Is Adult Swim’s Birdgirl a solid spinoff to Harvey Birdman?
The landscape of Adult Swim has changed a lot since it was introduced in 2001. While the channel has yet to hit its 20-year mark, it has evolved in many ways. In particular, the network actually became its own thing, rather than just being a small segment on Cartoon Network. It has truly become its own beast in a sense but still, the legacy of the network lives on even though things have changed.
In particular, one of the network’s first series was Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law which follows the adventures of Harvey Birdman, a former Hanna-Barbera superhero turned lawyer who handles the law cases of famous cartoon characters. While Harvey was the main focus of the series, there were also some side characters who helped round out the cast such as Peanut, Phil Ken Sebben, and Judy Ken Sebben aka Birdgirl.
While the show has been off the air since 2007, it still has a decent following. Recently, we saw Harvey return to the small screen with a special entitled Harvey Birdman: Attorney General which saw him serving as President Phil Ken Sebben’s attorney general. In 2021, we saw a revival but not with Harvey at the center of it. Rather, the show is focusing on Judy Ken Sebben and is entitled Birdgirl.
Before talking about the show’s pilot episode, it’s only fair to preface this by saying this is not a direct sequel to Harvey Birdman. Rather, this is a spinoff following the events of the first series but focusing on entirely new characters. With Judy at the helm, the series has a wild array of subjects and topics it couldn’t cover with Harvey. No worries if you haven’t watched as there won’t be any spoilers.
If you’re a fan of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, should you give Birdgirl a chance?
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Before getting into the answer to the big question, it would only be right to talk about the similarities between Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law and Birdgirl. While it isn’t a sequel, the two shows are connected so it makes sense.
For the similarities, the two shows share similar humor with most of the humor coming via the titular character. Additionally, Birdgirl is already setting up a solid ensemble cast as its predecessor did. Thirdly, the two shows are completely absurd and don’t have a problem, making fun of themselves when necessary. Those are just three ways the shows are alike but let’s get into how they differ.
The stark difference between Birdgirl and Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is the animation style. Clearly, Birdgirl is going for a more computer-animated style and that won’t be for everyone, but it’s not as distracting as some might think.
Secondly, the episodes of Birdgirl have a 30-minute runtime while Harvey Birdman only had a 15-minute runtime, a stark difference especially when it comes to the plot of the episodes. Last but not least, Birdgirl doesn’t rely on well-known characters as the previous series did.
Ultimately, it’s easy to figure out if you’re going to enjoy the show. If you’re going into the series expecting a Harvey Birdman reboot, then you’re in the wrong place. Birdgirl is not an exact replica of its predecessor. Rather, the show does feature Birdgirl in the titular role but it really ends there. Aside from the humor, the two shows are completely different and it’s clear that not everyone is going to enjoy it as it isn’t a carbon copy of the original series.
As far as the first episode of a new series though, it wasn’t a bad episode. The pilot does a great job of introducing Birdgirl and giving us some good backstory into Judy. The show also introduced us to a solid ensemble cast and hopefully, they will be as beloved as the characters in the previous series.
The plot was decent and it felt like the show wasn’t trying to do too much. It still paid homage to the original while standing on its own and that’s exactly what a good spin-off does.
Birdgirl airs Sundays on Adult Swim at midnight.
What did you think of Birdgirl? Do you think that it’s a solid spinoff to Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law? Be sure to let us know in the comments!