How Moral Orel was BETRAYED by Adult Swim and Was Cancelled

[@Saberspark]

Boy was I wrong about this show

[@psychonautism]

first

[@Amour742]

Second

[@3morecharacters]

Third

[@Spacepack]

Hi Fourth

[@hildrid9336]

Gay

[@nbewarwe]

When Adult Swim asked for darker content, they probably expected it to be like Robot Chicken and Family guy, where the 'dark' stuff is actually just more swear words and gore. But instead they got the darkest type of content of all: Real life problems.

[@geministrial950]

Exactly

[@strayiggytv]

Adult swims idea of "dark" at the time was just "offensive". Swear words gross out humor and down punching jokes. Morel orel wasn't punching down and in some parts it wasn't even joking.

[@grimsonforce7504]

Yep that's why I don't watch American animated shows. Besides the horrible art styles almost everything is childish humor, gags, with some bits of moralization thrown in.

[@RiveroftheWither]

I mean, the Bible is a really dark, f'ed up book so I don't the AS was aware of that

[@Elvusmiw]

@The wock no it isn't

[@callsigncoyote7931]

One of my favorite stories I’ve heard about the show is when the head of Adult Swim read the script for “Alone”, he said “What is this, there’s barely any jokes”. The writer asked “Where are the jokes, I’ll take them out”.

[@schwarzwald6672]

That's amazing as fuck lmao I would not put it past the folk who made it to do just that.

[@milqvy]

Love this. SA is never taken seriously in adult shows. It’s usually used as a joke.

[@ssunsspott]

Speaking of, it's frustrating that Family Guy in comparison did not handle the topic of SA well at all

[@callsigncoyote7931]

@@ssunsspott Family Guy and it’s consequences have been a disaster for adult animation

[@xiaokodama]

@@callsigncoyote7931 i would not hesitate to pull a Kaczynski on McFarlane

[@JH-uh9zc]

I'm a Christian, and I grew up watching it while in college. I loved it. I never really saw it bashing Christianity, but critiquing how people manipulate the Bible to their own needs. That along with attacking the zealous wannabe Christians who go overboard to hide their own sins.

[@mmmmmmmmfood]

agreed

[@finno-american]

mora orel purposedly make fun of protestants

[@VinnyMartello]

That’s an interesting take.

[@ddjsoyenby]

exactly, and how this hurts the people and everyone around them.

[@DefenDefault4]

Indeed

[@polter_z]

It’s not ripping on Christianity. It’s ripping on people who use Christianity to justify their shitty actions.

[@georgewilliamson5667]

Orels arc throughout the entire show is such a perfect example of the shows entire theme and thesis (which makes sense considering he is the main character.) As he grows he learns that his faith is not the enemy like so many may tell him, but it's actually the "false prophets," those people around him who forgo the implicit messages of Christianity about love and justice and humility in favor of using it to manipulate and control. In the end he learns to embrace his faith, while also leaving behind all the toxicity he was raised around to become a good, upstanding man who's faith doesn't control others but uplifts both himself and those around him, regardless of weather they are believers or not. And I think that's a beautiful message.

[@Pastartes047]

​@@georgewilliamson5667beautifully explained

[@FunAngelo2005]

Like today's MAGA republicans

[@500ccRabbit]

Its both. Lets be honest, they would never do it with muslims

[@MD.Akib_Al_Azad]

​@@500ccRabbitWhy?

[@Game_Erica]

I honestly hate how sexual assault is okay when it's a joke/punchline to a joke like in the second episode of the first season, but when it's taken seriously and from the side of the victim, it's too dark and needs to be taken down

[@hozkahilgarri3936]

Agreed. What a world we live in

[@Pyramanager]

That’s how it is for all crimes. We laugh at killing all the time but if they make it serious, people don’t like it. People don’t like seeing truth

[@garuelx8627]

It's one of the many reasons I stopped watching Family Guy

[@elot5146]

yeah, that pissed me off as well. nobody wins here as far as the show or even the lived reality of survivors. boys and men get laughed at for getting SA'd, and women (if they're even taken seriously and not accused of secretly wanting it or not fighting hard enough) get to suffer in silence because it's "too dark". pretty depressing.

[@lesigh3410]

@@elot5146 But we can change that. The worst thing we can do is to do nothing about it. We can write our own stories, flood the world with them so that this shit gets seen. And if assholes get uncomfortable and tell us to stop? Tell em off.

[@pillowman3740]

Ironic how it’s called Adult Swim, yet they cancelled the most realistically dark show around heavily mature topics

[@pillowman3740]

@im sacred shut up bot

[@pillowman3740]

@just i c e Shut up you subhuman trashy line of code

[@Oh_Jams]

@just i c e it’s all fun and games until the bots copy your comment

[@alinasrullah272]

​@@pillowman3740 i dont think its a bot.

[@stellamariefanboy.6768]

@@alinasrullah272 it is a bot lol

[@DermalextheElf]

I'll never forgive Adult Swim for taking 2 entire seasons of my claymation soap opera away from me.

[@theartchannel6016]

It is kinda like a soap opera.. never thought about it like that.

[@ksnndnfr6101]

Best comment award goes to;

[@Thatonelonelyfrog]

Same I’ll never forgive them 😔

[@elephorofonius]

so much we missed out on

[@TheLocomono9]

Yet grown men play with dolls got what 10 seasons(robot chicken for those not in the loop)

[@jackcarraway4707]

My favorite thing about Moral Orel is that Orel did not renounce his faith. He was shot by his abusive, alcoholic, closet homosexual father that put up a giant facade of being the all-American Christian family man, yet he still remained loyal to God. Most shows would have had him renounce his faith in the end.

[@sirius1696]

Especially since it was his atheistic grandfather who helped set him down on the right path when everyone else failed, yet he still was a devout Christian, well adjusted and happy. Very impressive, truly

[@endieisded]

I really loved that they did that. It reminded me of my own experience.

[@magical571]

well... even a good show about hypocrisy can be hipocritical

[@cool23819]

​@@magical571 how is it hypocritical the show isn't anti Christianity it's anti being a dick and using Christianity to hide it

[@SOBEKCrocodileGod]

@@magical571 in what way is that hypocritical?

[@SpartanBrix]

I’m a Christian, and I absolutely love this show. It didn’t make fun of the faith, it pointed out the hypocrisy in a considerable amount of its followers, those that justify their sins while showing hate towards others for their sins. An example could be Clay being an alcoholic, but then telling Orel to get rid of his dog for loving him “too much.”

[@michaelnally2841]

Many flaws that I don’t think anyone can condone like hypocrisy, being abusive, or alcoholism

[@spookychords4925]

I 100% agree with you. I'm Christian Catholic and I'm fine with jokes on religion but i always felt the average adult animation show does typical low brow jabs at religion. This shows jokes felt more like a satirical mirror.

[@RickyRatte]

The great thing about the show is that it does not critizise religion, it critizises some religious people. The finale shows adult Oral with his family, still christian, but in a healthy way. If the point was "religion bad", they wouldn't have done that.

[@HeatherGg15]

I am too and I whole heartedly agree! This show is just life, honestly, and “holier than thou” Christians are infamous for ignoring the very gritty aspects of life.

[@milktea6676]

I’m Catholic and I fricken love this show 😂

[@XxElectricRainbowsxX]

The final episode showing Orel's family in the future made me cry. I needed that closure and needed to know Orel was going to be okay.

[@ddjsoyenby]

same it was also a fitting ending with orel finally breaking the cycle.

[@Constellationsgonesosoon]

Also his son was wearing his lucky shirt

[@Acorn905]

I've never seen the show and probably never will cus I ain't getting into all of that but im curious so.. is there a way to explain the ending to me in a simple and easy way? 🥲

[@woodlefoof2]

@@Acorn905 hmmm, it is a good show, there are real and dark episodes but they even lay out humor through them. Don’t let the analysis’s intimidate you they by necessity cut out a lot of the humor of the show. BUT with that said. after a very awkward and embarrassing display from clay half confessing to his gay lover but weaseling out while doing so he was outright rejected by him. Essentially ruining everyone’s Christmas they all come home very sad and Orel’s face changes from a child to an adults Then it cuts to him having a happy Christmas with his family while he shows love and affection to his wife and kids.

[@babypolarbear1912]

I like that you also get closure on Block and Shapey too

[@Sm0k3turt]

Adult Swim was like: “yo make it darker it’ll be funny” Moral Orel creator: okay bro lol. *makes insanely dark realistic show* Adult swim: oh Jesus okay that’s too much we’re gonna cancel you now lmao

[@kobra6660]

That's when the show was really getting better adult always does this as soon as a show gets great they kill it off

[@Sm0k3turt]

@@kobra6660 it was just poor management of a show that was misread

[@ringyz]

no way sm0ke

[@walter8025]

😐

[@albertthepeacock8020]

It baffles me that the same company that produced shows like Robot Chicken,Aqua Teen,Squidbillies,Boondocks,YPFIGTH and aired classic Family Guy got cold feet when Morel Orel got "dark "

[@Snoppapa]

If youre ok with rape jokes you need to be ok with people showing the reality and aftermath of it. Im so sad that adult swim couldnt see that. When i saw the nurse scene with her teddy bear i was pretty moved by how good they showed how small situations can be misread and cause you to go back to the bad memories.

[@blueflare3848]

I agree. I mean, I don't really think it's okay to joke about it at all, but if people _must_ do that then they better be okay with seeing the aftermath of it.

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

@blueflare3848 I think that it’s okay if it’s people who have been victims of abuse are using humor as a coping mechanism, but that is an entirely different story than television shows written by a bunch of untraumatized men

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

@sero9673 Look buddy, I’m glad that you’re raising that concern, but that shouldn’t be done right now. That’s not what the conversation is about. This conversation is about the sexual trauma that women face at the hands of men. While a conversation about the sexual trauma of men would be great, bringing it up in a post about women’s trauma is not the place to do it. It can be, but most of the time, people bring it up in a way that implies “this isn’t important, men go through this too, ya know”, and that same tone applies to your comment. If you want to talk about men’s trauma, do it in a way that is relevant, constructive, and fits within the conversation’s context. Your comment does none of those things, so I strongly suggest taking it outside.

[@chocomelo454]

​@@one-onessadhalf3393I think they're trying to say that they hope that the show won't keep that because of the controversy.

