TRIPPING THE RIFT - SERIES 1 [2004]

Sometimes this planet of ours can feel like a small place.  Television brings the whole world into our living rooms and squeezes it into a box.  We can hop on a plane and in a matter of hours step off on the other side of the Earth.  It is easy to loose track of the scale of things.  You can visit a city and claim to have seen it, but there is so much more to a place than monuments that make for a pretty postcard.  Every building in a city tells something of its character, and like fractals, if we look closer, a whole new world is revealed again at the next level.  Buildings are filled with offices and apartments, offices and apartments with people, and these people overflow with curiosity, and interests of a myriad varieties.  It is the possibilities inherent in this that make me truly appreciate the incomprehensible scale of our little world, which in the great scheme of things, is itself just a drop in the ocean.
  As movies are one of my favourite pastimes, the things people choose to watch are of great curiosity to me.  Our interests are so diverse, it boggles the mind.  While populist entertainment does what it says on the tin, there are endless subdivisions and genres, where the connoisseur can indulge the most obscure of tastes.  This is, of course, not exclusive to movies.
  There are many reasons why niche hobbies do not float to the surface of popular culture.  Some of them are too dark for public consumption (exploitation cinema, cock fighting, pornography, dwarf tossing).  Much are too esoteric to generate mass appeal, which gives us the nebulous area of cult entertainment.  But the main reason certain things remain in the shadows is that they are just shit.  I've endured a lot of stink while researching Stitches, but that is not what we are going to look at today.  It is always a pleasant surprise to discover something that has been around for years, yet it has somehow managed to escape your notice (unless it's cancer).  So without further ado (and I appreciate that I've just spouted much ado-do), I give you Tripping The Rift.

The image above probably tells you all you need to know in order to decide whether or not this show is for you.  Of course, I've never been one to use an image when a thousand words will do.

  Tripping The Rift first appeared on my long distance scanner (I really hate myself sometimes) at the Dublin Circus Skills Convention.  While I chatted with Mr. Balloonatic, I told him of my intention to, over the coming months, watch as many killer clown movies as was humanly possible.  To that end, he recommend Tripping The Rift.

  Tripping The Rift is Canadian animated sci-fi comedy series that ran for three seasons between 2004 and 2007.  Created by Chris Moeller and Chuck Austen, it started off as two short Internet films, the first of which was released in 2000.  Chris Moeller began his career as an animator on The Simpsons, before he moved on to direct episodes of King of The Hill.  There he met storyboard artist Chuck Austen (for dramatic purposes, I'm assuming they had never met before).  Between them, they developed an idea which can be summed up as 'Futurama with dick jokes'.  And rape jokes.  And anal sex jokes.  And gruesome deaths.  Did I mention the dick jokes?

  The first of those Internet shorts was  Love and Darph, which you can see here.  Love and Darph is very rough around the edges, but it certainly shows the potential in this idea for a series.  It introduces us to the surly and sex obsessed star ship captain, Chode McBlob (Stephen Root from Office Space, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Cedar Rapids), gay robot and chief engineer, Gus, and sex cyborg and chief communications officer, Six (Terry Farrell from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).  We also meet - most importantly for my purposes - Chode's nemesis, Darph Bobo, whose introduction here delivers one of the best moments in the entire franchise.

  The second short, Oh Brother (which you can watch here.  Only kidding; it's here) is actually a trailer, and while the animation is far better, it is quite misleading, in that both the tone and the story are completely different, not just to Love and Darph, but to the entire series.

  By the time Tripping The Rift made it to the screen in 2004, some major changes had been implemented.  The animation quality was vastly improved.  The dark tone of Love and Darph was substituted for a more light-hearted approach.  That is not to say that the makers in any way comprised their vision; just that it was all delivered in a brighter, more agreeable package.

  Chode, Gus, and Six all returned, though with some alterations.  Chode was virtually the same, though much of the nastiness evident in Love and Darph had been leavened.  Gus, who was originally voiced by Chris Moeller, was now performed by Maurice LaMarche.  Six changed most of all.  She was completely redesigned, and was now voiced by Gina Gershon.  The original crew were joined by tri-breasted cow/crab/scrotum/bitch T'Nuk (Gayle Garfinkle), and Chode's lizard nephew, Whip (Rick Jones).  The team was rounded out by Spaceship Bob (John Melendez).  Together they were to boldly (I mean that in the pejorative sense) go where no man has gone before, on a galaxy spanning quest for illicit sex, booze, and mild criminal behaviour.

