- 6 weeks ago
At THR's suite at San Diego Comic-Con, Seth Green, Breckin Meyer and Matthew Senreich dish on the 20th anniversary of 'Robot Chicken' and talk about how pop culture has changed the most since the beginning of the show. Plus, they talk about how Comic-Con has changed over the years, why old media is getting a new wave and more.
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00:00Meet up with your friends, meet some friends.
00:02It's so welcome.
00:03Everywhere you go and look around,
00:05there's all different types of strains of nerd flu
00:08that you can contract and bring home to your family.
00:11No, we got the vaccine, brother.
00:13Yeah, con shit, dude.
00:13Oh, sure, you're part of big vaccines.
00:15Anyway, wake up, RFK took my Skittles.
00:19Well, I'm very excited for 20 years, guys.
00:22I knew this would go dark places
00:24if I let it go a moment longer,
00:25and I didn't cut Breckett off in time.
00:30So we're talking the 20th anniversary.
00:36We're talking actual physical media,
00:38and we're talking Comic-Con,
00:40because to me, Robot Chicken is kind of the macro
00:42and micro of Comic-Con.
00:44You guys found a zeitgeist of pop culture.
00:46You put it into your own art.
00:47You put it out there in the world.
00:48I want to start with, in the 20 years of Robot Chicken,
00:51what has pop culture changed the most that surprised you,
00:54and what do you feel like the shot you shot landed best?
00:56The thing that's really happened globally
00:59is the concept of pop culture has gone mainstream
01:02in a way that's afforded it a ton of money,
01:06a ton of support, a ton of promotional value,
01:09and far more many fans than we had access to
01:16when we first started the show.
01:18When we first started the show,
01:19Comic-Con was not a cool place to be.
01:21None of these things were very cool to like,
01:23and when people gathered around them,
01:25it was with a little bit of fear of persecution.
01:28And so what Comic-Con always afforded
01:30before it went mainstream
01:31was a hub of safety for anybody who felt that way
01:34and wanted to celebrate all this stuff together
01:35without getting beat up
01:37by their own Fantastic Four Metal lunchbox.
01:40You know what I mean?
01:40And so over time, all that stuff became so popular
01:43from 2007 to Transformers
01:45and then into nine with...
01:47Twilight, that big shift.
01:48You know what I'm saying?
01:49Exactly.
01:50It was the Twilight shift for me.
01:51That was when you see the airplanes
01:53flying a Dexter banner.
01:55And there's a line at Hall H for the first time
01:57and you're like, I guess we're popular.
01:58I guess Dexter is Comic-Con?
02:00Sure.
02:01Yeah.
02:01You know what I mean?
02:01So that's really what's changed.
02:03The global acceptance of all of this stuff.
02:04I'm going to go one step further and say
02:052007, never will forget,
02:07the burn notice took over the side
02:08of the actual convention center.
02:11And I was like,
02:12well, this is a very different convention
02:14we're going to today.
02:15Right now we're here in Abbott Elementary.
02:17He has an entire side of a building.
02:18You're like, oh, I guess it's just like a promo place.
02:20Yeah, it's Pop Culture Con.
02:21It was when Nathan had three different shows
02:23in giant Nathan Fillion phase changed by year
02:25that I was like, oh, wait.
02:26That's the best.
02:26Don't you just want that?
02:28Yeah, I mean, it works for the con.
02:29Didn't Patricia Heaton have a panel here for the middle?
02:32That was the moment.
02:35Yeah, that was at Comic-Con.
02:37There was a moment at Comic-Con
02:39where Patricia Heaton had a panel for the middle.
02:41I think that was based on the graphic novel.
02:43Right, obviously.
02:43The middle, obviously.
02:44Yeah, which is about the samurai who lost his finger.
02:47Right.
02:48Yeah.
02:48So when you've got something like Robot Chicken
02:50that is so tuned in to pop culture in that moment,
02:52how do you keep up with the metamodernism of the internet
02:54where it's like a self-reflection of itself
02:56and you're making commentary on it?
02:57We never consider ourselves competing
03:00with the currency of anybody else
03:03who's got a joke to tell
03:04and they're going to tell it in real time.
03:05With Robot Chicken, you can't use that stuff
03:08because it's gone so quick.
03:09So we try to make comments
03:11that always feel like a timeless comment.
03:14We sort of go through the room
03:16and just we are the arbiters.
03:18We're like, ah, that's not going to last.
03:20It's not funny.
03:21But when somebody comes up with something,
03:22you're like, we got to do this as a joke.
03:24Let's push this.
03:25Let's put everything behind it and make it work.
03:26Was there ever a joke that you feel like
03:28by the time it airs, it actually landed better?