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

@chocomelo454 I know, it’s still really annoying though

[@ironicugandan5826]

I love the bit between the priest and his daughter. "I hated your old girlfriend!". "Why cause we were gay?" "No! Cause she was terrible to you!". Paraphrasing. Been a minute since I last saw

[@mimis2082]

Oh my god I absolutely love that moment between stephanie and Rev. Putty! I believe the conservation was about stephanie wishing orel better luck with love since she didn't with the other girl ( I cant remember her name). i think thats when Putty told her that she couldn't compare the two. When she ask why, "is it because we were lesbians" and his response was "No, because she never cared about you..."

[@NeyamRye]

yea

[@chrisrj9871]

A LOT of bigotry comes from christians, and LGBT people have a lot of childhood trauma, before it was decided to be OK in the late 90s, so it's easy to react and point fingers. Romantic/sexual feelings just happen and other people are supposed to care a LOT about other people's feelings and negatively criticize them for it? I WISH more priests were openly cool with it like that, but they're not.

[@ironicugandan5826]

@@chrisrj9871 I never understood the hatred. They not trying to sleep with you! So why hate on the LGBTQs? Even if a centuries old book says too.

[@chrisrj9871]

@@ironicugandan5826 - Funny thing is, a YT channel claims the Bible was mis-translated in 1946: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZuvkGSKjZxkr9E

[@ninjatoriumnova2483]

One of my favorite... gags, I guess, in the show is Clay's relationship with his job. He always talks about how much he hates it in a way that makes it seem like a dead-end job, and then we get the reveal that he's actually the mayor. It's funny, but more than that, it serves to round out his character.

[@islandboy9381]

Being a major of Morelton sounds like the most miserable job.. perfect fit for Clay

[@syrusangi8743]

It also explains why Orel never got in trouble with the law enforcement when Clay gets involved. He uses his mayor influence to sweep everything under the rug n deal with Orel himself.

[@CyberLance26]

I never understood why Clay hates his life so much because it feels like he almost got no real reasons to do so. He does not get along great with his wife yea but it appeared to me like that could have easily been fixed if he was just nicer to her. The only real bad thing about his life to me is that one of his kids is an annoying idiot brat.

[@romanov3937]

Moreltown is a hell hole, the inhabitants are hypocrites and selfish (Clay included) and are a pain to deal with.

[@ddbob1]

Man when I tell you that was a plot twist among plot twist. I nearly died when that was revealed. Like really what the heck clay!?!

[@cactusalucano4013]

I think the worst part about Moral Orel getting cancelled is how there are episodes like God's Chef from the first season which talk about the same topics Alone, the episode that got the show cancelled, but the first season just makes fun of them meanwhile the third season talks seriously about those issues.

[@TemmiePlays]

bc by season 2 all the humor was sucked out. it wasn't even funny or mildly amusing. Completely shifted tones and I don't blame shy exec that wasn't in board with " let's depress our viewers with stuff they didn't sign on for" the show has no jokes past the first few episodes

[@thetea4093]

@@TemmiePlays they were TOLD to be darker. They got darker, and screwed for it? So the SA was fine when it was played for laughs, but not when it was a real issue.

[@goldenlynelslayer4096]

@@thetea4093 if I’m on adult swim I want to laugh not watch politics

[@thetea4093]

@@goldenlynelslayer4096 “SA is a serious issue” isn’t politics, for one. Adult swim has also aired shows such as family guy, which absolutely has political themes, not every episode, but plenty do. So does King of the Hill. It’s nothing new.

[@Anonymous_Gambito]

@@goldenlynelslayer4096 So the more "Adult" a show is, the more braindead it has to be??

[@stargazer1778]

I'm an athiest, and this show actually really helped me get out of my 'angry athiest' stage and let me rebuild some empathy for my more religious peers. I especially loved the episode with the kid who kept questioning the religious people of Moralton and how Orel was able to accept them.

[@auxiliomedesmayocallesevie1718]

I'm catholic and that is really nice. I completely understand why are atheists and don't like Christianity but I'm glad when ppl respect each other, from both sides

[@alexiu_gaming]

i'm also Atheist and honestly the best think i could ever do for myself whas hearing from people that life their religion the right way learning from their religion like Buddhism Christian hindu etc it's nice

[@starlight8115]

Yeah, in real life I usually just see the bad sides of religion, where people manipulate others and such, so it's easy to forget that it can have good sides, it's just harder for people to act upon them because they think that just by being a follower of said religion/following some of its rules, they think they can get away with doing bad stuff. And then there are ridiculous people, like my dad who, deadass, thanks God for finding a parking's spot close to the entrance of the mall 💀

[@foxtheleague4471]

I don’t get why atheist don’t believe in god

[@kaylabrownell1268]

Honestly, same here.

[@bk-lu6ty]

as a sa survivor, I genuinely love moral orel SO much. The episode Alone was so heart wrenching, and being a victim of csa specifically I felt nurse bendy to an extreme degree. The way moral orel spoke about difficult topics like these so well and sculpted these characters is really amazing.

[@EmmyLayton]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who appreciates that from a victim's perspective, I felt they did it so realistically it was like looking into my brain or listening to me describe what my mind is like

[@suneater_zeef050]

"Not you, not you!" is such a real thing I think when looking back on what happened. I hope you guys are doing better now!!! I really appreciated that scene

[@EmmyLayton]

@@suneater_zeef050 I hope you're doing better too hon

[@lainiwakura1776]

I was not, but damn, that episode hit you right in the feels and I would have loved more of it because the topic was treated in a way that most shows refuse to go into. I honestly think the show was going to try to give those characters happy endings, they did with Nurse Bendy when Joe and her were reunited.

[@bk-lu6ty]

@@suneater_zeef050 yes!! that scene hit me SO hard. Never in my entire life have I ever cried (or even gotten close to really) just from watching a show or movie, and that was the first time I've been so close to straight up sobbing. It's so nice/comforting to see this sort of representation in a show like this and just make you feel less alone

[@breadcrumbhoarder]

Something no one mentions but NEEDS to be mentioned is that Nurse Bendy is apparently 25, at least according to the Wiki. Her son Joe is 12. Which means she was 13 when she knew Dr. Secondopinionson. Once I figured that out I no longer felt bad about Joe beating him up lol Edit: apparently she’s 24 which is even worse

[@SpookyGhostpeppers]

It may also explain why she seems to regress into a younger state while "pretending" to be a wife figure to two toys. Despite being teen aged, 13 is still not too far off from being 10. Seeing how two different SA victims deal with their trauma and the complicated relationship with it is deeply interesting and I'm glad the show was able to touch on that as much as it was able to.

[@sansaraee]

@@SpookyGhostpeppers Yeah, what she does is called age regression and it's usually a product of trauma (from a young age).

[@mayateeemm5728]

i think she is actually 24, because she says joe is half her age (edit: she says it in a scrapped script)

[@sunny37436]

She's actually 24.

[@breadcrumbhoarder]

@@SpookyGhostpeppers plus for all we know it could’ve started when she was ten, or even younger. It ended at 12 with Joe

[@zvzoomin807]

When Orel told Clay "You killed it" after he shot the bear I always interpreted it as Orel blaming his father for being drunk and forcing Orel to kill the bear even if Clay wasn't the one who shot it

[@mattie3867]

That's a really good take. It always seemed to me to be just spite, but I really like that take.

[@pompe221]

I never thought of it that way. I thought it was Orel deciding he wasn't going to give Clay the satisfaction, because almost immediately before Orel lies, Clay says something like, "Orel, tell me you killed that bear. Make me proud, son!"

[@emilygordbort7300]

woah thats deep

[@mageyplss]

I interpret it as Orel not wanting to let his father have any pride for him, because he hates him that much

[@JackOfen]

@@mageyplss It's both in a way. Orel isn't exactly lying because it was his father's action that caused the bears death indirectly. But at the same time Orel also didn't want to give Clay any sense of pride.

[@saltybiscuitboy1059]

A show about hypocrites was ended by hypocrites. Irony is a wonderful thing.

[@daniapfel2825]

Yeah !

[@mariokarter13]

Nobody liked it or watched it at the time, and yet it somehow got three seasons. That's not "screwed by the network," that's a pet project that got more chances than it deserved.

[@daniapfel2825]

@@mariokarter13 Stop it ! You say that because you’re not interested by that anyway AND imagine your OWN show is cancelled because for reasons hypocrites you’ll be happy too

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

I find it ironic how Adult Swim managed to get away with the _Rick and Morty_ episode where Morty and Summers tried to chase a sperm, yet _Morel Orel_ got cancelled because of that scene where Nurse Bendy having a mental breakdown with the most disturbing implication.

[@bruhford3954]

Guess realism is too dark for adult swim

[@geministrial950]

Think about how often Family Guy gets away with r8p jokes. Its because sexual assault is only acceptable to these executives when its being used as a joke.

[@meevins]

remember dark content is only okay if it's a joke and being played for laughs clearly

[@bruhford3954]

@@meevins maybe adult swim doesn't necessarily know what actual dark stuff is

[@chaddwickfincher5835]

Yeah and also I found it ironic that Adult Swim is fine with Orel sending his seed to women in their sleep played for laughs in God's Chef but yet were scared of rape played for drama in alone.

[@nateds7326]

You know it's kind of poetic that a show like this got cancelled for basically being to real and speaking the truth. Like, you could almsot say it got... Crucified.

[@davidcadiz8445]

*Drum noise*

[@justampeg4file]

*ba dum tss* I am the one who makes sound effects.

[@SL2797]

> Implying that Christianity is real, which it isn't

[@williek08472]

Boo

[@vampyroteumint]

@@SL2797 actually a lot of Christian beliefs are rooted in true history. It's just exaggerated to fantastical measures by those who didn't know how the world functioned at the time to seem like there really was someone looking after humanity.

[@zaplepikachu]

One thing that I really love about the episode nature and I wish you had mentioned when describing the dark turn, is the moment before Clay realizes there's a dead bear, Orel begs his dad for help, telling his father that he shot Orel and that Orel needs to go to the hospital. Clay instantly dismisses Orel, saying "I don't remember shooting you, so it must've been someone else." Then Clay sees the bear and gets excited, asking Orel to "make him proud" and tell him he shot the bear. I think both that Orel finally realized his father wasn't worth anything as well as trying to see how hypocritical his father would be. Clay refused to take accountability for hurting Orel, claiming having no memory of hurting him meant that he couldn't have done it. Yet when told that he killed the bear, despite having no memory of it because he didn't do it, he instantly believed it. Because hurting the bear could be seen as a good thing, as protecting his weak son. Orel realized that his father would never acknowledge anything he did that hurt anyone else and find some excuse, but will take any opportunity to look good, even if it wasn't him who did it.

