The Spooks

The Spooks is an American adult animated horror-comedy television series that aired on Kingson from 2002 to 2003. The series was created by Ralf Hat and tells the story of a distressed underachieving ghost named Aaron Patterson, whose formerly insignificant life quickly ended following his tragic death. Amongst his time as a ghost among the living, Aaron's afterlife shifts from his everyday antics to supernatural feats which often result in horrifyingly grotesque supernatural misadventures. Kingson abruptly cancelled the series after only thirteen episodes due to low ratings. Vision aired reruns of the show in 2005, that gradually helped attracted a cult following which resulted in the network reviving the show. The revival successfully lasted nine years from 2008 to 2017.

Premise
Aaron Patterson is a timid loser whose life is going nowhere; stuck in a dead-end job, with no friends or goals, and trapped in an unhappy relationship. Contrary to his miserable upbringing and current life status, Aaron is afraid to improve himself. He returns as a ghost among the living after being killed in an accident one day, and remains in a seemingly perpetual state of limbo in the process. Afterwards, Aaron encounters the personification of death, who gives him the chance to better himself once more by offering him a position as his future successor. He is partnered with a demented paranormal investigator, and joins him on horrifying supernatural exploits, which will usually make conflict with Aaron's morals and insecureness. Aaron is also given the task of haunting a conventional family - the Kavonoks, who were accidentally involved in his death, but eventually becomes one of the family and regularly intervenes in their everyday lives.

Main

 * Aaron Patterson: (Jonathan Silverman) Aaron is a benevolent ghost who lived a life of disappointment and mediocrity prior to his death. Earlier in his afterlife, Aaron meets Death, who offers him the chance to improve himself by offering him a role as his potential successor. Though soft-spoken and kind-natured at heart, Aaron comes off as vulnerable, insecure, and misguided, often falling victim to those trying to take advantage of him. Aaron's incompetence and cowardice are continually in contrast with the traumatic paranormal encounters he is forced to undergo, which both harm him and mentally reinforce him.
 * Johnson Creek: (Clancy Brown) An enigmatic, demented paranormal investigator and ex-detective who has devoted his life to ghost hunting following a lifetime of trauma inflicted on him by supernatural forces. Creek, on the surface is very unemotional and hides his inner problems deep within himself. He is mostly fearless and has grown to desensitize himself from most of his missions in the macabre. Having avoided certain demise several times, Creek and Death are known acquaintances, both having competing rivalries and a casual relationship. He is close friends with his work partner, Aaron, whom he acts as a "life mentor" for.
 * Death: (Brendon Small) The personification of Death; A sophisticated psychopomp and the most feared being in the mortal realm, who seeks retirement from his position. His personality is often depicted as pessimistic, arrogant, depraved, and irreverent, a subtle contrast to Aaron's character. Occasionally he finds interest in mortal affairs and often takes satisfaction in certain defeats and suffering by others, thereby suggesting that he has some sort of sadomasochistic behavior. Despite his misanthropic, negative attitudes to the human populace, he does often help guide Aaron in his assignments.
 * Joey Kavonok: (David Herman) The patriarch of the Kavonok household; Marribelle's husband and the father of Imogen and Kevin. Joey is a well flourishing morgue technician, proud of his prosperous, upper middle-class, pure Presbyterian lifestyle. While he maintains the facade of a happily married family man, affiliated with a drug cartel which is helping him sustain his family's financial wellbeing. Joey was fortuitously responsible for the death of Aaron, having killed him by vehicular manslaughter, and has since been "haunted" by Aaron's ghost, who preferred to befriend him rather than torment him.
 * Maribelle Kavonok: (Maria Bamford) The maternal figure in the family; Joey's wife and the mother of Imogen and Kevin. She is depicted as an insanely attractive, genial woman, working as a funeral director. Much like her husband, Maribelle is well in tuned with wholesome religious values, while also subscribing to a hidden life of hedonism, being a nymphomaniac and an alcoholic. She is also aware of her husband's criminal activities, and will oftentimes help clean up his messes.
 * Imogen Kavonok: (Hynden Walch) The eldest child at thirteen years old. Imogen, while affectionate and interactive around her family, is deeply troubled and hides her issues away from her family just as her parents do. In some respects she's very mature but finds it difficult making friends with people of her own age. She is insubordinate, behaves asocial around most of her peers, affiliates herself with delinquency, engages in underage smoking and drinking, and is in an unhealthy relationship with a clingy high school senior. She is also very well informed on the occult and supernatural and conveys interests in the taboo.
 * Kevin Kavonok: (Nika Futterman) At eight years old, Kevin is the youngest member in the household, and the most innocent overall. He is handicapped from the waist down, but remains largely confident given his disadvantage, and does not allow his impairment to weigh him down.
 * Edith Ainsworth: (Eden Espinosa) A vengeful spirit of a young maiden from the 19th century, murdered by an unknown assailant. Due to her tragic undisclosed murder, her soul has remained trapped in the mortal realm for some generations. Edith is driven by her unrestrained rage, and will viciously maim, slaughter, and torment those who happen to wrong her, Aaron, or the Kavonok's (whom she lives with). She had her initial debut in the season four episode, Dead Girl, where she takes a liking and grows attached to Aaron, mistaking him as her long lost lover. Edith's and Aaron's relationship gradually develops overtime, and they eventually get married.

Recurring

 * Antoine Patterson: (Violent J) Antoine is the identical twin brother of Aaron, a much more successful person and revered rapper active in the hardcore scene, who goes by the stage name, The Antidote.
 * Kora Clark: (Alyson Court) The emotionally manipulative, abusive, and unstable ex-girlfriend of Aaron who sometimes slips back into his life time and again, only to exploit and abandon him every time.
 * Sheriff Dick Likar: (Dana Snyder) A bumbling town sheriff who is a part time nature photographer. He is best known around locally for his public access documentary series "Dick Pics". He is virtually ignorant on the things that go around in his town.
 * Donnie and Yusuf: (Bruh Macarena)
 * Jodi Graham:
 * Reagan Patterson:

Development
Following the initial success that Hat's previous project Kitchen had on the network, Kingson at the time aimed to develop a new lineup of animated sitcoms for adults.

Contrary to popular belief, The Spooks was not cancelled as a result of threats from religious groups, but rather budget restraints and a lack of ratings.

Broadcasting
The series airs on Vision's international channels. In Canada, The Spooks also aired on G4 Canada's ADd block from 2009 to 2012. It airs on 2x2 in Russia.

In August 2019, the entire series became available on American streaming service Hulu.

Continuation
Following a year after the finale, Ralf Hat, the series creator, announced the development of a brand new series, Doommates, which is set in the same universe as The Spooks. The show is scheduled to air on Vision's Sundown block in 2021.