03:31Oh, it landed better.
03:33You know, the one thing someone pointed out to me,
03:35we just had our Robot Chicken self-discovery special
03:38just came out and they're like,
03:40how'd you know that Smurfs movie would come out
03:42and not succeed?
03:44And I was like, first of all,
03:46I wasn't even thinking about a Smurfs movie
03:49when we have Guy Fieri eating Smurfs.
03:50That joke is not, yeah.
03:51That wasn't supposed to be, yeah, this kind of thing.
03:53It just happened to land at the exact time
03:58and just people were pointing it out,
03:59saying we were being relevant.
04:01We are.
04:01We're so pressing.
04:03Yeah, totally on purpose.
04:05We are like on the phone with Mike Scully all the time.
04:07Mike, what's going to happen in the future?
04:08And speaking of pop culture and the relevance in there,
04:11Clueless just hit 30 years, man.
04:13And Brecken, that is my fiance's favorite movie of all time.
04:15Oh, you should marry her.
04:16I saw that on her Blu-ray shelf
04:19and I was like, this is the reason.
04:20You know what?
04:20She sounds like a keeper.
04:21She's a smart lady.
04:22What do you think it is about Clueless?
04:24The 30 years, it actually feels more and more
04:27of a pop culture sensation.
04:28There was like a 10-year window where it drifted out
04:30and now the fashion's back and everything's in.
04:33Yeah, I don't know.
04:34Other than the fact that it is, you know,
04:37obviously pop culture is cyclical in that way,
04:38but I think it's really just a super positive movie
04:42that is, and the characters,
04:44even if it's from the late, or the 90s,
04:47there's still these archetypes
04:48that are so relatable in that way.
04:51Even if it's just, everyone's got,
04:52whether he's a stoner now or he's on meth now,
04:54everyone's got that stoner friend who skateboards,
04:57and whether it's, you know,
04:58Stacey Dash is your best friend back then
05:00or Stacey Dash now, it's different.
05:04And so I think it's just evolving
05:06and you're aware of it,
05:07but I think genuinely it is just a sweet movie.
05:10Amy wanted to make a movie
05:11about a hyper-positive girl
05:13and then found Emma in the Jane Austen book,
05:16but she wanted to make a movie
05:17about someone who really did look
05:19the bright side of everything.
05:20And I took my 14-year-old to it recently.
05:23She hadn't seen it.
05:24And it was, I think that's what she related to.
05:26She was like, this is just such a fun movie.
05:27Yeah.
05:28It's like, I think, yeah, so that would be why.
05:30I think that's what Superman's doing right now.
05:32Yeah, I think right now,
05:33Superman is like a beautiful moment
05:35of like pure hope and joy.
05:36If you guys were making Robot Chicken
05:38about this insane zeitgeist
05:40between Fantastic Four and Superman,
05:41this July feels so like a moment in time.
05:44It feels like, oh, wait,
05:45with Dark Knight and Iron Man to me.
05:46Would there be any commentary
05:47you wanted to touch on?
05:48That's so interesting.
05:49No, we'd probably reflect on them individually
05:51rather than talk about...
05:53The cultural...
05:54Yeah, the cultural...
05:55I'm saying and, not versus.
05:56Like, I like...
05:57Not taking, but even like
05:58the Barbenheimer of it,
05:59that's sort of what culture needed,
06:01was not to pit those two against each other,
06:02but rather to give them
06:04some sort of unholy union
06:05to remind us that it was...
06:07That it was...
06:08Well, that it was cool.
06:09It's cool to go to the movies.
06:10Right, guys?
06:11We've all been locked up for several years.
06:12We were all, like, terrified
06:13to be in a room with each other.
06:15We were terrified to even be
06:15on the phone with each other.
06:17Let's go watch a nuke go off.
06:18Let's go watch some movies.
06:19Let's go watch two filmmakers
06:21that really care
06:22about making an entertaining movie.
06:25Well, we would have fun with Superman.
06:27Yeah.
06:27Definitely have fun with...
06:28Just trying to find those moments.
06:30It's like the right before
06:31or right after
06:31a specific moment in the scene.
06:33It's turning things 90 degrees
06:34on its side
06:35and seeing, like,
06:36what's the humanized moment
06:38that you haven't seen on camera?
06:40That's the kind of stuff we really...
06:41And then with Robot,
06:42it's also,
06:43especially in 2000...
06:45What is it?
06:4525.
06:46It was on 25.
06:47Now it's also,
06:48well, someone's going to say
06:49the first nine things
06:51we're going to think of.
06:52They're going to say those
06:53within a year.
06:53And we have a year
06:54until our show's on the air.
06:55Get it all out.
