Commentary: ‘Krapopolis’ Puts A Spin On Observational Comedy

Observational comedy is a very particular skill set. It’s about noticing things in everyday life and spinning them in a way that becomes humorous. The Fox animated show Krapopolis puts a pretty unique spin on observational comedy and is able to pull it off because of the show’s unique premise. It is, essentially, about the dawn of civilization as one ruler named Tyrannis (Richard Ayoade) tries to create a city and experiment with democracy in ancient Greece. The way the series becomes hilarious: it takes simple things in everyday life that people take for granted and introduces them as brand new ideas that the citizens are skeptical about. That simple notion combined with the show’s comedy makes for some pretty hilarious episodes.

One such example has to do with children running loose around the city. In order to combat this danger, they round up all the kids and started something called a school. They then quickly realize how crucial a school can be when they could teach the kids anything they wanted in order to indoctrinate them. Another episode concerns toilets. After sewage begins to pile up in the city, they develop a seat for people to use that would send out sewage to the ocean. But people were hesitant to use it when they realized snakes could climb up the pipe and bite them on the butt.

Schools and toilets are two things people don’t think about every day. They are just regular parts of life that society takes for granted. And yet, they would have had to begin at some point. Obviously, Krapopolis is a satirical show, so it’s not meant to be historically accurate in any sense of the notion, especially given that there are gods and monsters in the cast. But still, breaking down ideas that had to have been new at some point is a great way to insert comedy into a story. Krapopolis just happens too do it well.

Krapopolis is now streaming on Hulu.