  A story is only as good as its villain, and Darph Bobo (originally Chris Moeller, now Terrence Scammell), also made a welcome return. 

Darph Bobo is the head of an evil clown empire.  He and Chode are lifelong enemies.  They have known each other since school, and have even served time in prison together.  Darph Bobo is fantastic fun to watch, and is consistently one of the highlights of the show.  He's a twisted psychopath and a bumbling fool.  He philosophy is best summed up when he is training the peaceful Kubrickians (spot the movie reference) to be more warlike; 'In this training exercise, you will learn to kill an enemy in a way that is both painful, and comically amusing!'  Two of the most quotable lines of the series are his, 'Hello, Chode,' and, 'I'll get you, Chode!'  Written down, they have no power, but when delivered properly, they always provoke a laugh.
  There is a secondary opponent for Chode and his crew, in the form of Captain Adam, a limp William Shatter spoof.  He is pretty bland, and thankfully doesn't feature too often.

  Each episode of Tripping The Rift is cobbled together with references to the multitude of sci-fi movies and TV shows that have inspired the film-makers.  That, and innuendo.  There is no point talking about the episodes from a narrative point of view, as the story is only there to give the characters something to react to, and then move us along to the next gag.  It is the characters, and how they respond to the different situations they find themselves in, that make Tripping The Rift worthwhile.

  Chode is certainly the strongest character.  He is a completely selfish sex pest, but the writers, coupled with Stephen Root's performance, invest him with a surprising amount of heart, without ever descending into schmaltz.  Gus is a caricature of C-3P0, who despite his over the top camp behaviour, insists he isn't gay.  Six is the straight woman, a sex android with a conscience.  She provides the moral voice, at least, she tries to.  T'nuk is basically a horrible and vain bitch.  Her full name is T'Nuk Layor, which spelt backwards is 'royal kunt.'  Nuff said.  Spaceship Bob is their agoraphobic star ship.  He is prone to panic attacks, and his droll attitude gives the impression that he's really not that keen on being a space ship at all.  Then there's Whip, who is just a waste of space.  That isn't a character trait - the character himself is just a waste of space.  He is underdeveloped, and is nothing but a generic stoner teen.  You could edit him out and loose nothing.

  For straight up sci-fi comedy, one can look no further than Futurama or Red Dwarf.  What gives Tripping The Rift its edge is that it can go places those shows can't.  It works best when it is at its most offensive.  There are moments that are laugh out loud funny simply because you can't believe what you are seeing.  While it is certainly crude, it is so over the top, and performed with such affable cheek, that's it's hard to take offence.  The series doesn't pretend to take any moral stance.  Sure, there are some episodes that touch on having a message, but it is usually undermined with a crude joke.  There is no po-faced Prime Directive here; Tripping The Rift has a puerile directive, plain and simple.

  Like most cult entertainment, Tripping The Rift either appeals to you, or it doesn't.  There is no middle ground.  Here is your check list.  Print it out, laminate it, and keep it in your wallet, so that should you have a horrible accident, and end up in a coma, the nurse will know whether or not she should take advantage of you.

Sci-fi	Yes/No?
Dick jokes	Yes/No?
Scatological humour	Yes/No?
Boobs	Yes/No?
Clowns	Yes/No?

If you're not saying yes to at least two of those, then this ain't for you.  Perhaps you should play it safe, and watch 7^th Heaven instead.  If however you find yourself saying 'Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!' then Tripping The Rift is at least worth a look.  Series 1 is only okay - it has its some stand out moments, but can drag at times - but it is just the beginning, and better things are to come!

  Here are the Series 3 opening titles.  I didn't rip Series 1's, as they are in German on my DVD.  These are basically the same as Series 1, but they were redone for Series 3 with fancier graphics.  They give a brief glimpse of the main characters, and clearly set out the spoof nature of the show:

Lastly, I want to talk to you about a special little place I like to call Germany.  Much like when I was trying to get my hands on Clownhouse, the only place I could find a Region 2 version of Tripping The Rift was through the German branch of Amazon*.  It seems that if you're looking for anything in this world, Germany is the place to find it.  Between that, and the fact that Berlin is one of the coolest cities on Earth, Germany, you rock!

Next up, I'm going to iron out some of The Kinks in this blog.

* The DVD is in German, though it is easy to navigate your way to the English dub.