06:56And it's like,
06:56it's going to be,
06:57you know,
06:57the first nine jokes
06:58or whatever,
06:59Lex losing his hair,
07:01Nair instead of shampoo,
07:03is going to be
07:03the first two days
07:04after the movie comes out.
07:06So there's also, like,
07:07what's the difference?
07:08Yeah, but it's like,
07:08it's like 16-year-old Lex
07:11on a,
07:12or 13-year-old Lex
07:13on a, like,
07:14gaming platform
07:15and just getting destroyed
07:17by somebody called, like,
07:18Kansas 321.
07:20He's like,
07:20one day I'm going to kill this guy.
07:22Cut to...
07:23I'm not saying...
07:24Never even, yeah.
07:24And what happens...
07:26You got to get off
07:26those video games, son.
07:28And what happens
07:28when crypto
07:29hump someone's leg?
07:30I like this episode.
07:33We're writing right now.
07:33This is already,
07:34by the time this hits you,
07:35someone will have produced this.
07:37It's already out there.
07:39Were you guys
07:40hitting that moment
07:40in making it,
07:41like, as the show
07:42was wrapping out?
07:43Were you chasing the YouTube,
07:44like, oh, good God,
07:44it's already happening
07:45with someone on their cell phone?
07:46It's always entertaining
07:47when one of the writers
07:48is like,
07:48I already saw it.
07:49Oh, yeah.
07:49That's usually what happens.
07:52They're breaking down.
07:55You guys want,
07:56you guys want
07:56an exclusive pitch?
07:57No.
07:58No.
07:58Yes, go ahead.
07:59Season 21.
07:59Something else.
08:00Something else.
08:01I love that we're
08:02hitting this zeitgeist
08:03of, like,
08:04the legacy sequels
08:04of our age
08:05are kind of
08:06the things right now.
08:06Like, we got the,
08:07I know what you did
08:08last summer,
08:08like, legacy sequel.
08:09We got, like,
08:10Star Trek's getting
08:11another reboot.
08:12Like, everything's
08:12kind of hitting
08:12the next wave.
08:13We're rebooting
08:13our movies now.
08:15It's because they're
08:15doing, like,
08:16Oh, right.
08:16There's, like,
08:16Without a Paddle?
08:18Are we going to get
08:19another?
08:19Dude, we don't,
08:20I mean,
08:20I just hear about it.
08:21That's one of the first
08:22things you and I
08:22talked about,
08:23because I was, like,
08:23the loudest
08:24Wing Commander
08:24and Without a Paddle
08:25Fan.
08:25I like it forever.
08:27I want that.
08:27That's my era.
08:28Yeah, I got to
08:28track down
08:30both Freddie
08:31and Lillard's
08:32action figures.
08:32Yes!
08:33Those are gold
08:34right now.
08:35Those are the gold
08:36you went on the
08:36internet for.
08:37But Wing Commander
08:382 inevitably
08:39went.
08:39But either way,
08:40with that,
08:40is that why you guys
08:41wanted this on
08:41physical media?
08:42Do you feel like...
08:43Is this why I'm
08:43subscribing to
08:43the Hollywood Reporter?
08:44Are they shit
08:45about Matt Lillard's
08:46action figure?
08:47God damn it.
08:48Matt, if you've
08:48got a copy,
08:49we want that
08:50action figure.
08:50This is not why
08:51I subscribe to
08:52Hollywood Reporter.
08:52I want journalism,
08:53not Matt Lillard
08:54action figure.
08:54God damn it,
08:55you can be box office.
08:56Sure, well,
08:57speaking on the
08:57subject of physical
08:58media.
08:58Physical media
08:59and relevance.
08:59The needs for a
09:00massive, full
09:01collection.
09:02It's because a lot
09:04of the DVD
09:04distribution originally
09:06was so limited.
09:07Like, people's
09:08access to it,
09:09and it was also
09:09limited numbers.
09:10So it's not
09:10continuously on sale.
09:12Like, you can't
09:13find old copies
09:14of stuff.
09:15And especially
09:16with all of these
09:16massive super corps
09:18literally dumping
09:19and deleting
09:20their entire
09:21historic library.
09:23It's all the
09:24more important
09:24for people to
09:25be able to
09:25collect their
09:26media in
09:27whatever form
09:27they see fit.
09:28And so we're
09:29putting out this
09:29massive box set
09:30that's everything.
09:31On Amazon now.
09:33August?
09:34Sure.
09:35What do you
09:35do, is it
09:35August?
09:36October?
09:36Is what I mean?
09:37October.
09:37Okay, I saw
09:38fall.
09:38But pre-order.
09:39You can do the
09:40pre-order.
09:41I checked.
09:41It's pre-orderable
09:42now.