[@mageyplss]

wow. That's some heavy child abuse shit.

[@TemmiePlays]

if you actually paid attention, all of Clayton's actions stem from his own child abuse with his terrible father. he was raised to think the only time his dad was proud was when he was hitting his son. it's what causes him to always be mad about everything and he unfortunately passes this on to Orel, who thankfully doesn't pass it on to his kids.

[@Watch-0w1]

@@TemmiePlays If I remember correctly. Clay is responsible for his mother dead. I some point I don't blame his father

[@noahtalbott6243]

I don't think Clay instantly believed that he shot the bear. Something that this show does great (practically perfectly, honestly) is the facial expressions on the characters. When Orel tells his dad that he had killed the bear and not him, he responds by saying "....I did? Hmmm....", while his eyes squint and then roll the other way, as if he is suspicious, then changes the subject. The facial expressions in this show tell a lot about the characters, and I think it's genius because I've never seen an animated show where the facial expressions were done so well. And not just the facial expressions - the use of body language in general was so well done that it's hard to believe that these characters are just clay puppets. Someone on the team must have had an unusually good understanding of body language. Like the only TV show I've seen that is comparable in that aspect is The Sopranos, and it's live action. Genius show and truly one of a kind

[@mageyplss]

@@TemmiePlays the other thing is, wasn't he basically spouled by his mother as well?

[@crazycookie4645]

You know what I like about “Alone“? It shows three different kinds of sexual abuse. A startling number of people think that straight-up rape is the only thing that “counts“ as sexual abuse, but that isn’t even remotely true. Nurse Bendy‘s affairs with the men in town are consensual (except with Joe‘s father, but that’s a whole other story), but being relegated to the town bicycle has left her with no one who actually cares about her, and it’s clear the men that she sleeps with don’t think of her as anything more than a living sex doll for them. She is devalued as an actual person and that has worn away her self worth. Miss Sculptham was outright raped by someone, but because of how sexually repressive the ultra-Christian-conservative town of Moralton is, the rape was her first sexual experience. This has left her feeling deeply conflicted as while she knows what happened is wrong, she still lusts after her rapist anyway and can’t talk to anyone about it. She also got pregnant from the ordeal and had to attempt a coat hanger abortion since there’s no actual medical operation for it in Moralton (no surprise there). Miss Censordoll is a bit different, as while the previous two were about actual sexual acts being inflicted on them, the sexual abuse she was put through involved her sexual organs being taken against her will. Her mother essentially made her undergo the female version of castration when she was a baby, long before she could even understand what was going on, much less refuse the surgery. While it doesn’t excuse her awfulness and hypocritical behavior, the show never attempts to justify her mother’s actions against her, and rightfully so. It’s extremely messed up that her mother had her reproductive system removed regardless of want she may have actually wanted later on. It’s also pretty clear that part of Censordoll’s delusions of being perfect and wanting to control everything around her stems from her trying to cope with the fact that this choice was taken away from her.

[@JuliXenhop]

this mini essay was one of the most descriptive and informative things i've ever read actually

[@Mighter343]

Yeah

[@oh_bruhh]

I hope you don't mind my addition, but I remember seeing some people point out that Miss Sculptham's grandfather and the rapist looked very similar, which may have suggested that she was SA'd by her grandfather when she was younger. Her inability to process the trauma in a healthy way due to being a child and possibly not having anyone to talk to about it (bcs Moralton is Moralton) supposedly led her to try to recreate the experience with the rapist. It's hinted that she "lured him in" for lack of a better phrase, since she dyed her hair to a colour he preferred and said in the newspaper that she purposefully left the door unlocked for him, knowing that was the way he got to other victims

[@fuzzymelon1261]

i also dont think all of bendy's affairs with principal fakey are always consensual. sometimes he just goes for it and she just takes it, rolling her eyes. very sad and probably why she freaked out with the teddy bear.

[@Jacksonrox13]

Wait a second: Joe is the result of rape? Jesus fucking Christ! I always thought his father had a one-night stand with her, then told her to forget about the baby when it was born. That make his situation even more depressing. Now I have absolutely ZERO sympathy when he finally gets the absolute shit beaten out of him at the end of that episode.

[@katlyndobransky2419]

Cartoons for children are allowed to tell stories and teach lessons to children, but the same apparently can’t be done for adults, too… dark comedy grows stale after a while. Nothing is said or done, just weirds people out. But when dark, real life topics are discussed, people’s lives are changed. People grow and learn. Sweeping that under the rug just creates more turmoil. I hope this show has a comeback someday.

[@karolinakuc4783]

Funny how in 90s we got Animals of Farthing Wood as much sad deaths as in Games of Thrones. And also Watership Down got a PG rating when you had brutal deaths, blood, gore, swearing and mentions of rape camps

[@kodabuck225]

​@@karolinakuc4783 i mean, to be fair theres a whole story behind why Water Ship Down got a lower rating, but with the other ones you're totally right yeah.

[@Scarshadow666]

Very true! My guess is that adults can too easily fall into the mental trap of thinking they know a lot more than they really do, or are way more likely to get stuck in their own ways/in their own head compared to children. It's instinctual for kids to be in a mentality of constantly learning new things and being curious about the world around them, because they're relatively new to the world. Adults have to work hard for their own benefit/mental health to get back to a mentality that curious and open to learn more about the world around them (and it's often worth it).

[@housemouseshorts]

@@Scarshadow666 fix the world first then i can work hard for my own benifit. I work hard just to survive in socity right now. I have no time to work hard for mental health...

[@strubberyg7451]

Well, it's not that shows for adult cannot have lessons and such. It's a bit more complicated. Mainly two reasons: 1) It was a different time. Genuine shows were not popular, their genius couldn't be communicated to the big wigs. It was, what, 15 years ago? A lot can change in that time. 2) Lessons for adults are more complicated. You can't do "sharing is caring" for adults, they know this. If you'd try to make a "Friendship is Magic but for adults you'd just get a Happy Tree friends but with a moral at the end, or more accurately, a childish show with adult content. It's especially hard because what would you teach adults? It's not that adults know everything, but the ones doing the education are other adults. Why would adult A know more than adult B? Just because A has access to a budget and a talent to make a show doesn't mean one have something to teach the other, let alone making that message palatable and not preachy. It's obvious to make a shows with morals for children, usually the adults making it have more life experience... In the end, the show was avant garde, which is always some sort of tragedy. It's a shame it didn't get the audience it deserved (and by audience I also mean a TV station that would air it), but at least it got to exist and not be removed from the world...

[@Lucia0361]

When first watching the show, as soon as that one scene between Stephanie and Reverend happened, I just cried a lot, when she said "are we not allowed to be in love because we're two girls ?" And he hit her with the "No, because she never cared about you" it hurts so much to me.

[@SMA2343]

One of the best relationships in the show. God did answer his prayer of a woman in his life. But, God has a good sense of humor and instead sent him a daughter to love and cherish.

[@Lucia0361]

@@SMA2343 A woman who also would not feed into his sexual desires. Truly beautiful

[@RandoSando.]

Forgot to mention that the creators said that bloberta eventually runs away with a policeman and leaves clay. The two genuinely fall in love which might have contributed to shapey and block becoming better people. Basically everyone grows and gets a happy ending except for Clay .

[@DogsandPennies]

What, why just him? He and her both equally sucked, but i’d say he showed far more genuine desire to change then she did

[@bradyblue5269]

Clay wouldn't be nearly as bad if he never met bloberta. She got him into alcohol and rushed him into marriage

[@kymo6343]

@@bradyblue5269 Mmkay. Let's just act like Clay is a brainless baby incapable of making decisions for himself. 9_9

[@bradyblue5269]

@@kymo6343 you... haven't watched the show have you? As I said (and I can't belive I have to repeat myself) is bloberta introduced clay to alcohol, then while he was drunk she punched him in the face and gaslight him into marriage. I said this before and you refuse to listen. Am I Cassandra? Doomed prophet to shout a message that will go unheeded?

[@kymo6343]

@@bradyblue5269 Yeeeeah dude I totally watched a whole video dissecting a show I never even watched. That totally makes sense. Anyways last time I checked "introducing someone to alcohol" doesn't mean you forced them to drink it and keep drinking it. You, bradyblue, are no fkin Cassandra. Prophesy and insisting you're right are two different things.

[@erlenmeyer._flask]

I also love that the series shows how your upbringing isn't your fate. That you can be the one to start something good and leave behind the tragedy you came from. Breaking that cycle of abuse and hurt is arguably the best thing a person can do for themselves and their generations to come.

[@Pollicina_db]

Thats what my parents did and I’m immensly gratefull for it. My parents didn’t really have true parents, my mothers parents were working abroad and my dads father was a drunkard dictator. I’m just glad they enden up being good and kind parents

[@callerunknown]

Yeah, the end made me cry. Really uplifting and inspirational

[@watchingstuff9671]

I'm so happy Moral Orel is finally getting so much attention, which of course, it deserves! At first I only saw random clips of it and found it kind of weird, because it was so out of context. But luckily, just like with BoJack, I was absolutely wrong! I am so happy I gave it a go. It's one of my favourites! I love how some scenes just hit home. Like Bloberta walking out crying, seeing Clay, and immediately stopping due to the family emotions suppression. There's a lot to unpack! Especially with Clay not caring if you're a man or a woman and just treating you bad anyways. He's a horrible, egotistical human being. Some scenes are upsetting, some genuinely funny. It has a perfect balance! Hopefully more people will give it a go! A shame the series had to get cancelled...for the fact that it was too dark aswell.

[@onyx0715]

yes i agree, it would've been nice to see what would've happened if it didnt get cancelled but oh well at least we still have some episodes

[@pyrobytee]

@@onyx0715 Dino released a synopsis of every season 4 episode

[@Uta_Chandra.H]

I don't blame christianity, I just blame the ppl who are too strict with the bible.

[@nemopouncey3827]

we need a movie of it.

[@nemopouncey3827]

they also need to bring venture bros back too and metal apocalypse.

[@Cruznick06]

My mom is one of those people who prevented the cycle of generational trauma. Her family had problems growing up. Nothing extreme, but she KNEW certain things would have been far better if they had gotten family therapy. She recognized the problems that happened in her youth repeating in mine. And she was proactive to get us all into therapy. I thank her for it to this day.

