Patti SmithVenerated cult-favourite animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force said goodbye after an incredible 13 seasons this past weekend, bringing to a close one of the most decorated — and longest-running — Adult Swim series to have graced the late-night Cartoon Network programming block since its launch back in 2001.
Over its run, Aqua Teen Hunger Force — aka Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, aka Aqua Something You Know Whatever, aka Aqua TV Show Show, aka Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever — pioneered a whole new school of absurdist animated comedy, its surrealism, rapid-fire jokes and prevalence of non-sequiturs totally disrupting the legacy of the comedy of bygone decades in a way achieved by only a handful of other shows in history.
It makes all kinds of sense, then, that in order to give its veteran program a fitting funeral, Adult Swim conscripted the talents of lauded punk-rock icon Patti Smith, who lent her iconic vocals to a haunting, piano-driven elegy for the squad, Aqua Teen Dream. Appearing in the show's final-ever episode, The Last One Forever & Ever (For Real This Time) (We Fucking Mean It), the song is a relatively understated way to farewell one of TV's most unapologetically unpredictable series but, for some reason, it feels right.