09:42You can do it
09:42right now.
09:43Oh, pre-order
09:43now.
09:44Click the link.
09:45Click that link.
09:46It's definitely
09:46not installing
09:48malware into
09:50your phone.
09:50I love that the
09:51Robot Chicken
09:52experience is about
09:53celebrating pop culture.
09:54I love that Comic-Con's
09:55about celebrating pop culture.
09:56It is the broadest of
09:57questions.
09:58But pre-Twilight to
09:59now, like that
10:00Zeitgeist shift, what is
10:01your favorite thing about
10:02this new era of Comic-Con?
10:03Because I feel like
10:04everybody's so negative
10:04about post-Twilight.
10:06I think it's special.
10:07Access, guys.
10:08It's access.
10:09It's the fact that this
10:10place has become the
10:12international hub for it.
10:13Like, I go to cons all
10:14around the world and
10:14nothing is like San
10:15Diego.
10:16We used to joke, right?
10:17It's the Mecca.
10:18The Mecca of pop culture.
10:19This is the place we make
10:19our summer pilgrimage to.
10:21Every year it's like
10:22summer camp.
10:23You're climbing the
10:24stairs.
10:24You've got to take the
10:25picture of the stairs.
10:26I know.
10:26So that is the thing.
10:28And that still exists.
10:29That experience still
10:29exists, beaconing to
10:31anybody that loves this
10:32stuff and wants to come
10:33share it with other
10:34people.
10:34That still exists,
10:35even though there's
10:36all these other things
10:37you can complain about.
10:37I love that.
10:38Go where the wind takes
10:39you.
10:39You don't have to have
10:40a plan to be here.
10:41There's something for
10:42everyone in every
10:43different direction,
10:44whether it's inside the
10:44convention center,
10:46outside the convention
10:46center, the adult
10:47swimming things right
10:48behind the convention
10:49center.
10:49You can just walk
10:50in down 5th Street.
10:51It's like that.
10:52Meet up with your
10:52friends.
10:53Meet some friends.
10:54It's so welcome.
10:55Everywhere you go
10:56and look around,
10:57there's all different
10:58types of strains of
10:59nerd flu that you can
11:00contract and bring
11:02home to your family.
11:03No, we got the
11:04vaccine, brother.
11:04Yeah, concrete
11:05vaccine.
11:05I got the
11:06inauguration.
11:07You're part of
11:08big vaccine.
11:09Anyway, wake up.
11:11Hall H, the line
11:12for Hall H is
11:13actually just
11:13vaccination.
11:14It's down there
11:14available now.
11:15I'm walking around
11:15with shots.
11:15I'll give them out
11:16for free.
11:16Einstein didn't kill
11:17himself.
11:18You might know
11:18I'm having it.
11:19Why not?
11:19There's nothing in
11:20here.
11:21Oh, I feel so
11:22much better.
11:23Vitamin B12.
11:24RFK took my
11:25Skittles.
11:26Well, I'm very
11:27excited for 20
11:27years, guys.
11:29I knew this would
11:30go dark places if I
11:31let it go a moment
11:32longer and I didn't
11:33cut Breckett off in
11:33time.
11:3420 years.
11:35Congratulations.
11:36I'm so excited for
11:37you.
11:37I know, right?
11:37Dude, I mean,
11:38actually one of my
11:39favorite memories is I
11:40was dressed as the
11:41Joker in 2008 and I
11:43was literally you and I
11:44met and I was
11:45cosplaying at a party
11:46that wasn't cosplayed.
11:47It was like I went
11:47to Zach's old Nerd
11:49HQ.
11:50Oh, my God.
11:50Wait, was it still
11:51under the basement?
11:53No, no, Peckle
11:54Park.
11:54Yeah, yeah.
11:54No, no, it was
11:55underground one of
11:55the brick stairway.
11:57The very first time,
11:58yes.
11:58I'm going to end
11:59like the jinx where
11:59it's like and then I
12:00killed her.
12:01Are we recording?
12:02You and I met when
12:03I was the Joker and
12:03I was so like, oh,
12:04well, we don't cosplay
12:05at parties and I
12:06remember.
12:06At basement party,
12:07what did I say?
12:07It was so welcoming.
12:08Did I say something
12:08on her ass?
12:08No, no, everyone
12:14welcoming the weirdos
12:15at the lunch table
12:15that don't have a
12:16lunch table.
12:16Yeah, yeah.
12:17And that means a lot
12:18to me.
12:19So congratulations on
12:20a show that feels
12:20like that.
12:21Congratulations on
12:2220 years and this
12:23was fun, guys.
12:23I appreciate it.
12:24Thanks so much.
12:25Yeah.
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