Raunchy Adult Animated Series on Peacock Is an Underrated Classic

If you’re a big fan of adult animated comedies like BoJack Horseman, South Park, or The Boondocks, there’s a small chance that you grew up watching shows like Code Monkeys on cable as a kid. Code Monkeys is an underrated hidden gem which premiered on the now-defunct G4 channel, offering some of the most foul-mouthed, raunchy jokes ever made for TV. Today, both seasons of the video game-inspired series are available to stream on Peacock.

An Unrestrained Fever Dream

If you’ve never seen or heard of Code Monkeys before, the show will probably sound like a fever dream to you. If you are already familiar with the unrestrained cartoon, this is probably the first time you’ve thought about it in nearly two decades. Personally, I’ve never met another person who was aware of the series in real life, though I’m given to understand that there are dozens of us. Code Monkeys was one of my favorite shows when I was a foul-mouthed, trouble-causing, video game-playing youth, and surprisingly, some of it still holds up today.

A nostalgic look back at classic video games

Arcade Style Adult Humor

Sure, some of Code Monkeys’ jokes are incredibly dated, reliant on uncomfy racial stereotypes, and require the viewer to have pop culture knowledge of the early 80s gaming industry, but the jokes still hit hard. The entire series, which centers on a gang of video game developers in the 1980s, is stylized to look like a 16-bit arcade game, complete with health bars, stats, and tons of other Easter eggs in the border margins of the screen.

Dave’s Wild Antics

The series serves as a passion project of former Jimmy Kimmel writer Adam de la Peña. De la Peña created, wrote, and directed every episode of Code Monkeys, and even lent his voice to one of the show’s main characters, the laid-back philanderer Dave. Dave is the source of the show’s most crude moments, as he has an unyielding obsession with partying, drug use, and hooking up with strippers, and often relies on his perpetually anxiety-ridden best friend Jerry to complete his work.

The show’s humor is not for the faint of heart

A Hidden Gem Worth Watching

Though Code Monkeys was considered a success on G4, Adam de la Peña has since gone on to create mostly online content, pivoting to outlets such as YouTube, MSN, and Xbox Live. While his other projects are certainly fascinating and entertaining in their own right, I personally would be head-over-heels for another Code Monkeys-style project on streaming, especially if the humor is a little more mature. The show may have flown under the radar for many viewers, though it’s incredible visuals, hilarious plot-lines, and deep-cut pop culture references from the dawn of the video game industry make Code Monkeys a cut above the rest.

If you’re looking for a wild ride full of raunchy humor and 80s nostalgia, look no further than Code Monkeys on Peacock.