMan of the clan. Granny Cuyler, the feeble and senile mother of Early and Lil (maybe their granny or great granny, it's unclear the exact relation). She often sees visions of squid-Jesus. Lil, who runs a meth operation/beauty salon. [[DemotedToExtra Not quite a common character.]] They are the last of their species, the Mud Squids.

Among the town citizens include: The Sheriff, who is quite frankly terrible at his job. He frequently hangs out with the Cuylers but it always ends up with him getting used or maimed by Early. Initially a bit of a StraightMan to Early, he quickly turned into a good-natured ManChild. He dies fairly often, but is replaced by another sheriff from a sheriff clone farm (though it hasn't come up in later episodes, likely as an effort to develop him). Later in the series he is accompanied by Deputy Denny, a child-sized malformed clone of himself that tends to be a bit more competent at his job. There is also Dan Halen, the CorruptCorporateExecutive and owner of Dan Halen Industries. His company appears to make sheetrock, but really dabbles in violent mutant corn, corrosive body spray, baby death traps, and foreign arms sales. Dan is a (usually) naked, pear-shaped blob of flesh with long red hair; good luck assigning a species to him. Revealed in an episode focused on him to have existed throughout the history of mankind in the exact same form, and to have been a part of many terrible events. Including the German Nazi Party.

A typical episode of the show has the family run rampant around their town; interacting with the locals and supernatural beings/happenings. They cause all sorts of antics and crimes that will eventually lead to massive destruction, the maiming of innocents and also themselves, and usually lots of casualties also [[TheyKilledKennyAgain including themselves]]. Most plots are [[NoEnding never resolved]] and episodes frequently end on a [[InterruptedByTheEnd comedic smash cut to credits]]. As time went on the show gradually [[DenserAndWackier became more insane]], with copious loads of {{Gorn}} and BloodyHilarious slapstick.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia lays a small place called Dougal County. A rundown town ripe with illegal activity, debauchery, strange citizens, and all the alcohol and drugs one can want. Within the county is the Cuyler Clan, hillbilly squids -- simply called squidbillies -- that drink, make meth, mud-bog, and destroy property. The family includes: Early Cuyler, an extremely violent and drunk redneck. His hat always changes between shows, usually saying something like "Booty Hunter", "Sonny Lied!", or "Guns Don't Kill People, I Do". He has gone to prison and is often scolded by the sheriff for making pinecone moonshine or holding up the convenience store. He was made CEO of the CorruptCorporateExecutive's company to act as a scapegoat. Rusty Cuyler, Early's son. He is more naïve and morally centered, but is also dumb and gullible. He is a WellDoneSonGuy but later episodes have him more mature and well-rounded, effectively becoming the OnlySaneMan of the clan. Granny Cuyler, the feeble and senile mother of Early and Lil (maybe their granny or great granny, it's unclear the exact relation). She often sees visions of squid-Jesus. Lil, who runs a meth operation/beauty salon. [[DemotedToExtra Not quite a common character.]] They are the last of their species, the Mud Squids.

In the hills of Georgia live a family of hillbillies. They're also squids. These squidbillies drink, make meth, mud-bog, and destroy property. The characters are:
* '''Early Cuyler''', an extremely violent and drunk redneck. His hat always changes between shows, usually saying something like "Booty Hunter", "Sonny Lied!", or "Guns Don't Kill People, I Do". He has gone to prison and is often scolded by the sheriff for making pinecone moonshine or holding up the convenience store. He was made CEO of the CorruptCorporateExecutive's company to act as a scapegoat.
* '''Rusty Cuyler''', Early's son. He is more naïve and morally centered, but is also dumb and gullible. He is a WellDoneSonGuy.
* '''Granny Cuyler''', the feeble and senile mother of Early and Lil (maybe their granny or great granny, it's unclear the exact relation). She often sees visions of squid-Jesus.
* '''Lil''', who runs a meth operation/beauty salon. [[DemotedToExtra Not quite a common character.]]
* '''The Sheriff''', who is a nice guy that usually just complains about crimes happening in the area. Dies fairly often (like most of the characters), but is replaced by another sheriff from a sheriff clone farm. Unlike the Cuylers, he's human(ish).
* '''Dan Halen''', the CorruptCorporateExecutive and owner of Dan Halen Industries. His company appears to make sheetrock, but really dabbles in violent mutant corn, corrosive body spray, baby death traps, and foreign arms sales. Dan is a (usually) naked, pear-shaped blob of flesh with long red hair; good luck assigning a species to him. Revealed in an episode focused on him to have existed throughout the history of mankind in the exact same form, and to have been a part of many terrible events. Including the German Nazi Party.