[@Scrofar]

Your mom is great. Bless her heart, and everything she's done for your family.

[@helpmegetto1k4channelnotab78]

Lucky lukcy just got out of a screaming match ish mine offer alleged house search for drugs 😶 not bec there were any bec she's so narcissistic they thought she was on something, two sherrifs.. I'll break it . 😊

[@stellamariefanboy.6768]

Yeah honestly.. there is also Another thing that I've noticed that doesn't get mentioned, which is how people automatically correlate mental health with how an individual processes information. Like yes, it can affect a persons ability to interact with other people and can affect how irrational their resolution's are, but, that doesn't mean everything they think and say is caused by mental health alone. I have friend's who I have hurt but have also hurt me too, who said things they shouldn't have, done things they shouldn't have. Brought up private conversations to people who it shouldn't have been brought up to in the first place. And I am able to recognize those things as a problem because I am aware of the implications that those conversations hold whenever I talk to them.

[@stellamariefanboy.6768]

@Viewer And Than I have friends. Good friend's. Those Who I have burn bridges with that wanted to stay and fight for me but I just kept pushing away. Who I have been irrational to. And who I have twisted words just to help me cope with my feelings and there isn't a day goes by where I didn't wish I handled things differently. And Where I wish I just simply "shed the light" in places I didn't think of doing it before. -Yes Mental Health can initiate a response to either or. But that doesn't mean the actions taken after, are influenced by it alone And so with that in mind, we shouldn't disregard one's experience or belief just because they have a mental illness

[@stellamariefanboy.6768]

@Viewer And yeah. Agreed. Definitely hard to be better if you don't actually know what that "better" looks like. I mean you could look online for different methods or seek mental aid, but if you don't get yourself out of that pre-determined border on whats right or wrong. Than it won't do anything. And instead of understanding it fully, you only interpret a part of the idea. And furthermore only intake the ones you already believed to be true or to be the reason why things happen the way they do. And so you find yourself being back at square one. you try a different method and you realize it isn't effective. And Its not effective because it wasn't true. its not effective because you *haven't actually changed what you believe in, just what you should do with that belief.* I have that problem with my brother. It seems like he isn't a good source of knowledge because he always changes how he feels about things. He looks online constantly and then proceeds to change in accordance with that and I'm just sitting there whilst thats happening not knowing what todo or how I should feel.

[@cklounge2096]

I grew up as a Jehovah’s Witness. We weren’t allowed to celebrate our own birthdays, Christmas, any major holiday, and were quite literally shamed for being close to people who weren’t also witnesses. Family members I grew up close with no longer speak to me because I’m no longer a witness. The last time any of them reached out to me was to send a watchtower (basically a congregation flyer) and a generic letter. Let it be known that they also preach loving thy neighbor and xyz. The hypocrisy, the division, and Lowkey cultish behavior of the congregation drew me to moral Orel. My mother cheated on my dad while she was a witness, and so did my dad, and yet they stayed together for years after the fact because the witness version of the Bible frowns upon divorce. I’ve seen them fight, Ive gotten the short end of the stick many times due to the child/parent imbalance that is naturally engrained in religion. Abuse, emotional, physical, and sexual, always led to the punishment of the victim. My mother and I stayed silent about what we’d gone through with men due to this fact alone. When they finally divorced after my mom left both our house and the faith I was relieved and upset at the same time. It was a confusing few years. When I watched the show, I felt seen despite never even being Christian and no longer a witness. There is not and will probably never be another show that made me feel so understood.

[@kakyoin525]

I feel you :(( I grew up as a Jehovah Witness with mayor religion trauma and I always hated being a Jehovah Witness just because of how stupid I thought the whole thing was. I really see myself in orel a lot

[@Remember_Bubblebutt]

??? But the Bible also says to not commit adultery???? WHAT THE FUCK ???? I feel you man, I don't think I've ever heard of such an unreal level of hypocrisy.

[@vonni508]

Same. Exjw here too! This is my comfort show.

[@trashchannel2456]

@@vonni508Comfort show….. what? Saberspark said 14 years gone? What an incredible impact the show’s had on all of us and more

[@marvelsandals4228]

I'm not sure if the creators or writers behind this show were Christians growing up, but it FEELS like someone involved must have been intimately familiar with the world they were parodying. It routinely feels too real, too raw, to just be the joke of a typical run of the mill liberal atheist poking fun at those goofy Christians, no I don't buy it, someone involved was Orel when they were a kid, they LIVED this, they know it. If you know, you know. The whole theme of Orel just being a naïve, impressionable, optimistic little kid being lied to, abused, and exploited for being too trusting and too young to know better or do anything about it, again it sounds like an autobiography. I can't help but compare this show to the Simpsons back in the old days when it was still relatively fresh and pushing the envelope in terms of mixing drama with comedy, exploring raw, complex subjects while parodying the ideal of the Christian American family. When I first discovered Moral Orel I immediately thought "it's like the Simpsons, but they went all in on religion." The Simpsons walked so Moral Orel could run, and both shows are at their best when they start to peel back the layers of comedy and explore the vulnerable, confused, and relatable human beings behind their characters. Perhaps Orel's parents are a lot more fucked up than Bart and Lisa's, but they're no less human, as we discover bit by bit, they are like this for a reason, they may be scumbags, but they know it and they hate it, they just don't know what to do about it, so turn to escapes like drinking to numb the pain. What's more relatable than that? These characters look like parodies, but end up feeling a little too real, like everybody from this background knows the irl counterpart to some of these characters. Ironically, Flanders, the bible-thumbing Christian from the Simpsons initially served as a foil for Homer, because he was so infinitely kind that made Homer self conscious about how much of an ass he was by comparison. In that context, the role model is a devout Christian with the disposition of Orel, and perhaps Orel is the role model of his own show as well. The most scathing criticism isn't of the Orels or Flanders of the world, but the wolves in sheep's clothing who surround them. You can clearly see it in Orel's interactions with the reverend: all the adults stopped taking their own BS seriously years ago, and are just content to give lip service to their faith because its familiar, they can't stand Orel, someone who still has optimism, integrity, and is trusting enough to believe in their BS. They actively resent him for being the ideal Christian that they pretend to be, but aren't.

[@adybugjones]

The fact that tuca and Bertie has been cancelled again really makes me feel that the stories of woman and abuse can never be told for long until it's taken off , makes me so sad

[@ShadowWolfRising]

As unfortunate as that was, I attribute that to Zaslav's "Scripted Shows bad, gotta cancel them all." mindset. Apparently 38 fucking shows are on the chopping block since he took over and we don't even know what all of them are yet.

[@fatcat5817]

Seen as goddesses, who can do no wrong. Let them do what they want no matter how vile, just for a chance in their pants. 😹

[@exceptionallyriso]

At this point pornhub cares more about their creators than most of the other websites

[@Claymann71]

@@exceptionallyriso _Spits out soda, comically_ That's... rough, buddy. & technically true. Ah, jeeze Rick... this is TOO MUCH, MAN!

[@marshmallowloaf]

Unfortunately the reason it was shut down was allegations with the creator ((Tiff hadish)) involing abuse (of a minor i believe??). Really wish they kept the show running and just recasted her roles and fired her.

[@rhonnichan]

Being a pastor's daughter, my dad literally banned this show from the house. We could watch Family Guy, The Boondocks, American Dad, but Moral Orel was drawing the line. When i watched it as a teenager, i understood why my dad banned it. It really touches on the hypocrisy of Christians. Guess my dad felt read.

[@rogerkeleshian2215]

He probably just assumed it was thoughtless trash made solely to insult Christians, (which there is alot of) especially nowadays.

[@ddjsoyenby]

i first watched when i was religous and found it the one of the most touching shows i've ever seen.

[@CyberLance26]

I wish people had the balls to make the same kind of stuff about Islam because muslims does way more and way bigger bad things than christians does but nobody cares if you critizice or make fun of christians but they are not interested in doing the same to muslims.

[@socalbarbie1040]

Racist actions of thinking Blk people shouldn’t be murdered? Like do you even think before you type?

[@miimamwez]

@@renmcmanus what even is this comment? Someone feels attacked...

[@lonelydriver6154]

im not christian or particularly religious, but it made me really happy to see that in the end orel kept his faith. he grew up to be a good man, unbroken. he didnt allow his bad experiences to change what was important to him. he effectively becomes the christian ideal of a person instead of becoming a bitter drunk like clay. even if they ended up having to rush season 3, the way it ends is so hopeful and it brings a smile to my face

[@devonlynch6042]

@Lex Bright Raven What? Would you prefer to think he ended up exactly like Clay? Nothin wrong with being hopeful man.

[@samblackside]

@Lex Bright Raven it is the implication. He showed more care to his family in a small clip than clay and bloberta ever showed in the entire show.

[@noviibutnotactive8385]

As a Christian, I love Morel Orel so much, it touches the hypocrisy of Christians without insulting our religion. Because Christianity isnt the problem its Christians that are. Nevermind the beautiful characters and indepth writing of abuse from all sorts of angles, and how marvelous Clay is crafted as a villian who you can understand and even relate to but he isnt sugar-coated as misunderstood.

[@karolinakuc4783]

True. Jesus himself told not to believe into stories about him without criticism. And you know where is betrayal there can also be a lie. And it is hard to tell what he had in mind. Most Protestants view him as Marry Sue but he wasn't. Stories like that don't exist in real life as people always struggle with smth. Jesus struggle was expressing himself he didn't even know importance of eye contact in communication. Hence he was misunderstood when he was talking about temple of his body pointing at his body but looking at Jewish temple coz people follow eyes rather than hands. This makes me think he had Asperger Syndrome.

[@almondwater9583]

@@karolinakuc4783 your saying Jesus had aspergers? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 So he can raise the dead and heal crippled people but he lives with aspergers? 😂😂😂😂

[@argonionlaser488]

Wolves in sheep's clothing.

[@Bloodforyuh]

Agreed❤

[@voxlknight2155]

@@karolinakuc4783 Just a little casual baseless claims. Also blasphemous, to boot.

[@user-hw9zp9ev8u]

Moral Orel walked so literally every dark adult cartoon now could run. It deserved so much more

[@DeisFortuna]

You kidding? It ***SPRINTED***.

[@mr.cringe8773]

More like used speed hacks

[@Cherrypoptarts]

Morel orel ran full speed charging at the stars so adult dark shows could jog.

