If there's one piece of media that best captures our modern consumer habits, it's definitely Adult Swim's short music video "« "Too many cooks"» . It's an 11-minute music video that begins like a classic family sitcom theme song, then quickly devolves into sci-fi, crime dramas, medical dramas, and even slashers before finally concluding. The song itself is about how, when there are too many cooks in a pot, everyone loses the thread of the narrative, and then we just have to deal with it.
This segment first aired on October 28, 2014, during Adult Swim's infomercial block, debuting at 4:00 AM. Seeing it live, I remember wondering what the hell I'd eaten before bed, and then when I looked it up the next day, it all made sense. It wasn't a fever dream, but it felt like one. As you fall asleep and wake up, it seems like just a series of nonsensical, illogical sentences, but the more you analyze it, the more obvious it becomes that this segment, written and directed by Casper Kelly, was more prophetic than anyone could have expected.
Too Many Cooks 2014
It's hackwork, but it's satirical hackwork. Looking back, it seems like a warning shot.
Making a stew requires a lot of effort, a pinch of salt and, of course, laughter. !
Series «"Too many cooks"» It starts like any other family sitcom from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. A saccharine, upbeat song plays, and the main characters are introduced. The problem is, the characters just keep coming. It just goes on and on. First, a typical family. Then a talking cat puppet. Then we're introduced to the residents of the neighborhood. And suddenly, you start to notice that one guy has been lurking in the background this whole time, and he turns out to be a serial killer, ready to commit a bloody massacre.
Too Many Cooks 2014
The short film introduces the viewer to every conceivable genre, and the characters keep appearing. Worse, everyone who lives in «"Too many cooks", They vaguely realize they're trapped in an endless sitcom intro loop, with no escape. The glowing floating nameplates of the characters are actually real and following them. This becomes especially unsettling when a damsel in distress hides from a crazed killer in her closet, and suddenly her nameplate begins glowing through the cracks in the door.
In the film «"Too many cooks"» The darkest scene is when a girl runs across the set, and the music fades in and out depending on her location. This creates a Doppler effect, which becomes much more unsettling when listening with headphones. Everything feels real, as if you're running for your life, while a cheerful song wafts from the next room, as if it's laughing at you.
Too Many Cooks 2014
The situation becomes truly absurd when Too Many Cooks completely goes into the genre «Battlestar Galactica» , introducing a whole sci-fi concept where a serial killer is now roaming space, and COOKS stands for Cybernetic Operational Optimized Knights of Science, who protect humanity from the Beast Rebels of the Hellscape (BRoTH), with the slogan: "When it comes to the future, you can never have too many cooks.".
Too many chefs predicted a conformity scandal.
Too Many Cooks 2014
«"Too many cooks"» — a prime example of what happens when too many people are involved in one project. Without a hint of irony, it reminds me of season five. «"Stranger Things.". What began as a simple Netflix space horror series with a solid cast playing on our fear of the unknown suddenly named its main antagonist Henry and made him a strange, tentacled, tree-like monster. The mysterious Upside Down, which had robbed Hawkins, Indiana, of its safety and innocence, suddenly acquired dozens of rules and explanations, none of which made sense. It all continued to escalate, becoming increasingly absurd, convoluted, and insane, completely unaware that the storyline had fallen apart after the third season.
Suddenly, the cast was overwhelmed by supporting, minor, and minor characters playing increasingly significant roles, leaving little room for the growing staff of writers, producers, directors, guest stars, and production designers to properly organize. The situation became so dire that by the time the show finally wrapped, «Stranger Things» Half the fans suffered a psychotic break, picking apart every error in the sequence of events and using it as "evidence" to suggest that a secret series finale was actually being prepared that would somehow fix everything. The infamous episode on our screens, known as "The Gates of Conformity.".
Too Many Cooks 2014
That's the play on words. That's the joke. Too many cooks in the same pot, and what started out as one thing has become something else entirely. Over the course of 11 minutes, this transition happens gradually at first, but then crashes down into a surreal void of madness that never ends and makes no sense. «"Too many cooks"» It's funny in itself, but when you look at the whole situation and how shows are being scrapped and written collectively these days, it definitely looks like one writer's desperate attempt to warn us about what was coming, and we didn't listen.
Too Many Cooks 2014
It is quite natural that episode "Too Many Cooks" »", which can be viewed on Adult Swim's YouTube channel, feels like a show that ran its course long ago but never quite made up its mind to end. After all, it's been 12 years, and we're still getting new episodes. «The Simpsons» .
Too Many Cooks 2014