For this month’s installment of “TV Terrors” we revisit the short-lived anthology horror satire “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters,” which aired on TruTV back in 2018.
Although these days it’s known mainly as the channel on cable that plays “Impractical Jokers” all day, every day, back in 2018, Tru TV sought out to try some different programming. After successfully pulling away from their line up of reality shows, the network aimed to deliver a hefty line up of original comedy series, many of which ended up being damn good.
Among the line up introduced, there was “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters.” Comedian, actor, and director Goldthwait is no stranger to the horror genre (I loved his found footage film Willow Creek), and was the mastermind behind this delightfully unusual horror anthology series. Every week, “Misfits & Monsters” told a variety of half hour stories, all of which were a healthy mix of dark comedy, satire, and horror. Along the way the show also managed to successfully deliver on social commentary and morality tales, a tradition for anthology horror.
“Misfits & Monsters” offered up a huge cast of talented actors during its criminally short run. Aside from the mix of horror and dark comedy, the episodes had the distinction of all being directed and written by Goldthwait, who had an obvious hand in every aspect of the series. Each episode, the producers would give us a candid, often fun two-minute look behind the scenes in the epilogue, allowing us a bigger insight into the concepts every week. These were probably the best aspects of the show, as they provided a peek into the creative process.
Among some of the best episodes, there was the pilot “Bubba the Bear” starring Seth Green as Noble Bartlett, an actor who voices a very popular stuttering blue cartoon bear named Bubba. Much to his horror, Bubba does exist and he’s pissed off that Noble has depicted him in such a manner. Unsure if he’s going insane or if he’s really being threatened by a psychotic cartoon bear, Noble begins to unravel in violent ways. “Face in the Car Lot” stars Tara Lynne Barr (who starred in Goldthwait’s excellent God Bless America) as Regina, a spunky reporter in the 1970s who faces a challenge when local used car salesman Del Wainwright (David Koechner) is approached by slimy campaign manager Jim Bidwell (Dave Foley) to run for president. His run is absolutely successful despite being a racist, and misogynist–and secretly a werewolf. Now with a mysterious vampire informant, Regina seeks to stop Del’s chaos.
There’s also “Better World” starring Danny Pudi as Calvin, a computer scientist who invents an AI known as Siegfried and Roy. When they garner their own sentience, they begin to wreak havoc on Calvin’s life, and before long he realizes he might have set off a virtual apocalypse. My favorite though is “Goatman Cometh,” centering on young Ethan whose overbearing mom is anxious for him to become well liked among the local kids. She forces him into a camp out with three other coddled boys from the neighborhood. Events take a turn for the horrific when they’re attacked by what might be the mythical Goatman. Co-starring Melissa Joan Hart, this episode is particularly twisted in its great premise, and how the violence snowballs as the circumstances with Ethan and his cohorts becomes worse. It’s capped off with a pretty clever little twist.
Despite the massive talent in front of and behind the camera (including Michael Ian Black, Tom Kenny, Samm Levine, and Karan Soni), “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” only garnered one eight episode season and was quietly taken off the air when Tru TV was once again re-structured and re-formatted. Although it was never officially announced, “Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters” was cancelled and sadly no other networks or streaming services stepped up to save the series.
It’s such a shame as “Misfits & Monsters” was so different from all of the other horror fodder on television at the time. It was that wry mix of horror, dark comedy, and tongue in cheek satire that only Bobcat Goldthwait is capable of. I hope we can see a physical release someday.
Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray/Streaming? The entire series run can thankfully be streamed on multiple platforms including Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.
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