[@bearerofbadnews1375]

Moral Orel is one of those shows that was prematurely cancelled, but still managed to give a satisfying ending. Some shows would just end on a cliffhanger never resolving anything. Other shows would have an ending so bad that it makes you feel like u wasted your time. Morel Orel I feel is the rare exceptions where it succeed given it’s unfortunate circumstances.

[@bearerofbadnews1375]

@Dman (Formerly Roman Bellic) thanks

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Of course adult swim just canceled yet another show with tuca and birdie getting the ax. I don't know what's going on with that channel anymore it's just a mess with the current Discovery/HBO Max/Warner malarkey. I don't feel like any show or project is safe at this point.

[@iluvsonicxshadow]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu wait is Tuca and Bertie not getting a season 4???

[@TheBonkleFox]

@@iluvsonicxshadow one of the actresses was a sexual abuser.

[@steven2723]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu bojack horseman also, it was supposed to last two more seasons :/

[@rqmennn]

The scene with nurse bendy genuinely makes my heart ache, and makes me want to cry, hug her, and just do anything in my power to make her feel more secure. And she's NOT REAL. That is the insane power that this representation holds. It takes you out of your own world and puts you into hers. You can feel the terror, trauma, and betrayal she's feeling. And it makes me want to fight for survivors like her.

[@housemouseshorts]

And its horrfieing. Its cool that it exsits but yeah i feel it went to far. Even though i think the show should NOT have been cancaled over it because i hate censorship and cancel culture. The subject matter was way to messed up for me even now.

[@RotheAlien]

The teacher too, her feelings are very real. Especially the part where she relapsed into wanting to be with her abuser. It's a very scary but very real part of some ppl's assault, especially when it comes from someone you loved and trusted. It's an ugly feeling that is unfortunately partial to coping and healing

[@sonicwave779]

@@housemouseshorts Hypocrite

[@klear19634]

@House Mouse Shorts almost like... thats the point. Sexual assault and rape isnt supposed to make u feel comfy

[@RotheAlien]

@@klear19634 yeah, i also feel that if ppl can't handle it they can and should absolutely not watch something that triggers them, you know look out for your mental health etcc

[@ThePunkina1]

You forgot to mention about censordolls reason why she was obsessed with eggs being she couldn't have kids of her own ( can't remember if it happened naturally or if her mother forced it)

[@pastelsploosh8914]

Her mother forced it when she was a baby

[@gothicMCRgirl]

Her mother had her ovaries removed when she was a baby, which gave her a God complex and also implies is the reason why she looks older than she really is (she’s Clay’s age yet looks like a woman in her 60s). The ovaries produce all sorts of necessary hormones and chemicals in the body, not just eggs, so that most likely messed with her body and appearance.

[@Gen_-6012]

@@gothicMCRgirlthat’s actually rly sad

[@dollie.luv333]

Her. Other had her ovaries removed

[@Max-gg5nz]

He may not have forgotten, he may not have had anything specific to say about it

[@scentedpapers6569]

I dont know how, but rewatching the series as of late made me realize I deserved better than to wallow in a shallow, emotionally numb relationship. An episode in particular I recall is Closeface, where Stephanie recalls being used by a girl she was in love with while also helping Orel bring Christina to the dance. That particular episode resonated with me especially after my breakup, and that little heart to heart between Reverend Putty and Stephanie. Man.

[@trouty606]

I have to commend Moral Orel for possibly the longest running gag with an eventual punchline I think I've ever seen in a show. ~Spoiler~ Clay's constant complaining of his "lousy dead end job" throughout the entire series to eventually reveal near the end that he's the mayor probably had me laughing for a solid minute.

[@arturoaguilar6002]

Lousy dead end job indeed…

[@kikrinman1450]

Yeah, it really puts into perspective why Moralton sucks.

[@peiithos]

theres also reverend puddy having a "i hate my boss" mug.

[@trouty606]

@@peiithos It's a level of pettiness I aspire to

[@CryptidCookieBaker]

Watching this show as a Christian was one hell of an experience. If there’s one thing I felt was seen. The show captured the experience of growing up religious and questioning your fate as you grow up. I loved seeing Orel had never lost his faith but still saw what was genuinely questionable in those around him. It was hilarious, it was dark, it was relatable, it was reflective. Hope that one day there’s a way it can come back.

[@X-SPONGED]

@Cannabis Dreams and your point being that they aren't ?

[@lilikore]

@Cannabis Dreams someone missed the point

[@X-SPONGED]

@Cannabis Dreams You haven't heard of the terrible reputation of christian popes over the course of centuries, have you ? Or the numerous accounts of extremist groups in America branching from Christianity doing hate crimes in the name of God ? They are arguably by your standards "faithful people" and they ARE monsters, they just don't look at themselves as one.

[@X-SPONGED]

@Cannabis Dreams Last I checked, those nations aren't entirely atheist. In fact, China practices Buddhism. Also, why are you using countries as example to religion ? I'm of Chinese descent and I'm absolutely disgusted of what they do to the Uyghur people. Blame The UN for classifying it as "ethnic cleansing" and refusing to give a fuck. Besides, do you know how many people The Christians killed during The Crusade and The Spanish Inquisition Era ? I didn't know stabbing someone in the asshole for a prolonged period of time was a valid method in your religion to make "sinners" repent

[@Pancakes_]

@Cannabis Dreams If you'd actually watched the show you'd know that's not at all what the show was about

[@Edwardslefttoenail]

I really wish the creators of moral orel could make an internet web series just to finish the 2 seasons. I know so many people would watch it and obviously it’s a difficult project but I would donate so much man

[@rafaelm-j397]

I feel like if moral Orel would return it would be on adult swim again but I don't think moral Orel itself will return but maybe another series kinda like the "mortalon" series they planned that focuses more on the town

[@jaideearts]

True, the creators would definitely have more freedom writing moral orel if it was an independent project than being on adult swim.

[@UnboxingAlyss]

They could do this easily. I'm a huge KickStarter backer and I see movies and series get funding all the time. It's reason why MST3K came back. I would happily throw money at a Morel Orel project.

[@klear19634]

Adult swim probably owns the rights which is the biggest issue in making your content without big corporation lawyers suing you.

[@mase5995]

I read that there was supposed to be a lot more for the show if it wasn’t cancelled such as Bloberta and Clay finally divorcing, Stephanie getting together with Nurse Bendy, Clay’s father moving in with the family and sadly passing away. There was even a planned sequel episode for “Alone” which was about the teacher, Agnes Sculptham

[@darkestheir]

Thank you for mentioning Nurse Bendy is a survivir- I've watched so many videos about this show recently and no one seems to catch that- she's not just like an emotionally stunnted person, she's clearly trying to cope with what's happened to her Looked it up to confirm- Bendy was around a teenage age when she hot pregnant- so there's no doubt in my mind she's just trying her best to feel normal and be loved in a pure way that's always seemingly displayed everywhere. It hurts my heart so much

[@beardpandaa]

It really is implied in season 3 that Joe Secondopinionson's old man dad SA'd her when she was a young teen. And nurse bendy is his mom

[@beardpandaa]

So when Joe beat up his dad, I was ok with that... But that's just me and my sick cathartic satisfaction 😅

[@steamyvegetables1445]

@@beardpandaa No you are 100% right for doing that as Joe's dad r*ped a 13-14 year old nurse Bendy. She is 24-25 and Joe is 12 years old.

[@CrimsonNineTail]

I read that scene wrong, I thought it was a father that assaulted her, not a lover. But I still understood the scene no less.

[@kid-ava]

as a teenager who's dealing with past experiences with CSA, the 'Alone' episode (one of the few Moral Orel episodes I've seen so far), genuinely broke my heart as I related to Nurse Bendy so much. I hate that it was the episode that made the show get canceled

[@lemonmeat]

@asiaandbj1 yikes dude i know this is a bot but really?? on a comment like this?? these bots are getting so annoying.

[@RotheAlien]

Hugs for you friend, from a fellow survivor

[@kid-ava]

@@RotheAlien thank you, sending you love as well 🫂

[@NekoChanSenpai]

Solidarity. The episode was very painful for me, but it felt good for the subject to be taken seriously. It was especially refreshing to see such different reactions to SA portrayed with an equal level of gravity and compassion.

[@imahumanlarva3248]

Ay, fellow survivor here! I'm so proud of you for being around. Living can be so difficult, especially with that kind of shit on your mind. You got this man

[@oceconda1176]

Its sad that such a innovative series was cancelled.

[@NicoEdgy]

It was basically cancelled for being too innovative.

[@cameronbosch1213]

@@NicoEdgy Sounds too much like what Cartoon Network would become...

[@sirdinny8266]

I watched another review of this show. The author said that by cancelling Moral Oral for being too dark despite asking for darker themes because it is not a "funny" joke anymore, adult swim showed themselves to be someone the show was criticizing, hypocrites.

[@supercyc10]

I love that the ONE character in moralton that WASN’T a hypocrite, was Stephanie. I thought you were gonna get back to her. There’s so much you can say about her even with her brief screen time. On a surface level you can say that people avoided her because she was gay, but looking deeper, I feel that’s it’s because she was the one honest person in town and it scared people. Also, can’t forget to mention that Clay is voiced by Baymax.

[@loki1456]

Stephanie was such an important character to me. Here was this awful hypocritical ""Christian" town and then there's Stephanie who is kind and warm and genuine. As a biromantic Asexual nonbinary person, I always wanted to have a parent like Reverand Putty was at the end of the episode Closeface. When he says he doesn't approve of Stephanie's relationship with the girl she liked, not because they were both girls, but because the other girl didn't treat Stephanie right, I outright cried.

[@ShendonV]

Adult swim hates SA being portrayed in a realistic light instead of it constantly being joked about.

[@geministrial950]

Thisss

[@Kakmanmartinez666]

When Lois basically laughed at Peter because Angela was harassing him at work. That was awful

[@NikkiBudders]

@@Kakmanmartinez666 That episode still haunts me.

[@Kakmanmartinez666]

@@NikkiBudders That and the one with Quagmires sister made me feel so weird

[@THarSul]

As someone who was part of [AS]'s intended audience at the time of M.O's airing, the biggest problem with Moral Orel was that although it's clearly built upon a solid message, the ability to interpret that message requires an emotionally mature mindset, a well developed sense of empathy, and a fair degree of meta-contextual awareness, abilities which [AS]'s intended audience either did not possess or did not employ, which I can confirm, my friends and I would change to comedy central if an episode of M.O came on, simply cause we were dumb kids who just wanted to laugh, and the only laughter M.O elicited was nervous laughter when it subverted expectations in disconcerting ways that made everyone a little bit uncomfortable.

