By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Back in 2014, America collectively wept. THE AQUABATS! SUPER SHOW!, one of the greatest shows of all time, ended because THE HUB Network went under. Though, I was still fortunate enough to see them in concert, which was amazing, I desperately missed seeing their adventures play out in episodic form.
For those who never saw the show, it followed the rock band as they saved the world from big monsters and evil villains, while telling the weekly tales in a hilarious fashion.
Despite it being gone for nearly 5 years, the fans of the show never stopped hoping that somehow, someway, it would come back. The fandom’s dedication is easy to understand for anyone who has ever seen THE AQUABATS! SUPER SHOW!
Partially, it’s the plethora of film references that horror and sci-fi fans clamor for. Whether it was the homage to JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING (1982), their nod to WESTWORLD (1973), long before HBO brought it back, or their tribute to LAZERBLAST (1978), among many others, THE AQUABATS gave cult film fans, like myself, something to feel connected with once again.
More than that, it was created in family-friendly form. That gave parents a unique opportunity to find something, that they not only could share with their kids, but something they enjoyed just as much. I remember when my niece and nephew fell in love with the show, my thought was, “YES! Good taste does run in the family! Take that, CAILLOU, you piece of shit!”
The great comedy, great antagonists, better protagonists, cool premises and the brilliant send-ups to great films, still doesn’t even touch on the kick-ass music. THE AQUABATS are a legitimately awesome band. They play songs from different genres, but there’s no question, that they have the heart of a punk band. They are probably the only band that has been legit punk, in the last 20 years. They are just authentically badass.
When I heard there was a fundraiser going on to bring them back for not only another album, but more episodes, I was more than thrilled. To put it in perspective, when the hubby came to me and said, “I donated to their KICKSTARTER. I hope that’s okay” my reaction was, “They’re THE AQUABATS. You could have given them our house.” I was on eggshells watching the cash-flow grow. When the six guaranteed mini-episodes turned to twelve, I cheered aloud.
Yesterday, I watched their live-stream, which was fantastic; despite me having to turn to FACEBOOK as YOUTUBE shut it down. Why did they do that, you ask? Because they’re morons, that’s why. They cut it citing copyright infringement of THE AQUABATS own show. Seriously, YOUTUBE needs to get their act together. Nonsense like this makes me want to cancel my RED membership.
Despite, YOUTUBE acting like fools, THE AQUABATS fans came out in droves. The end result was over $650K! One thing I will say about watching it on FACEBOOK was that the ability to connect to other fans during the broadcast was a really fun experience. It says something that as the rest of the world is yelling at each other with such vitriolic hatred, there was a good number of us saying “F’ that noise! We’re hanging with THE AQUABATS and having fun,” and that’s what we did. We chatted and had a blast discussing our genuine adoration for the group and the show.
Afterward, I headed to my brother’s house for a small gathering that was held outside. I was telling him about how great the KICKSTARTER went, when from the window on the second floor, my 8-year-old niece appeared. She yelled out, “That’s awesome. I love The Aquabats!” and in all honesty, that perfectly sums up my sentiment, too.
Hopefully, these 12 eps generate enough heat where some network or streaming channel will pick up the show permanently. As a country, we need to have fun again; and I can say from personal experience, nothing is more fun than THE AQUABATS! SUPERSHOW!
