The Spooks

The Spooks is an American animated black comedy series created by Ralf Hat for Brilliant. The show follows the journeys of Aaron, a benevolent though miserable, neurotic, and alcoholic ghost. Having been killed in an unfortunate situation, Aaron would soon find himself facing none other than the Grim Reaper, who would offer him the position of being his apprentice and eventual successor. Wanting to redeem his wretched life, Aaron is unwillingly dragged into countless horrific supernatural adventures with his partner and best friend Creek, a paranormal investigator. The thoroughly macabre premise enabled the series to explore countless taboo subjects such as death, the occult, religion, and alcoholism for example. The Spooks was cancelled in 2006 after six years of airing and three seasons. Roughly two years later in 2008, Vision revived the series which lasted five more seasons on the network before its conclusion in 2017.

Premise
After an unexpected series of events led to his death, a helpless, neurotic, and alcoholic man named Aaron Patterson finds himself transformed into a ghost among the living. Nowhere left to go, Aaron is confronted by none other than the Grim Reaper himself, who offers him a position as his apprentice (which Aaron eagerly accepts, seeing this as a higher calling of some sort). Aaron and the Reaper happen form an unexpected bond as they operate with each other as boss and servant. Plagued by misfortune and a relentless cowardice, Aaron is forced to endure plenty of psychological, spiritual, and emotional challenges which either the Reaper instructs him to face or he supernaturally gets interfered with. These experiences may range from everyday struggles to downright insane supernatural calamities. Working alongside on Aaron’s terrifying journeys is a mysterious paranormal investigator, Johnson Creek, who acts as his caretaker, life mentor, and best friend. The Kavonok family, are the last descendants of the Reaper who have much more relevancy in by the second season and onwards. The nuclear family consists of Joey and Mari, a husband and wife and their two tween children Kevin and Audrey. Other supporting characters include Iris, Aaron’s eldritch abomination of a girlfriend (and later wife), and Antoine, Aaron’s gangbanger of a brother. A large ensemble of recurring characters have increased as the series grew, adding more depth to the story lines of each episode.

The series takes place in the depressing village of Gallows Ridge, Virginia, riddled with paranormal activity and apathetic residents. Episodes can range from explicitly ridiculous spoofs of the horror genre to a more downright horror/psychological thriller direction which usually are character-driven and matured.

Main Characters

 * Aaron Patterson: Aaron is the leading character of the show; A ghost who is the forthcoming successor of the Grim Reaper. Having lived a miserable life, Aaron subsequently dies following a series of misfortunate events, where he is then confronted by the Grim Reaper, who offers him a position as his apprentice. He willingly accepts the Reaper’s offer (holding the belief that this may be his “destiny”), but to his dismay, is oblivious to all the supernatural terrifying predicaments he is forced to endure, which haunts him psychologically and challenges his moral beliefs. Depicted as a benevolent, kind hearted, unsophisticated, and fearful man, Aaron is mostly an underdog who, though being an intense coward, will put himself before others compassionately. His fight response will usually kick in when others are in jeopardy. He is also an unapologetic alcoholic and drug abuser (a trait he developed from his father), and is often shown getting high on various occasions. Throughout the show, Aaron comes to acknowledge well meaningful (and sometimes bittersweet) life lessons which help him progress as a character further on.
 * The Reaper: The Grim Reaper who is Aaron’s undying master and ensuing predecessor. He is the spirit of an Austrian soldier who shot himself during the The Battle of the Somme in the First World War, and like Aaron, lived an unsatisfactory life full of anguish and meaninglessness. Like the typical assumption of the Grim Reaper, he possesses dark supernatural powers, wields a styche, and is morally questionable. He and Aaron usually are on opposing sides personality wise. For example Reaper is cynical, self-absorbed, typically unsympathetic or not repulsed by death or pain unleashed on others, cracks bad timing macabre jokes, and at times doesn't really take his job seriously. While he isn't exactly a good person or role model, he doesn't necessarily lack humanity and does seem to care about Aaron, Creek, and his own family no matter how much he attempts to hide it.
 * Jonathan Creek: Creek is an introverted ghost hunter who is the caretaker and best friend of Aaron. Portrayed as a mysterious and diligent individual, Creek is determined to aid Aaron on his journeys and helps him choose his own path. Creek suffers from both amnesia and PTSD, and has no memory of his previous self other than brief flashbacks. Episodes which focus on Creek are typically more dramatic and have a much darker/down to Earth tone with them. The first half of season eight explores Creek's past and his attempt to reconcile with his long lost daughter, Jane.

The Kavonok Family

 * Kevin Kavonok: Kevin is the youngest member of the family, being twelve years old. Despite being handicapped from the waist down, he is outgoing and adventurous, eager to follow his own curiosity. He is the first of the family to appear in the series, with his debut in the season one episode Black Forest, where he befriends Aaron. Seeing Kevin as a reflection of his younger self, Aaron and him tend to get along with each other, viewing each other as brother-like figures. Reaper sometimes puts Aaron in charge of "haunting" Kevin to help "knock some sense into him" for his lack of masculinity, where Aaron would rather be some sort of guardian to him. He is constantly pushed around, usually unaware of his surroundings, and is easily taken advantage of. He also has a fascination with the paranormal, and is willing to take part in Aaron and Creek's adventures (though he usually regrets this upon getting himself targeted as a victim).
 * Audrey Kavonok:
 * Joey Kavonok: The patriarch of the Kavanoks who is a gleeful and devoted father and husband. An evangelical Christian who takes his beliefs in high regard. Joey prides himself on his profound career as a mortuary technician. He typically is oblivious to the doom and gloom which surrounds him, and he doesn't really seem to be alarmed that his family is constantly dragged into various superstitious situations. Joey was formerly a stoner involved in occult practices (which he often blamed for the reason why Kevin is handicapped) as a young adult. It was up until he discovered his grandfather was the Reaper that he was scared into leaving behind his hedonistic ways. He is dependable, a progressive activist, and is commonly depicted as an archetype for a standard 50s father. Despite his overly prudish behavior, Joey is actually severely lecherous when left alone with Mari, his wife.
 * Maribeth Kavonok:
 * Smithy Kavonok:

Supporting

 * Iris Shub-Niggurath:
 * Antoine Patterson: Aaron's identical twin brother; A successful rapper who goes by the pseudonym Anty Antoine.
 * Donnie and Yadiel: A pair of brothers who are Kevin's best friends.
 * Jane Smithson:

Other

 * Govenor Harris Lee Smithson: The current Governor of the state of Virginia, who is covertly one of the many Antichrists to come before the Apocalypse.
 * Mrs. Patterson:
 * Mr. Patterson: Aaron's neglectful father who only appears in flashbacks.
 * Big Slime: Aaron's new step-dad, an aggressive and physically intimidating African American man. He is a social worker who helped rehabilitate Ms. Patterson using his "pleasuring" techniques. And despite his threatening looks, Big Slime is a pacifist with a sensitive and charismatic mindset. He has a broad habit of branding everyone, including his own step-sons, as his "Bitch".
 * Mitch Mitchell:
 * Kora Clark:
 * Joe Bonovi "The Lady Killer": A charming bisexual yoga instructor and a serial killer who wields a hammer as his signature weapon. His handsome looks and flamboyant behavior makes it almost effortless to lure his victims, having a bias over young single men and women. He is the next-door neighbor to the Kavonok's, who are oblivious to his sociopathic tendencies, and is close friends with Mari.

Episodes
Like most animated television programs, a single episode of The Spooks takes nearly eight months to complete. Each of the first three seasons consist of ten episodes, while the remaining five seasons of the revival each consist of twenty. In total, 130 episodes have been broadcasted during both of the series runs.

Development
The Spooks was conceived along with Kitchen, Wage Guys, and The Pound in the early 90s. During the time working in Children's animation, series creator, Ralf Hat expressed interest in producing numerous adult oriented programs. Hat wanted to approach a horror aspect for one of these projects. He drew inspiration from much of the horror films and fears he experienced as a child, as well as Victorian era gothic novels, and the dark depressing tones of post-punk and sludge metal music, which he is a fan of. Hat envisioned the series would follow an easily distressed ghost, Aaron, who ironically fears the supernatural despite being apart of it himself. Aaron is intended to be a spoof of the Famous Studios character Casper, while Creek's character is influenced by Lankester Merrin and Van Helsing. Originally, the premise would have followed Aaron befriending other spirits and mortals, with Creek and the Reaper being antagonists who seeked to manipulate him for their own motives. It was later scrapped in favor for its current premise. The idea was pitched to Kingson, who rejected it due to its macabre premise at the time. Other networks like FOX and UPN rejected it for the same reasoning, leaving Hat the choice of Brilliant, who greenlit it almost immediately.

Animation
Most of the animation during the original run was completed by the now defunct Odium77 animation studio. Animation is completed overseas at Sunwoo Entertainment in Korea.

Broadcast
In the United States, the first run aired on Brilliant from 2003 to 2006, with the revival of The Spooks airs on Vision. Since its end, reruns usually air on its Late Night block during October, while select episodes are available to watch on the network's website and app. In Canada, the series aired on Teletoon at Night (and Télétoon la nuit in Quebec) from 2010 to 2013, before being switched to the newly launched Canadian Vision. In Australia and New Zealand, the show went straight to home release carrying a R18+ rating. In the United Kingdom, the series airs on Comedy Central. In Russia it airs on 2x2, Comedy Central in Latin America, and Adult Swim in other unspecified countries.

Reception
The show has received generally positive reviews, having an 8.0 rating on TV.com.

Content
The Spooks is generally considered by many to be one of the network's most controversial animated programs in terms of content. In the United States, the show is rated TV-MA for its extremely graphic use of violence and disturbing imagery, sexual activity and sometimes nudity, black humor, and its exploration of touchy subjects which may include: death, misery, grief, alcoholism, religion, mental illness, morality, neuroticism, and the macarbe. Contrary to all this, the series puts use to these subjects by focusing more on telling an engaging story rather than gratuitously offending its viewers for the sake of shock value.

Specials
When asked if he would be interested in developing a film adaptation based on the series during a 2012 Comic Con appearance, Hat responded with: "No. Kiss my balls, Walter".

Web exclusives
Aforementioned, select episodes are available to watch on Vision's website and app. These require a signup and caution warning in order to view. In addition, free episodes are chosen randomly within every month. A spin-off web series entitled: Ghost Seekers (a parody of Ghost Hunters) premiered on the site in 2015 and followed Kevin and his friends documenting their own paranormal investigating series, which usually end in an ironic malfunction. Each episode's time length ranges from 1 to 8 minutes, and there are fourteen episodes in total.

Merchandise
Spooks rectal thermometer

Video games
Two video games, The Spooks: Urban Legend and The Spooks: Necroholic Barmageddon were released in 2011 and 2013, both of which were developed by Heavy Iron Studios.