Superjail (Cartoon Network)

common sense media says

Ultra-violent jailhouse cartoon is NOT for kids.


parents & educators say
  • 71% say violence is an issue
  • 57% say sexual content is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this hyper-violent cartoon definitely isn't meant for kids. Blood and gore flow freely as the characters engage in extremely brutal combat; scenes include dismemberment, impalement, and more. The jail setting also has plenty of sexually charged images (often involving stereotypically gay characters), including nudity, violent sex, group sex, and one female character with such obviously male traits that she's either a transsexual or in drag -- her ambiguous sexuality makes some other characters lust after her. Some episodes feature drinking; one character is a recovering alcoholic who's urged to fall of the wagon, to disastrous results.

Positive messages: Don't look for any positive take-aways here; the show revels in its hyper-violent, sexualized content and doesn't make any attempt to convey anything remotely positive.
Positive role models: The prison's supposed authority figures spend little to no time
actually managing the prisoners, some of whom seem free to wander the
facility as they please. Both the prisoners and guards routinely use
extreme violence to avenge slights and maintain order, while the Warden
seems unconcerned with anything other than his own entertainment and
his infatuation with Alice.
Violence: Characters routinely engage in savage, gruesome fights using a variety of weapons and sometimes just their bare hands. Heads, arms, and legs are pulled off; people are impaled, cut in two, and worse; and there's plenty of blood and guts. Some fights occur in anger with little provocation, while others are staged for entertainment. The show seems to revel in its ability to shock -- all of this is animated, but it's still quite gruesome.
Sex: Some animated nudity, and plenty of sexually charged situations and imagery. There are almost no women in the jail's world, and several scenes suggest homosexual behavior using stereotypical images -- including violent jailhouse encounters and group sex. One guard character appears to be either a man in drag or a transsexual; the show doesn't specify, but it does base some plotlines on Alice's mysterious sexuality.
Language: Few actual swear words, though there are plenty of sexually suggestive phrases.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: A fair amount of drinking, sometimes to excess, that leads to impulsive behavior. One character, a recovering alcoholic, is mocked for trying to abstain and finally falls off the wagon.

More on Superjail

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about who this show is designed to appeal to. How would you describe its target audience?
  • Do you personally find it funny, or does it cross the line? Who determines where "the line" falls in the first place?
  • Media depictions of prison vary dramatically, from brutal places where violent acts like rape and murder are commonplace to less-threatening environments in which people try to better themselves. Which do you think is more realistic? Where does this show fit into this spectrum?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Prison is supposed to be unpleasant, but it's hard to imagine that any penitentiary is as horrible as SUPERJAIL. This animated series takes place in an institution where gruesome death matches between prisoners are considered entertainment, the guards pay little attention to misbehaving prisoners, and recovering addicts are encouraged to drink heavily. The show focuses largely on the misadventures of the Warden (voiced by David Wain), who spends little time attending to his duties and instead cooks up schemes to win the attention of Alice (Christy Karacas), a guard of ambiguous sexuality. The Warden's assistant, Jared (Teddy Cohn), serves as an enabler, helping carry out one half-baked plan after another.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
Even among its fellow over-the-top Adult Swim shows, Superjail stands out for its violent imagery. In scene after scene, characters attack each other a wide variety of lethal weapons. Arms, legs, and heads are severed. Bodies are impaled, crushed, and cut into pieces. And, as blood and guts gush out, other characters watch with glee.

There's lots of sexual content as well; though little of it falls into the category of explicit nudity or sexual activity, it's hard to miss the suggestions of violent prison rapes and the clichéd portrayals of jailhouse homosexuals. Superjail seems determined to offend, and it does.

TV themes & details

TV Details
TV Rating: TV-MA
Network: Cartoon Network
Cast: Christy Karacas, David Wain, Teddy Cohn
Genre: Comedy
Where to watch: Cartoon Network

This review was written by Will Wade
 
 

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What parents & educators say

14
Based on 14 parent & educator reviews:
  • 71% say violence is an issue
  • 57% say sexual content is an issue
  • 43% say language is an issue
  • 43% say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking
  • 29% say there are positive role models

Most useful reviews by all members

jacustjack@yah ...
kid, 10 years old
 
Good for anyone over 9
This show is really good. It contains occasional language and some animated violence. But most of it is something most people 9-11 can handle.

 
I want season 2 already!
Honestly if you don't like Superjail, then don't watch it or let your kids watch it. Don't whine about it. If people feel up to it and mature enough to watch it, then they will watch it. Some can appreciate the surreal art, and lack of plot and some people can't, simple as that.

HWADOB
teen, 14 years old
 
Don't you dare show kids this show.
This show is absolutely inappropriate in every-way. Seriously. But, the 1 1/2 episodes I've seen have left me wanting more, it's completely addictive, all the colors and the crazy smooth animation, the absolute quirky and unique-ness set it apart from other Adult Swim shows *sigh* I wish I would be allowed to watch it :( But I even I know that it's completely inappropriate for someone my age and even a little bit older for me to watch

RatedM_R
parent of 8 and 14 year old
 
Junior luvs this show, her fav is The Warden. To me Jared never disobey's a good role model, violence marries this show. my husband hates alice.