** The show having a narrator. He eventually vanished from the show.

The show was initially one of the more controversial series to air on Creator/AdultSwim; the pilot debuted on AprilFoolsDay 2004, to horrible reviews (in the show's defense, the premiere was a rough cut - "rough cut" here meaning that some portions were not even fully animated). However, when the series was officially premiered in October 2005[[labelnote:*]]It was supposed to premiere in November 2004, but fell behind schedule and was replaced with ''WesternAnimation/PerfectHairForever'' in the meantime[[/labelnote]], the series slowly but surely found its niche. It now has something of a cult following, and has become one of Adult Swim's longest running shows.

** In general, the later seasons have become much more fluid, expressive, and dynamic in comparison to the more stiff [[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce Aqua Teen-like]] style they had back then. By the final season, the show has pretty much abandoned their original limited style of animation.

The show is one of the more controversial series to air on Creator/AdultSwim; the pilot debuted on AprilFoolsDay 2004, to horrible reviews (in the show's defense, the premiere was a rough cut - "rough cut" here meaning that some portions were not even fully animated). However, when the series was officially premiered in October 2005[[labelnote:*]]It was supposed to premiere in November 2004, but fell behind schedule and was replaced with ''WesternAnimation/PerfectHairForever'' in the meantime[[/labelnote]], the series slowly but surely found its niche. It now has something of a cult following, and has become one of Adult Swim's longest running shows.

** In general, the later seasons have become much more fluid, expressive, and dynamic in comparison to the more stiff [[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce Aqua Teen-like]] style they had back then.

** "Plumber Bubba" is an obvious and rather unflattering parody of Larry the Cable Guy.

* RealityEnsues: During a chase scene, Early tries to use a ramp to fly his truck, then he crashes.
** In ''Limbitless'' Early, realizing that as a squid he can regenerate his tentacles, uses this to abuse worker’s compensation by repeatedly mutilating himself and waiting for the missing limbs to grow back. But because he does it so frequently? Eventually they become unable to grow back. An injury can only heal so many times before it becomes degenerative. And Early didn’t give himself enough time to properly heal.

* AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark: The show pretty much runs on VulgarHumor and {{Gorn}}.

The show is one of the more controversial series to air on Creator/AdultSwim; the pilot debuted on AprilFoolsDay 2004, to horrible reviews (in the show's defense, the premiere was a rough cut - "rough cut" here meaning that some portions were not even fully animated). However, when the series was officially premiered in October 2005[[labelnote:*]]It was supposed to premiere in November 2004, but fell behind schedule and was replaced with ''WesternAnimation/PerfectHairForever'' in the meantime[[/labelnote]], the series slowly but surely found its niche. It now has something of a cult following and is one of Adult Swim's pet programs.

* BodyHorror: The Ultimate Party Platter chickens from "Wing Nut". They are chickens genetically engineered to the point where their entire body basically consists of nothing but wings, they naturally secrete hot sauce from their pores, they defecate blue cheese dressing (and, if ordered to, their own to-go boxes), their legs are celery sticks, and eating them causes rapid development of ''massive'' tumors. And yes, they are '''breathing and alive'''.

** Starting with the episode "Atone Deaf", The show started to have many references to the Adult Swim pilot called[[WesternAnimation/CheyenneCinnamonAndTheFabulousUnicornOfSugarTownCandyFudge Cheyenne Cinnamon From the Adult Swim Pilot Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge]], merchandise of the said pilot is seen in many episodes.