Television series

Superjail!

Name: Superjail!
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 2007
Cast: David Wain

Comedy
Prison
Strange
Relentless

Superjail! is a 15-minute Adult Swim comedy about a warden running a surreal, ultraviolent prison where cartoonish chaos erupts constantly. It's anarchic, deliberately absurd, and visually dazzling—a show that treats animation as a vehicle for pure mayhem. For people who want their comedy unhinged and their visuals genuinely inventive.

TVMaze rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like cartoons that go fully feral, with frantic, saturated animation, gleeful nastiness and jokes that escalate until they become a kind of anarchic sport.

Skip it if you want story momentum or characters you can settle into, since the jokes come in loud, sudden bursts and the grime and gore can wear thin over a long sitting.

What it asks of you: Each episode runs about fifteen minutes and rarely pauses, so it asks for constant attention and a strong stomach for hyperactive, deliberately offensive humour.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Aqua Teen Hunger Force2000

The spiritual cousin of Superjail!—absurdist Adult Swim comedy with minimal plot and maximum weirdness. Three weird roommates solving nothing teaches you the show's wavelength perfectly.

But The humor is intentionally flat and repetitive in ways that can feel like nothing's happening. Early seasons especially demand patience with their shrug-and-move-on energy.

Home Movies1999

Improvisational dialogue, cartoonish art, and anarchic energy in short bursts. It shares Superjail!'s willingness to let scenes go nowhere and finds comedy in the rubble.

But The voice acting is deliberately amateurish and the animation looks cheap by design. If you need polish, this will feel like a rough draft.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!2007

Surreal sketch comedy that builds elaborate worlds for jokes nobody asked for. It has the same commitment to commitment that makes Superjail! work—the absurdity is never broken by winking.

But It's frequently gross and cringey in ways that feel deliberate but not always earned. Some sketches just end without payoff, which works once and then gets trying.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Superjail!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Mighty Boosh2004

Both treat visual abundance and character commitment as the core of the humor—not jokes about the weirdness, but weirdness as the thing itself. Both would rather be strange than make sense.

A British sketch show with handmade set design, elaborate costumes, and pure committed weirdness. It's live-action but has Superjail!'s philosophy—excess design and bizarre logic as the actual comedy.

But British comedy from the 2000s has a very specific rhythm that requires attunement. If you need American joke structure, this will feel like people performing at you in a language you almost understand.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast1994

Cartoon chaos in talk-show form, where the host is a confused superhero and nothing makes sense. It invented Adult Swim's DNA—weird, anarchic, animated, completely uninterested in being accessible.

But It predates most visual innovation you'll see in Superjail!, so the animation feels dated and sometimes just repetitive rather than wild.

Daria1997

Proof that MTV animation could be genuinely clever. While tonally opposite to Superjail!, it shows how much personality you can wring from deadpan characters in small moments.

But It's sincere and character-driven, which means it's completely safe. If you're coming from Superjail!, this will feel like a library commercial in comparison.

China, IL2011

Deliberately ugly animation, rapid jokes, and a college setting that devolves into chaos. It's built from similar ingredients to Superjail!—anarchic sketches that go nowhere but entertain thoroughly.

But The voice work can be grating and the animation style is so intentionally unpleasant that it sometimes wins over the actual comedy. Also very short-lived, so there's not much to binge.

Drawn Together2004

A sketch show built on cartoon-character-roommate chaos with moments of genuine cleverness buried under layers of provocation. It shares Superjail!'s 'no limits' ethos and visual irreverence.

But It mistakes shock value for humor regularly and leans on cruel jokes that just land flat. The provocation often overstays its welcome and stranches genuine laughs.

The Venture Bros.2003

Animated comedy with genuine plot and character development underneath the weirdness. It proves Adult Swim shows can build worlds and earn emotional investment while staying bizarre.

But It's slow-burn and builds across seasons, so if you want instant mayhem like Superjail!, the first episodes feel like setup without payoff. Also runs 22 minutes, so a bigger time commitment.

Harley Quinn2019

Adult animated comedy with hyperkinetic energy, ultraviolent action, and bright bursts of genuine surprise. It shares Superjail!'s willingness to make animation's freedom the whole point.

But It's grounded in DC lore, so jokes sometimes assume you care about Batman universe continuity. Also toned down compared to its earliest promise—less dangerous as it goes on.

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts2020

Both use animation to create worlds that couldn't exist anywhere else—visual abundance as worldbuilding. Both understand that animation's freedom isn't about jokes, it's about showing impossible things.

Post-apocalyptic adventure with radiant color design, genuine stakes, and an protagonist who radically chooses not to be cynical. Netflix animation at its most visually alive and optimistic.

But It's earnest and character-forward, which might feel like emotional homework after Superjail!'s anarchic coldness. Also a serious narrative, so it won't scratch the 'nothing matters' itch.

People

Cast

David WainThe Warden

Writing

Production

Ben GruberExecutive Producer
Christy KaracasExecutive Producer
Stephen WarbrickExecutive Producer