 
Wonderful show! I always watch it with my 10 and 15 year olds whenever it comes On Demand. We get tons of laughs out of it. Sometimes, though, I worry that my boys see the Warden as a little too much of a rolemodel. They always end up acting out his scenes with Alice and Jared; from hilariously awkward sexual encounters to cruel beatins for misbehaviour. My husband and I usually get a laugh out of it.

uvkitty
teen, 16 years old
 
Very imaginative
Love the show, but too violent for young viewers.

Metropolisforever
teen, 16 years old
 
Dreadful, Dreadful Trash; Not for Anyone with a Brain
This dreadful piece of garbage is yet another one of Adult Swim's pathetic attempts to ante up the "shocking", "edgy" factor in their shows. While the creators of "Superjail!" really do try to be as offensive as humanly possible, it isn't shocking. It's just pathetic. If you're going to joke about prison rape and cancer, AT LEAST make it FUNNY. But no. The [as] crew is trying so hard to be "shocking" and "subversive" that they forgot to be funny. There is nothing even remotely amusing about any of this garbage. It's just 12 minutes of senseless, grotesque cartoon violence, loud noises, tasteless "jokes", and credits. If the creators were trying to be offensive, they failed. If they were trying to be funny, they REALLY failed. Don't waste any of your time on this sad, sorry excuse for a cartoon. Seriously. I mean it. Don't do it.

Ericasdinardo
kid, 11 years old
 
Good help me!
I had be flipping the channel and my remote broke it had been late at night so I didn't want to wake up anyone an I was on a channel that had been having Super jail on it I when to sleep ,Thank god, but I watched some of it and it was bad I can't erase it out of my memory and that a bad thing :(

MarinFan
parent
 
x-rated, but funny,
AWESOME show I want all the season 3 already and they didn't even AIR it yet, it has extreme graphic violence and explicit sex which gives the entire show a TV-MA V there's alot of Beer Drinking and bleeped words, but very smoothly animated and good for college kids

Allysapi
kid, 12 years old
 
Kind of disturbing
This show has ALOT of violence.Parents may want to watch a bit before letting kids watch this

 
SuperJail
I think superjail is a show that is ok for kids in collage.

HTFMime
teen, 16 years old
 
Prepare for extreme violence!
I watched this show last night and it was so violent as hell! I thought I was going to have nightmares forever! At first I thought this show would be great but it was just way too violent especially the part where the warden grab a cat and then rip its skin off! Oh that was so bad to watch! :(

 

 
Horrible
This Tv show is terrible, it isn't the slightest bit funny, it is the biggest waste of time, and to find it funny you have to be tripping on acid

PenguinFan
teen, 16 years old
 
Like Happy Tree Friends, but not clever or cute
What can I say...blood, blood, some nudity, more blood, and some more blood on top! The characters are all really ugly and none of them have any likeable personality traits, I really hate the Warden especially. Apart from the blood, there is a lot of nudity, a few times you can even catch some bare breasts, although they usually censor nudity with a black bar. This show can be amusing one or two times, like if you've never seen it before it's kind of entertaining, but watching it any more than that is a no-no. Like I say in the title, I would compare it most to Happy Tree Friends, but while that show is amusing, cute and nice to look at, and funny (sometimes not even having to resort to gore for humor!) this show is dark, ugly and just makes me want to change the channel. Maybe if the characters weren't all so nasty and disturbing I would give it another chance but no, it's not happening with me.

JacobIsaac
teen, 14 years old
 
A crazy, funny, fast-paced show
This is currently my favorite animated show. It may be short, but it's the most entertaining 12 minutes I've spent watching tv.

SuperHTF
teen, 16 years old
 
Sweet!
Their are SOME positve messages like not to get weed wacked...But yeah total bloodyness and Awesomeness!!!!!!!

Frylock
teen, 14 years old
 
Very bouring and adult.
I watched it for one minute and then I turned it off. It was so random and bouring and adult. Skip it.

hamstergurl09
teen, 17 years old
 
The Only Part I Liked Was The Vegetable Garden
The only part of this show I liked was a 14 second long scene in one of the episodes that has been dubbed "The Vegetable Garden." In this scene the vegetables realize that they're going to be killed and the lettuce says that it doesn't make sense and then they're run over by a lawn mower.

xxzbxld
teen, 15 years old
 
it probably encourages violence to people with impressionable minds.
who the hell would watch this. It is boring and i have no idea why anyone is interested in this show it is just violent and there is almost no plot to any of the episodes. I watch alot of other violent animated tv shows but those shows actually have a storyline to the episodes. I personally like most of the adultswim tv shows. This show is all blood and people getting killed. It think it is fine for most people to watch violent cartoons if there is a reason for why they are being violent even if it is a really stupid reason.

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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