Adult Swim Launches Brad Neely on Vine

Adult Swim launched the first-ever full episode of television on Vine this week, which means fans of Brad Neely can watch the debut episode of Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio before it premieres on July 10 at 11:45 p.m. The episode is a grab bag of Neely’s bits, featuring disparate characters who seem to have crawled out of his subconscious. There’s a couple of chill girls singing about beer while riding bikes, a sweet little dancing dude named Lil Perf who gives off some Prince vibes (RIP), and a Lord of the Rings bit that leaves the viewer feeling existentially strange. “Are we all, Lord, of a Thing?”, the episode demands incoherently.

There’s a lot of cartoon violence in the episode, but somehow its takedown of cute viral animal videos, or the kind of stuff you’d see on /r/aww, is the most disturbing segment. The episode actually opens with that segment, titled Cute Corner, and its sly, freaky tone feels like the darkest of Rick and Morty, or some of the trippiest parts of Superjail!. It’s all very on brand for Adult Swim, and feels like a highly evolved version of Neely’s brand.

Releasing an entire episode of a new show on Vine continues Adult Swim and Cartoon Network’s efforts to expand their efforts beyond television ratings. Months ago, Rob Sorcher, announced the company’s intention to create “animated worlds” rather than simply “animated shows”. Brad Neely, who’s been producing web videos and online comics and prints for more than a decade now, seems like a fitting partner for the venture.