[@lightspaceman5064]

It was a bit ahead of its time. Fast forward and it’s pretty normal to have a cartoon horse man or scientist deal with deep seeded emotional issues. MO is appreciated way more now.

[@MekuChanAnime]

@@lightspaceman5064 There is a difference in mediums as well, the internet has made possible for people to discuss shows and digest them better than before where we could only watch things on cable. Missing an important episode and risking the ability to understand the overall message of the show is what caused most animation to become episodic and standalone, with few exceptions like 2 part specials. Imagine someone changing the TV to the episode of Moral Orel where Clay shoots Orel while being drunk, but the last episode you remember watching was the one where Orel brought the dead back to life, the tonal dissonance would be so big that most people would just change the channel to something else because "wtf this episode of robot chicken is nuts". Now we can have shows that are just dumb and funny stuff to relax and be comfy, but also have shows that defy expectations and give important messages, sometimes both things could happen at the same time!

[@Clean.Eastwood]

I mean, yeah, [AS]'s content gets praised sometimes, but it's still not that complex or mature. Moral Orel spoke a different language than most of [AS]'s shows. Too bad it was too layered as a show, to the point of alienating any possible new audience

[@menhera-tan]

​@@MekuChanAnime It actually did the opposite to me; I watched "Alone" first and was introduced to Moral Orel and I absolutely loved it because of how it relates on a personal level to me. The first few episodes from season 1 actually made me think of the usual AS cartoons at that time which I found really annoying (sorry for FG lovers out there) but thinking of "Alone" and learning about the plot for it made me binge past those thoughts of "oh it's just the usual dark comedy with occasional plot".

[@JeskidoYT]

I wish this IP gets bought out by Netflix. Just imagine.

[@themilkman6969]

the fact that this was cancelled but mr pickles not only exists at all but is still ongoing is proof that we’re in the worst timeline

[@SiRenfield]

That and no Metalocaypse Season 5! Seriously at least [adult swim] got some sense knocked into them after they cancelled Venture Bros (which TO BE FAIR was technically not their fault this time since AT&T forced their hand on that one) and greenlit the finale movies for both shows

[@36calorietooth]

I know this is a small thing, but thank you for referring to the ladies in the episode "Alone" as survivors, and not just victims. Being a survivor myself since early childhood, it means the world to have people like me be rendered in a powerful way, rather than in a weak and broken "victim" sense. Love and appreciate your videos as always, Saberspark! Looking forward to more! 💖

[@ShivShrike]

The Alone episode is always heart wrenching, and Bloberta was the trigger that begun the entire downfall of Clay and the family because of her own trauma

[@bunyballoony5483]

To me, the fact it got cut short is rancid. But the final episode being another christmas episode feels so conclusive and nice to me. The season one finale when everything changed, and the ending of the show being the same holiday is beautiful. In just one year, everything in the town of Moralton had changed. Oral changed, so did Clay, Bloberta, even Shapey and Block. I think that is so beautiful.

[@MedicEB]

Bro I thought the last scene was Orel and his family?

[@housemouseshorts]

Yeah it should not have been canceled. Even though I will never like the subject matter it had a right to exsit.

[@cf06]

​@@MedicEBa txtf😅6😊😊😊 uhhhhoibiihihi😊😊hi😊😊😊😊

[@skeletonbuyingpealts7134]

​@@MedicEBOrel and his family at Christmas

[@CarnivalChimera]

I love this show because it hits so close to home, the episode where Orel's dad shot him while drunk and Orel says "I hate you." is just so similar to how my own dad treated me as a kid

[@magicalminty6203]

Omfg right?! I remember that episode too. Even remember what Clay said to Orel the next day: O: Dad, you shot me. C: Hmm, I don't remember that, so it didn't happen! Exactly how my father used to treat my brother and I. Well, not exactly, dad used fists, not guns. But he still denies to this day ever abusing either of us during his years of drunken rages.

[@elizabethfranzone3046]

Dang, I'm so sorry you grew up with that. Hope you are doing ok now.

[@elizabethfranzone3046]

@@magicalminty6203 I'm so sorry you were treated that way growing up. I hope you are doing ok now.

[@CarnivalChimera]

@@elizabethfranzone3046 I am now!! I was lucky to move out and escape my family

[@mrps2dvd2770]

Holy shit im sorry you had to experience that

[@Plantdandy]

When Orel said "it's moraling time" and oraled all over the place, I was amazed. Truly one of the TV moments of all time

[@NicoEdgy]

Moral Orel is genuinely good in my opinion, but still, good Morbin Time Meme!

[@adenmitchell7633]

Can you make a actual funny comment please?

[@Jack_Saint_Archive]

@@adenmitchell7633 When you said "İt's funni' time!" and funnied all over the place.

[@MrCardz]

@@adenmitchell7633 When Aden Mitchell said "it's criticizin' time" and criticized all over Adam Blade's comment, I was amazed. Truly one of the comments of all time.

[@zdoggzero6595]

Moralbius

[@NoNameNoWhere]

It was upsetting that Morel made a friend with a girl who was just like him, only to be forbidden from seeing her due to an insignificant difference in religious views. Final episode, we see Morel as a happy adult with a wife. If you look closely, it's that same girl. They reconnected at some point and raised a healthy family. A brief, but satisfying ending, even if it was rushed.

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

I remember that making me so happy

[@stellamariefanboy.6768]

You don't have to look closely to notice it but yeah

[@TitusRedwind]

33:50 "Passing" was a completed episode. It was aired. I don't know where you heard it hadn't. The episode is about Clay's upbringing and how his mother miscarried 8 times and how she saw him as a miracle baby. Clay pranks his parents by making them think he shot himself, causing his mother to have a heart attack. Clay's father beat him and Clay saw it as a form of affection. He intentionally riled up his father in order to get a reaction out of him. It ends with his father giving clay the gun that he used to prank his mom, not as a gift but as a way to rid himself of an object that caused him so much grief. That gun was "Ol' gunny" that Clay shows Orel in the hunting episode.

[@ChiakiHatori]

She miscarriaged 10 times before and only because she smoked and drank the whole time which caused her frail heart in the end. Also he didn't really prank them but he wanted to feel the love of his mother for only him alone by pretending to be dead, thinking he can be the same as her rainbow children and that he'd be loved again. This ended up backfiring but I think it's important to make a difference between a mean spirited prank and the desperate attempt of getting loved (in a terrible way). I don't think he truly thinks beating was a form of affection but rather feeling worthy of attention, any kind so it became a positive emotion to Clay. That's just my two cents on it since I just watched it but I agree with everything else you said!

[@marvelsandals4228]

@@ChiakiHatori The mark of a good backstory: once you hear it, everything makes sense, all the character's actions seem like the only possible result of their past, no matter how depraved they are in reality

[@calebredman2219]

Passing happened but not what they wanted they wanted it to involve clays father dying

[@rkart221]

You mentioned how Clay doesn’t love anyone especially Orel and I’d have to disagree haha. In Clays more central episode we learn that he associates abuse, being spanked etc, with love. Him and Orel’s relationship is by no means not abusive and he’s a horrible father and has disgusting ways of showing his love but he does love Orel, more than anyone else in the show. I think it makes his absolute neglect for Shapey (shapey??) all the more sad and disgusting

[@josephperez2004]

To paraphrase Sansa Stark from GoT, "In his own terrible way, I think he did actually love me." Love is often viewed as a positive thing, but there are many unhealthy and damaging variants of love: obsession, jealousy, possessiveness, etc.

[@shinypaintf588]

exactly what i was thinking. saberspark clearly hates clay with his whole heart so ig he can't fathom him loving his son but he does in his own terrible way. i had never thought of how much he must not love shapey at all and that's why he never disciplined him

[@karolinakuc4783]

@@shinypaintf588 I think he lost faith that Shapey will ever be able to talk and that's why he showed no affection.

[@shinypaintf588]

@arianna u might not call it love but it is what clay thought he was doing. and just cause he thought he was doing good doesn't mean that when i recognize his perspective i side w him (i really don't feel like explaining how much of a horrible person i believe he is, we both know and i have a party to get ready for) in short. it's not love to me or to you but to him it was, isn't that fucked up? bye (⁠ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ⁠)⁠━⁠☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

[@deltacharlieecho4732]

The truly insane thing about Moral Orel is that it wasn't a show bashing faith, it was about experiencing life and still finding value in faith. It takes a watch through of the full series to see that message in the last minute of the series. Absolutely unreal writing and production with aesthetic inspirations from Davey and Goliath; RIP Dino.

[@corperk]

The Shows present faith as a pointless façade sustained by vile people to cause harm unto others.

[@deltacharlieecho4732]

@@corperk that’s a very smooth brain interpretation of the message. The world does not exist in dichotomy. No villain believes themselves to be carrying out evil.

[@corperk]

​@@deltacharlieecho4732 Read my words, not what you think I wrote. The show isn't the world, everything in the show was intentional by the author, they choose to represent the ritual as nothing but a vapid façade done by vile people, this ritual only have the result of causing harm. The lead writer explicitly said he introduced Christianity as to portray it as evil. Painting the entire religion and their followers as evil is something virtuous according to the writers.

[@deltacharlieecho4732]

@@corperk you didn’t watch the full series, did you?

[@corperk]

@@deltacharlieecho4732 Give me a counterexample were the ritual isn't done by vile people, or doesn't result in harm.

[@havenk.5226]

Dino was living in the year 3000 when he created this show, and Clay is the PERFECT villain. He’s truly terrifying in a very real way.

[@peiithos]

someone just like clay exists and theyre not rare. and thats the scary part, because youve probably met someone just like him, or someone who knows someone just like clay.

