Titan Chicken, or Robot Maximum?

Last night, I watched the third episode of Titan Maximum, the new show from the creators of Robot Chicken.

It is very funny, clever, and original to see a dead-on parody of celebrity and heroism. The show, which follows the adventures of the re-formed Titan Force Five as they defend the universe from their former douchebag comrade, is like revisiting an old Japanese giant robot cartoon through the modern eye of cynicism and celebrity scandal.

But, the creators seem to have an issue staying focused on their own plots. This was brutally apparent in the half-hour pilot, as the show kept going off on tangential jokes about characters all but completely unconnected to the show's plotline. They have done this much less in the two 15 minute episodes that have followed, but the fact that they still do it at all is distracting and a bit annoying.

See, for those of you who don't know, on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, a so-called 15 minute episode is really only about twelve or thirteen minutes; which is fine, considering the show is stop-motion, and if it were longer it would be a bitch to make a whole season. What is not so fine is when an actual plot-based show like Titan Maximum decides to take away from its brief episode length to focus on some random joke about people we'll never see again. It seems that the creators aren't used to limiting their focus on just a few characters and follow only one plot, being too used to Robot Chicken's random, unconnected sketch format.

None of this means I'm not enjoying the show (which I am) or that I don't think its funny (which I do, even the random, unconnected parts), but, if you want to make a plot-based show, make a plot-based show! Don't go only most of the way with it, and then throw us a joke out of left field about nothing to do with anything! Make up your damned mind, control your ADD, and this show will be even better than it is now!

And if anyone is actually reading this, please give me some sign. I'm new to the whole blogging thing, and could use the reassurance that its not just me talking to myself.