Strange Planet is a 2023 animated science-fiction comedy series based upon the webcomic by Nathan W. Pyle and developed by Pyle and Dan Harmon. The series features the voices of Tunde Adebimpe, Demi Adejuyigbe, Lori Tan Chinn, Hannah Einbinder, James Adomian, Cedric Yarbrough, Beth Stelling, and Danny Pudi.
Set on a distant planet, the series follows various blue aliens as they live lives very much like our own - exposing the joys and absurdities of human interactions as they do so. The series premiered on Apple TV+ August 9, 2023.
Previews: Trailer
Strange Planet includes examples of the following:
- Advertising by Association: "From the beings behind Rick and Morty" says the trailer.
- Alien Sky: The planet has two moons, known as Lorb and Rorb.
- Ambiguous Gender: Though many beings wear gendered clothing, all beings use they/them pronouns. It's not known if the beings have No Biological Sex, or just no concept of gender.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The animals of the strange planet (referred to as "creatures"), are all very similar to Earth animals, ranging from slightly different to identical, but they’re all referred to with different names.Dogs are moral creatures (i.e. "Good boy"), cats are vibrating creatures, turtles are slow domes, hedgehogs are ouch orbs, goats are trash beards, skunks are butt bombers, horses are hard footed run monsters, and raccoons are greyscale finger bandits.
- Exposed Extraterrestrials: Downplayed. Some of the alien beings wear clothing, but it never covers their crotch areas, making it essentially an optional fashion statement.
- Expospeak Gag: Much like the webcomic it’s based on, this show runs on this trope. Characters constantly talk in this way about everyday things.
- Extra Eyes: Many creatures of the strange planet have three eyes, including the moral creatures (dogs) and the pigeon-like birds.
- Fantastic Fauna Counterpart: Most creatures of the strange planet are this, resembling differently colored Earth animals with an extra eye. Cats ("vibrating creatures") are an exception, looking exactly like normal cats.
- Father Neptune: A being fitting this trope appears in the fourth episode, piloting a ship called the Chancy. They talk like an experienced sea captain, singing sea shanties and expressing a love of the sea even during the roughest of storms.
- The Greys: Like the webcomic, the series's characters resemble this alien archetype.
- Lighter and Softer: While it is an adaptation of Nathan W. Pyle's comic strip, the series itself is developed by Dan Harmon, creator of very meta and twisted sitcoms like Community, Rick and Morty, HarmonQuest and Krapopolis. Compared to his other works, this is a lot more gentle, genial, and light-hearted.
- Love at First Sight: In the second episode, a being falls in love with a waiter at a restaurant, and offers to care for their creature roommate (pet) in order to get their attention romantically.
- Nameless Narrative: None of the beings are given names, and the credits identify them by their roles (Grouprollmachine Operator, Kid, etc.) One being even has an official identification card that doesn’t list a name. The closest we get to named characters are the members of the Four Sensations, who use stage names.
- Oh, My Gods!: Various beings use phrases like "oh Lorb" or "oh my Lorb", and one distressed being says "Oh, cruel Rorb!" in episode 2. It's later revealed that Lorb and Rorb are the names of the planet’s two moons.
- Plane Awful Flight: Mostly averted through the efforts of the comfort supervisors on the flying machines in episode one, until the climax when the plane undergoes turbulence and everyone’s emotions boil over.
- Pulled from Your Day Off: In the second episode, an employee at Careful Now is asked to work on what was supposed to be their day off.
- Recurring Character: While most episodes feature one-off characters, the staff (and the regular) at Careful Now appear in multiple episodes.
- Slice of Life: Like the webcomic, the show focuses on the everyday lives of the beings and the joys that come from mundane experiences.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: Leaning far on the idealistic and insightful side.
- Stealth Pun: The first episode is about airplanes, because it's the pilot episode.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Most episodes feature two or three concurrent plotlines that intersect at various points.