[@kenziewrenreads3157]

Moral Orel was SO important to me as a teenager. I was raised fundamentalist/baptist and really struggled with my family and my beliefs. This show made me feel so seen

[@stanidreams]

Clay actually loved Orel in his own twisted way. Whenever he physically beat Orel it was his way of showing love since he learned that being hit meant he was worth it. Was it right? No but there are layers

[@TemmiePlays]

yeah this tracks. his dad didn't know better, he starts to realize it in the final episodes a bit too late... but that's how repressed memories go. Clay wasnt actively trying to be a jerk to anyone, it's just how his world view was created from his terrible dad who likely inherited it from his own father

[@sexygirlmax2019]

Maybe, maybe not. He says he cant let anybody find out he doesn't care about his family, because that's one secret the rest of Motalton doesn't need to know. And Orel, not really understanding, contentedly agrees

[@taylor101vanderploeg]

I just watched all of Moral Orel about two months ago, it's PHENOMENAL. Having grown up Christian as well as having a lot of evangelical family members to this day, it really resonated with me. It gets so dark and devastating as the show goes on, it really is one of kind. Genuinely had me cracking up, and then later crying like a baby.

[@artlover5060]

I hope that Adsit's family realized by making him choose between the show and his family, realized they quite literally proved the show right. Failure to look within themselves can cause problems and rifts within families. Family is important, but when the family feels so threatened by a show, especially one the seeks to call out hypocrisy and destructive behavior, there's definitely something wrong with the family.

[@islandboy9381]

I think this split up also had an influence on the show depicting dysfunctional family dynamics only held together by faith even harder, but I heard Dino's divorce with his wife also had an effect on writing Clay and Bloberta's relationship

[@anyroad5455]

Did his family force him to choose or did he choose on his own because he wanted there to be peace between them? Big difference

[@artlover5060]

@@anyroad5455 Why is that having peace is abandoning an important work that means so much for him and countless many others that doesn't cause any harm? Such ultimatum is immoral for a person to endure. Them being uncomfortable and would rather the person they claim to love struggle rather than them learning and growing. He shouldn't be granted peace on the premise that he steps away from something that is important to him. That is *selfish*, no buts about it, but we humans have an innate desire to be loyal to family and he chose that which he has a right to.

[@BestBetterBestest]

Networks: We want dark stories. Show: SA isn’t funny and people’s lives matter. Networks: No not like that!

[@icekidytc]

I remember watching a retrospective on moral oral and thinking it deserved better, and this video strengthens that belief

[@kobra6660]

This makes me glad I grew up catching adult swim when they were great and made good shows before everything went downhill

[@jackspurlock9201]

Yikes dawg these bits are getting sophisticated - actually posting relevant comments

[@c00mgoblin]

The episode Alone in regards to three women of the cast and showing their baggage and their lives in such detail it felt real. I CRIED during Alone… And the episodes Nature part 1 and 2 really shook me to the core with its realism. There are so many golden moments I could go on and on… It really pisses me off that Adult Swim rewards shows making jokes about dark content but punishes Moral Orel for treating it like real life. Everyone in the cast, even Clay, is insanely complex and complicated and it’s just such a joy to watch throughout the pain of the realism.

[@Talthain]

Nurse Bendy's section hit me hard when I saw it.

[@sensitiveskinnart]

I think its unfair to say Clay didn’t love Orel since when growing up he developed a skewed perspective that love was shown through punishment so in reality every time Clay beat Orel that was his distorted version of showing his love for his son. (It also means he doesn’t love Shapey at all)

[@bigboned8349]

i never thought of that, i just thought it was because Bloberta would get mad at him or something

[@AB-xy3mr]

that’s still not love though, and to try and interpret abuse as love to salvage a relationship will only mess with your head more. like imagine trying to explain that to someone “my dad beat me my entire life but it’s okay because his dad did the same so that means he loves me!”

[@if7723]

​@@AB-xy3mr yeah, shit parents do that all the time because they actually think that's true.

[@AB-xy3mr]

@@if7723 exactlyyyy and it just further warps our heads trying to understand and reason that abuse as love. it ends with us!

[@goatfood1504]

@@AB-xy3mr I’m not saying it should be tolerated in real life, but from a character analysis perspective, Clay is extremely damaged by how his parents raised him. His father told him he was not worth beating, so clay would seek to be beat by his father to show he’s worth it. Doesn’t mean it’s not toxic or horrible.

[@galaxiesplantcorner9328]

I loved the priest's turn around. He was finally able to find what he needed and was missing. He was also able to help his daughter through her break up. It's a beautiful moment.

[@ISplimeI]

As a Christian myself, I feel that this video is very important so that other Christians don’t become hypocrites ourselves. Jesus talks in the Bible about how religion is evil and it is especially shown here since it’s just used as a mask for them to be able to do what they want. If you’re a Christian, don’t love religion, love God.

[@Rakanarshi2]

Words of wisdom.

[@assyrianchristian764]

Kinda retarded as you started well but added retarded stuff later on that is basically incorrect about Jesus’ lecture about religious authority.

[@conserva-chan2735]

Lol none of you guys are Catholics

[@assyrianchristian764]

@@conserva-chan2735 your name reminds me of the God and anime on my side meme

[@conserva-chan2735]

@@assyrianchristian764 indeed. I was actually going to commission my friend to do a gijinka rule 63 drawing of Leo XIII but alas, priorities.

[@bobothefool3037]

Moral Orel is such a real, stark, and accurate portrayal of abuse. The way Orel justifies and puts up with his abuse, and then slowly breaks down as a person when he can no longer handle it.... fuck. Seeing Orel break down after what happened in the season 2 finale is heart wrenching. It hits really close to home to me, and one of my favorite things about the series is that it ends with Orel breaking the cycle of abuse and finding happiness.

[@alexcat6685]

@Chad 007 Chad would never copy someoneelse for just profit.

[@bombdotcom2168]

It makes me happy that at least the kids got happy endings in this show. I also like the fact that it actually took on darker themes and topics throughout, because not a lot of people realize the effect their actions have on kids and other people.

[@emilydavis7906]

I relate to orel so much it hurts. His whole life pretty much sums up mine, where my parents didn't truly care for each other. Where my biological father wasn't anything and just drank all his problems away. I couldn't find anything redeemable about him either and my mother wasn't really present in my life just like his. It's hard to find something to fill the void and make your life better. I can see what religion gave to him. It gave him an out and when he was stripped of it he truly say how horrible his life is. It was hard for me to find that being an atheist. This show made me cry more than any other show. It's so real it hits you right in the fucking heart. It's truly an amazing show

[@bigboned8349]

same for me, except it was my mom. She also ranted to me like Clay did to Orel. And if you are out of that situation now, I'm proud you were able to get out.

[@marvelsandals4228]

I am not yet convinced that this show wasn't a therapy session for kids who grew up in this world like us. Glad we got out :) It's hard, but it is possible to feel the same genuine joy and optimism Orel has even after you find out the truth is often disappointing.

[@intheclear3492]

I remember being obsessed with this show when I was 12. No one else had seen it and they all thought I was weird. I’m so glad people are starting to appreciate it.

[@leftyduck5133]

I have been addicted to this show for over a month now, and I just… Clay. I love and hate him so much. Like it’s so depressing. His whole story. He associates violence and abuse with worth, and that is just… so sad… If he never met Bloberta, if his mom never had a heart attack, if Danielle didn’t reject him. He might’ve been able to get better. Part of me hopes that he would do this, but the other part of me *knows* that he would be too prideful of himself to ever do that. And it’s so sad

[@coffeemetro]

Obviously clay is a POS. I can't deny that fact, but at the end of the day he is a man who was failed at every point in his life. Its scary how many people like him exist in real life, people who were broken as children and think it's only right if others are broken too.

[@Ethan-fk7lu]

yeah i love clay because he's just... so complex in his terribleness. one of my favorite characters ever. this comment was spot on!

[@PistachioBandit]

I remember when I was a teen watching MO for the first time I felt disgusted by the jokes, but I also could tell it was aiming at something so I felt compelled to continue watching it through to the end. I’m glad that I did because today it’s one of my favorite pieces of media. Looking back, it’s depiction of alcoholism really sunk in because my family was dealing with ( and continues to deal with) alcohol addiction. I seldom watch the the S1 anymore but I find myself rewatching episodes from S2 and S3 pretty often…especially Clays monologues.

[@cobaltprime9467]

I’m a devout Christian and I love this show because it’s not only funny, but I can actually derive a good message from each episode. The bad theology is used for comedy and showing how there are Christians who don’t really follow the Bible. We see how horrible all the people are. But also how complex they are like real people are. To me, it doesn’t sh!t on Christianity or God at all. Because they show Orel in the future, still religious and nothing like his father. He’s a loving father, husband and brother. Clay was a bitter and miserable person by choice, when Orel realized how dishonorable Clay was, he refused to be like him. And a big reason he found this peaceful life was by living with true faith.

[@nekophysics4356]

as a fan of both your channel and moral orel, i was NOT expecting to see a moral orel video randomly appear in my notifications. ive noticed that in general moral orel has had a HUGE surge in popularity lately, which i hope that popularity increases enough for moral orel to perhaps be brought back from the dead so they can continue the story exactly as it was supposed to go? idk maybe im being unrealistic LOL, great work as always!

[@SkyTheGolden]

It seems as soon as Steve reviews made a video morel Orel has come back into public view! I’m not complaining though! It’s so cool people are finding this show!

[@ashkitt7719]

Probably the rise in Moral Orel's popularity has to do with increased anti-Christian sentiment due to folks becoming redpilled on Christianity and its inherent evil.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It would probably get some kind of HBO Max thing if anything. Considering they just canceled yet another show over cartoon Network that being Tuca and Birdie I'd say things are not looking good with adult swim these days. I mean Cartoon Network is a sinking ship as it is. But the current situation of the channel and with the Discovery HBO Max Warner merger is pretty much hastening their decline and subsequent death.

