Too Many Cooks (2014)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Lack of good storyline.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Written and directed by Casper Kelly, this short, parodies the many different types of opening credits sequences of 1980s and 1990s American TV Shows, such as the American situation comedy, the television crime dramas, prime time soap operas, Saturday-morning cartoons, the superhero live-action series, and last, the science fiction television shows, by having a never ending loop song, typing them all, up, together. In the middle of those sequences, is a surreal narrative that includes slasher film elements, in which many of the multitude of stock characters introduced in the opening credits are murdered and eaten by a maniac (William Tokarsky) with a machete. The only way, they can be save is, for one of those character, to push the start button, allow the show to continue, pass the opening credit sequence. Can the characters save themselves by pushing that button or will them, end up, in a never-ending nightmarish loop? Watch the special to find out! Without spoiling the special too much, I have to say, I'm deeply surprised, by how many people have saw this special. Originally aired as a special during Adult Swim's 4 A.M "infomercials" block in 2014. It was made, for a small batch of insomnias, looking for a wake-up call. It wasn't until, it was release by a third party on YouTube; that "Too Many Cooks" became a "instant cult classic" viral phenomenon that reach a million viewers. For me, this sitcom fever dream is more annoying than shocking. Don't get me wrong, I kinda love that long-drawn out meta trolling vague comedies, but the special does, go, a little too long, at times, even for those, looking forward to seeing it. It felt like a double edge sword. I really like what too many cook is trying to say, with its postmodern satire of what happens when studio head start to interference on creatives on television show, but the hardest part about the special is also its repetitive nature. I really doubt, I can watch it, multiply times, without going mad. The special is good for a one time, watch, but not recommended for repeat-viewing. It will spoil the broth, indeed as shown in the special. Often, the special repeat old television treads, to show, that even the media can be somewhat unwatchable, when studios start, feeding the same old stuff, over and over again. I think, this special was create by the creators as an insider jab against Time Warner as well as Adult Swim. The Machete Man in 'Too Many Cooks' represent Time Warner in a way, because it does what normal network executives often does, they kill shows, when they or the viewer lose interest. They are always there in the background, ready to strike on the show, if anything they deem off beam, does go wrong. This is why, the killer is always hidden in the background in Too Many Cooks. The scenes with him, eating the characters is often symbolic of years upon years, of taking in, character types, and rehashing characters with versions of what the executives want to see. This is why, everybody got replace with the Machete Killer, within Too Many Cook timeframe. Adult Swim is often known as counter-alternative programming. Represented here as Smarf, the absurd sock puppet. His name is play upon words, meaning smart. Like Adult Swim, Smarf tries to save television programming, by doing something new, even if it's a bit bizarre or out of context. This is why, after he shows up, in Too Many Cooks, the subject matter often began to mix up with each other. Smarf don't care, if it make sense or not, as long, as it makes people, happy. This is why characters outlandish actions can clearly outlive good solid performances. The scene where the credits that are the size and shape of human beings walking and running around with the actors superimposed horizontally across the credit people shows that. The whole intronitis disease part with Ken DeLozier represented the addicting absurdism of this. It's a sickness that is both cringe worthy and inane in a bad way. If you think, deep about it. It shows, how bad, both over-creativeness and control-programming can kill a show. In the end, media can become a bloated and oversaturated mess. The button pushing scene, represented, the stop of absurdism and going back to basics. It shows how creators can fight back. Still, no matter, what, the creators does to help the show, the show producers always win. At least, that's my theory on what this special means. Other people can believe, whatever they want, like it's just Ken Delozier's losing his mind, or a connection to other shows, but in the end, that's what I saw. Overall: The mundanity of yesterday television is a key to understanding this special. It's often offbeat, bizarre, and holds a peculiar kind of humor that some people might not get. It might seem random, too vague or deliberately unfunny, but once you get a chance to watch it. You might find yourself, overthinking it like myself. I think, that's the best thing to come from this special. A good thought.

This is both very simple to describe, and impossible to summarize.It is, at its heart, a parody of 80's and 90's TV show opening credits. But it quickly changes into absolute insanity. It incorporates all the usual TV tropes - sitcom, cop show, low rent sci-fi, Saturday morning cartoons, rich white people drama - and then throws in an 80's slasher movie plot within itself.This may be the best parody of American television ever done. It speaks to everything wrong, silly, and forced that executives do to ruin TV shows. Amazing, amazing, stuff.Watch this several times and see if you don't spot something new every time.

"Too Many Cooks" succeeds not because it is funny or weird, but because it creates an experience for the viewer that is completely unique and original. If you haven't watched it yet, find it on YouTube and give it a view...don't look at the time it's going to take, don't read any other reviews - just watch it and you'll understand why it's so hilarious. In some ways it's similar to the Splash Mountain ride at Disneyland. You begin by floating along peacefully in a cartoonish world, then the sudden drop and the whole ride changes.The ideal audience for "Too Many Cooks" is someone in their mid 30s, as many of the spoofed intros are from shows which aired during the 80s and 90s ("Dallas", "Falcon Crest", "Dynasty", "Full House", "Clarissa Explains It All", and the list goes on). But then halfway through, it completely changes and takes on a life of its own, spoofing something else, the 80s slasher flick. Then it changes again. And again. Eventually you don't know what you're watching, but you know it's good.Watch it a second or third time and you'll start to notice lots of Easter Eggs (how many times can you spot the killer before he starts slashing?). But be careful though, the theme song is so catchy you just might find yourself humming it for the rest of the day.

Oh. My. God.I'm so confused, I'm so lost. I feel....mesmerized, like I've been sucked into a vortex of nostalgia and confusion. I mean, I can't even begin to describe what I've just seen.Where do we begin? A typical 70's-80's sitcom parody appears and you see that old sitcom technique where they're doing something random and the camera catches them off-guard, to which they give a sly smile and their names appear. Okay, but then, it keeps going. And going. And going. Is that the joke? Wait, I get it, it's called "Too Many Cooks" because the intro just goes on forever with a family that never ceases to end in size.No, wait, now they're at a dinner table, with another family, a black family. Why is there another family? Why is the camera panning across the table with changing characters? What is happening? What is with the creepy guy that appears in the background of all these introductions? Hold on, why is there a guy with binoculars staring at a naked woman? Why is the naked woman there? Why is there a half-naked firefighter and a female police officer at the dinner table? There's also a puppet shooting rainbows out of it's hands but this still doesn't help, I'm still confused, yet mesmerized.We move into various other scenarios and cartoon-introductions yet that creepy guy still appears everywhere? Is that the joke? What am I suppose to be looking for? We go back into the bedroom and we see the credit for a character named Katie Adkins, the creepy guy appears and chases her, her name is stuck to her, why? Why? She runs into the closet and he finds it, because of the bright yellow name that follows her? Why does it follow her? Why does he kill her? Then a woman starts to spin and changes characters, but why? Why was this included? I don't know. Creepy binoculars guy gets his head chopped off and is reintroduced, but why? Creepy killer guy is now eating dead bodies. Then the characters are really words and the names on them are the actors and they're stuck and everyone is dying and then the show starts, which promptly ends.Yet it all comes down to this moment, I've never written a review on IMDb and likely never will. I feel as though as this has taken over my life, I feel like everything is confusing and there's no connection to anything I do. I've also downloaded the entire song on my phone and listen to it, yet I hate it. What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?