Code Monkeys

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

PLAYER 1 START!

Travel back in time with us, to the early 1980s, The Golden Age of Video Games. In those days, men were men, women were women, and "high-end graphics" were ones in which the sprites were more than one color.

This is the setting for G4's animated Sitcom Code Monkeys, which revolves around the antics at Gameavision, a fictional video game company. Aside from Jerry, an amiable Joe Average game programmer who's more than a bit of a pushover, Jerry's mischievous, obnoxious friend Dave, and Mary, the put-upon sole female programmer, most of the crew at Gameavision are crazy, stupid, or some combination of the two. There's Mr. Larrity, a hot-headed, money-grubbing, borderline insane Texas millionaire who becomes Gameavision's owner in the premiere episode and shows a fondness for wildly complicated schemes; Mr. Larrity's dimwit jock son Dean; Todd, a fat, narcissistic, and often creepy uber-geek; "Black Steve", the ill-tempered accountant and token black guy; Clarence, the outrageously gay audio designer who always talks in a sing-song voice; Clare, the flirtatious receptionist; and Benny, a mouthy, hyperactive Korean kid who lives in the basement and works as a play tester.

Much of the show's humor comes from spoofing not only the video game industry, but Video Game Tropes as well. The animation style is entirely in 8-bit style pixel art (resembles River City Ransom sprites), complete with status bars at the top and bottom of the screen that display absurd things depending on the action in the show (like a health meter that decreases when someone gets injured or killed, or a "BORING" meter that fills up whenever someone, usually Jerry, makes a needlessly dramatic speech).

Sadly, Code Monkeys only lasted two seasons (2007-2008), with the first season on DVD. Though the theme song lives on as Film Master Adam's Review show.


Tropes used in Code Monkeys include:
  • Anal Probing: Todd and Dean get abducted by aliens in one episode and are anally probed while forced to suck on a strange mechanical appendage.
  • Ax Crazy: Mr. Larrity.

Dave: Jerry, Larrity is crap-house crazy; he snacks on venison pops, he might just kill us one day for taking the last diet soda or passing out flyers for a rager at his house--I don't know!
Jerry: That was you?!
Dave: Do you really need to ask?

  • Big Damn Heroes: Dave (Who was presumed dead) and a former Protendo game programmer jump in when Larrity faces Matsui, Protendo's leader, on the company's rooftop when they came to rescue Benny in the Season 1 finale.
  • Bilingual Bonus: Takeda's brother (forgot his name) actually speaks perfect Japanese. Subverted with Noshi discussing the "merger" over the phone; he was actually speaking in English. The subtitles are just there for the sake of being there.
  • Black Comedy Rape: Both Todd and Dave get raped by KITTY. Also, the episode "Super Prison Breakout" contains numerous rape jokes.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: most of the cast
  • But Not Too Black: Averted. Black Steve's rap group, "Black Steve and the Black Attack Squadron (Honky Killers International), featuring Blackie Blackerson", receives thunderous applause from the all white crowd.
  • Content Warnings: Spoofed. The show contained a different gag disclaimer at the beginning of each episode, such as this one from "Super Prison Breakout":

This Show...
A) Contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences.
B) Might use the word (beep) a lot.
C) Rocks.
Viewer Discretion is advised.


GAME OVER