If you’re looking for a dull, blatant ripoff of a beloved cult television show, look no further than Netflix’s newest animated series, Pacific Heat. With only decent moments of humor scattered throughout, the sitcom is far too inconsistent to engage its viewers for 22 minutes.
The only jaw-dropping aspect of the new series is its willingness to be so grossly derivative of any other show on air. It didn’t take long for users online to realize that Pacific Heat followed not only the same aesthetic, but also a very similar premise and cadence of Archer. Though attempts were made to divert attention away from this issue, as producer Santo Cilauro told The Sydney Morning Herald that he “wouldn’t be surprised if the makers of Scooby-Doo got upset,” the stark similarities between the two cartoons make Cilauro’s appearance of feigned ignorance funnier than any punchline employed in his show.
Set in the Gold Coast of Australia, Pacific Heat follows a team of law enforcement officials consisting of Special Agents Todd Sommerville (Rob Sitch), Zac Valentic (Santo Cilauro), Veronica Delane (Lucia Mastrantone) and Maddie Riggs (Rebecca Massey) under the direction of the special unit’s archetypical chief (Tom Gleisner). The show displays some flexibility in comedy, combining flashback sequences and running gags, yet it grows apparent that the team follows a formula of confusing, rapid banter that rips any chance of likeability from them.
While Pacific Heat is able to copy the themes and animation of Archer, it fails to emulate its humor. Perhaps due to the fast-paced nature of the show, the punchlines easily fly over the head of the viewer, resulting in only hackneyed, borderline-offensive dialogue, as the show relies heavily on off-color jokes, which are fine as long as they’re actually funny. Watching the characters make fun of the plight of immigrants by dragging Chinese people through annoying impersonations of their accents was not only distasteful, but unoriginal. And as other successful vulgar comedy series have shown us, the laugh factor of most race jokes are dependent on their originality.
Commissioned by the Australia-based Working Dog Productions, it’s clear that a creative disconnect existed between the show’s producers and the streaming company, as Netflix has released original content that is both satisfying and imaginative in the past. On a superficial level, Pacific Heat may be able to function, but if you’re looking for a new cartoon to binge watch, keep scrolling.
.5/4 Shells
