Exploding Kittens (TV series)

Exploding Kittens is an American adult animated fantasy comedy television series loosely based on the tabletop card game of the same name designed by Matthew Inman, of The Oatmeal webcomic, and Elan Lee. It features the voices of Tom Ellis, Sasheer Zamata, Suzy Nakamura, Mark Proksch, Ally Maki, Betsy Sodaro, Tom Kenny, David Gborie and Kenny Yates.

Produced by Chomp City, Bandera Entertainment, Jam Filled Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment, it premiered on Netflix on July 12, 2024, to mixed reception from critics.

Premise
"When an eternal conflict reach the epic proportions when God and the Devil both are sent to Earth... in the bodies of chunky house cats!"

- Netflix

Voice cast

 * Tom Ellis as Godcat/God
 * Sasheer Zamata as Devilcat/Beelzebub
 * Suzy Nakamura as Abbie Higgins
 * Mark Proksch as Marv Higgins
 * Ally Maki as Greta Higgins
 * Kenny Yates as Travis Higgins
 * Betsy Sodaro as Aidan
 * Tom Kenny as Cherub Craig
 * David Gborie as Aslandeus

Development
In April 2022, it was announced that an animated streaming television series was first officially ordered by Netflix, with King of the Hill creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels as executive producers, alongside Peter Chernin. Additional game mechanics and cards tied to the show will be added to the mobile game at a later date.

Casting
Alongside the series' announcement, Tom Ellis, Sasheer Zamata, Abraham Lim, Lucy Liu, Ally Maki, Betsy Sodaro, Tom Kenny, David Gborie and Mark Proksch, were cast as the ensemble cast. In May 2024, Suzy Nakamura and Kenny Yates joined the cast; but within the two year span of the show's development, Liu and Lim dropped out from the project.

Release
Exploding Kittens had its first look preview at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 14, 2023. Originally planned for a release in late 2023, the series was delayed for a 2024 premiere. The series was released on July 12, 2024.

Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 69% approval rating with an average rating of 4.9/10, based on 16 critic reviews. On Metacritic, the series has a score of 54 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews" based on 9 critic reviews.

Lucy Mangan, reviewing for The Guardian, gave the series one star, saying it was "carelessly made, infuriating and unfunny" and criticising the poor storyline. The A.V. Club's Isobel Lewis gives the series a C−, saying that the jokes are "the kind that lead to a small smile but rarely makes anyone laugh out loud" though there are "nuggets of comedy gold"; she criticises the writing as "tame" and "lack[ing] the bravery of other animated series". Chase Hutchinson, writing for IGN rated the series 4/10, saying that throughout the show "premises are stretched well beyond their breaking point, jokes land with tiresome thuds, and every cliffhanger feels like a forced attempt to get Netflix subscribers to keep the app open."

In the Los Angeles Times, Robert Lloyd notes that while the series is a "lesson ... that anything can amount to exploitable intellectual property", it is also "corny as... hell, but it's genuine corn". Angie Han in The Hollywood Reporter said the show's plot was "admirably zany" but that the comedy "[tended] to be obvious"; she concludes that "if you're looking for light humor, you could do worse".