[@caramelmin5189]

I remember it had a surge of popularity around 2017-2018, which was when I first watched moral orel. But a lot more people are discovering how great the show is and I’m glad

[@JadeFalcon07]

Bit of a life story here so TLDR: This show resonated with me like a tuning fork. This show came around just as I was having my own struggle with faith and my parents marriage was on shakey ground. It hit me with laser like precision and stuck with me for years. My parents were not even faintly as bad of Orel's, just flawed humans who were growing apart. They never divorced and were never violent or abusive, but they were having big fights that left me holding my crying mother. Where it hit me the hardest though was when I fell in love. I hadn't considered myself much of a Christian for about a year or two. This show put a spotlight on the hypocrisy and flaws i had seen in my church. I pivoted away from my big chapel babptist church and went to nontraditional churches (the leader of one turned into a bit of a nut) and tried to find ways to live honorably with or without religion. Growing up in a town where the first question a stranger might ask is "what church do you go to" made this struggle difficult to grasp myself or explain my world view to other people. Then I met a girl who was the first open atheist I had ever met. She didn't change who I was, just gave me the context I was lacking. When we started dating everything seemed to be going well, untill the subject of religion came up. I don't even remember the line of questions that lead to it, but at one point in the flow of conversation about my future with this girl I didn't want to lie. I told my parents she was an atheist. They were taken aback, but even worse was what I should have anticipated. I admitted I was agnostic (at the time) and my dad's response was just "no you're not." A rift started to form between me and my parents, but my mom had always had more of a cosmic or philosophical view of things than a dogmatic one. They tried to steer me back to religion, but nothing stuck. I just couldnt reconcile it in my mind. They didn't and couldn't stop me from seeing her, but they didn't have to support it either. Once when we had the chance to go to an American Atheist convention they refused to let me take my own car as it was still in their names. I drove with them through rush hour traffic and a 7 or 8 hour journey in her dad's minivan that wasn't firing on all cylinders and barely did better than 55. Eventually it came to a head when an especially devout member of our family passed after a long battle with illness. I was a wreck. Seeing the slide show of memories I saw as her kind deeds followed by suffering deterioration with the dogmatic songs had me in tears with a kind of existential grief for her I couldn't truely share with most of the people around me. My brother saw me and took at as if I was about leap up and denounce all religion in the middle of the Chapel. Through stiffiled sobbing I angrily begged him to shut up. I was grieving at a funeral and I was trying to do so respectfully. My mom started to step in but my girlfriend was trying to console me. Before it could escalate she stared my mother down and told them I was just sad. I think my mom realized then that while I wasn't Christian anymore, I was still me. From that moment my mom and her started to chip away at the walls. Our family's merged and are just as much a part of any event as anyone, wholey accepted into the family dynamic. We've been together for 16 years. When my mother passed before our wedding I asked my brother to stand in her place, and he was honored to do so. In my darkest moments the last line of this show would ring in my ear and I would look into her eyes and see my own miracle.

[@psychotophatcat]

Thank you for sharing this. I'm very happy that you were able to find balance in your life.

[@UnDefinedLegacy]

That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it was exactly what I needed to read in my own life journey.

[@salemcrow5078]

The "I couldn't reconcile it in my mind" hits hard honestly. I think that's really just what I've come to conclusion to as well, because regardless of what I do, nothing helps. No matter how much I want to believe, no matter how I try to just accept things, no matter how much research, ask questions, or talk to other Christians...I really just ended up with more questions that I knew they had no answer that would satiate me. For awhile, I honestly just wondered and to some degree, believed, that something was wrong with me - that I was just broken in some aspect where I couldn't have the same faith and "feel Christ" and "hear God" like other Christians. That maybe I was just meant to be an unbeliever and was always gonna go to hell. Ironically, it was actually our new church that somewhat allowed me to be less anxious that I wasn't going to spontaneously die and get sent to hell. The church is Lutheran, so their whole take is not the people choose to follow Christ, but that the Holy Spirit makes it so that they can believe/follow Christ. Something like that. And so I was just more able to easily accept that maybe it wasn't really my fault and maybe it wasn't for me.

[@KingRioT1]

Moral Orel was ahead of its time. A show like this airing now would be tremendously loved.

[@Kimch87]

So Adult Swim cancelled the show for doing what Bojack Horseman did and was allowed to do. It's a thought to think that Moral Orel could have been as successful and praised as Bojack, if Adult Swim would just have dared to try.

[@randomguy6679]

That’s the thing, if Moral Orel was released now, it would have easily gotten its five seasons. If you cancelled a show for seriously tackling sexual assault in this day and age, you’d be in DEEP shit.

[@lyndsaybrown8471]

Very good point. The show was ahead of it's time.

[@NnyLovesMyxChem]

I think bojack and moral oral are 2 of my fav TV shows. It's a shame that moral oral was canceled

[@Impcent]

I was never raised religious, but this show still hit dangerously close to home. So much so that I cried when I first watched it. It's an amazing show and I wish I could experience it for the first time again.

[@Trademark56]

I will always remember the episode where Orel died. The vision he had about “being a church” each time he looked into the void and how he nearly translated that as a sign that one does not need a potentially hypocritical organization to “teach” them, that they can be their own church and develop their own views with the help of religion rather than let religion dictate all their views. And then his father spanked that all away and Orel’s worldview was reset. And then his father suggested a hunting trip.

[@emperortime4380]

Adult Swim: “Go darker!” Adult Swim: “Not that dark!”

[@alexf225]

"Go darker! But... in a funny way!"

[@ragantate3995]

Shortly put, it’s because they told the truth. If it stayed on the air, it would have made better people in the world.

[@TheRandCrews]

Literally Jesus

[@timmytacoburrito]

Just wanna put it on here real quick, but Lois's scream is beyond exceptional. She's never screamed like that before, and she really put her all in that scream.

[@BlackNemesis13]

What's the context for that scream in it's episode? I haven't watched Family Guy for a long time. I'm really curious what would cause a scream like that.

[@datmilkyman424]

@@BlackNemesis13 lmao it’s a very new episode. Peter does something pretty inappropriate.

[@riffrucar6416]

@@BlackNemesis13 peter eats out loises mom

[@madcapmakov2]

Quite a ear rape, but Alex Bortstein put in her all.

[@timmytacoburrito]

@@BlackNemesis13 Peter gets hypnotized every time he hears a very specific jingle in the episode, and when he hears it, he goes down on Lois and eats her out really well. In the bit where Lois screams, Peter brought up food for Lois's mom, and the jingle plays. And guess what Peter did to her mom 💀

[@Takumi_Did_Nothing_Wrong]

The fact that Ms. Censordoll's initials are FCC kind of makes the original plan of making her the secret Big Bad of the entire show much funnier.

[@skeletonsinscarves3965]

When I was a kid this show seemed to be like validation for how I felt about family and the people around me it feels like growing up with trauma and that many people feel like this too. I was too young to understand fully but it helped open my eyes to the trauma in my life

[@BlueGreyWolf]

Same

[@ecs3308]

Watching the series end-to-end, I saw no jump in "dark" content, but a logical (take that lightly, for I mean going by the show's logic) and well-crafted progression, given the show's premises and style. It was and is one of my favorite television shows; and it made insightful, absurd, and poignant comedy better than notable modern attempts could dream to, for me that is.

[@lunargraph]

this is what it was for me too.

[@ronan5642]

EXACTLY you get it! Things like Bojack Horseman, I mean they're good I'll give them that. But there's just something about moral orel that takes the darker aspects and puts it in an incredibly uncensored lense. For some reason more recent shows with darker aspects haven't been able to nail down that coffin like Moral Orel.

[@ecs3308]

@@ronan5642 I know! So well-written, And it would seem that many shows stop just short of it for whatever reason. By the way, thank you so much for your comment!

[@Illier1]

Orel was basically Bojack Horseman but Middle America. It could have legit been a similar success story had it came out 5-10 years later.

[@cleibarnhart]

Stunning how ahead of its time it was

[@whitchu-3907]

I like that the show depicted all these raw and unfiltered things, but never once made a jab at Christianity itself. In a small scene where they depicted Orel as grown with a family and presumably better off, it showed that he still had his faith. Christianity and his faith were never part of the problem, it was the people around Orel. Alone was one of my personal favorites and the episode after it gave Nurse Bendy a really sweet ending that just warms my heart. And Reverend Puddy had some of the best character development in the show. You see him as a self absorbed grouch in the beginning but when his daughter comes into his life he just shifts into such a likable character. It’s just a show with endless depth, and so many facets to explore. A real shame it got canceled, I would’ve really looked forward to seeing Clays father move in with them in the next season if it had happened.

[@JillLulamoon]

I've always admired how, in stark contrast to a lot of adult cartoons like Family Guy, Clay's alcoholism isn't portrayed as a joke. Quite the opposite. It destroys both him and everything around him

[@GKXPress]

As someone who watched this show since the beginning and was Christian, and am still Christian, I always seen the show making fun of the hypocrits. Maybe when I first watched it I thought it was just taking pot shots at Christianity but watched it more with an open mind and I'm happy I did.

[@jackluffy7914]

I’m happy saber doesn’t try to argue which parent is more better then the other and just agrees that they are both crappy parents.

[@DDarkestKnight]

One thing about Moral Orel that's often overlooked is the third part of Alone about Ms. Censordoll, where we find out that her mother had her reproductive parts _removed_ when she was a BABY! Which explains her egg fetish and maybe her God complex. Also I don't know if it's mentioned in that episode but she's also the same age as Orel's parents.

[@keyofallworlds7549]

Did they say why in the show?

[@zaplepikachu]

@@keyofallworlds7549 It's implied it's because she was intersex, though I can't remember if it was outright stated. Given how strict Moralton was, it could be assumed that if a child was born intersex, they'd be given the invasive "corrective surgeries" that are unfortunately still common to this day, and most likely Ms. Censordoll's mother was convinced her child was supposed to be a boy because she had a longer than average head of her genitals, so had the ovaries removed, but then turned out to mature as mostly female and identify as a woman.

[@cidevant002]

Given the religious fanatism of this town it could be that his mother thought that ovaries or period were inherently sinful, so she "saved" her daughter by having her reproductive organs taken out before she could be "tainted" by them. Maybe she even thought that if her daughter truly deserved a child then god would provide it somehow. It would also explain from where she learned to use religion.

[@DDarkestKnight]

@@cidevant002 I wonder if it's partly why she thinks she's better than God

[@mrlaz9011]

it's likely an unhealthy coping mechanism she developed to justify being unable to conceive.

[@tylermurphy7698]

I often use your content as background noise, but this time I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen. You've genuinely made me invested in a show I haven't watched, and no one has done that before.

[@kitkat8290]

Now just watching this AND Moral Orel *really* sets the point home to me that not all Christian households are sunshine lollipops and rainbows. I'm speaking for myself and anybody else who can feel this- but, I've grown up in that kind of place- and I drastically changed and became severely more mentally damaged from when I was a kid to now. I blame it a lot on my grandfather (whom I live with) because he seems to push a lot of expectations on me. For Pete's Sake- he was also a alcoholic at some point too! I felt Orel on deep personal levels, being misled, having that abusive father figure- yeah. This show has a place deep in my dark heart, and so does this video.

[@thunderpantz]

The fact the show became too heavy for Adult Swim makes Morel Orel legendary.

[@manuelalbertoromero9528]

You could say it has become an Adult Swim legend as a result. It broke them in ways not thought possible.