Decker (TV series)

Last updated
Decker
Genre Action comedy
Created by Tim Heidecker
Gregg Turkington
Based on
On Cinema at the Cinema
by
  • Tim Heidecker
  • & Gregg Turkington
Written byTim Heidecker
Gregg Turkington
Directed byEric Notarnicola
StarringTim Heidecker
Gregg Turkington
Joe Estevez
John Aprea
Sally Kellerman
Mark Proksch
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6 [1]
No. of episodes47 & 3 specials [1]
(episode list)
Production
Running timevariable;
currently ≈11 minutes
Production companies Abso Lutely Productions
Williams Street
Original release
Network YouTube / AdultSwim.com (2014–2015)
Adult Swim (2016–2020)
ReleaseJuly 17, 2014 (2014-07-17) 
July 3, 2020 (2020-07-03)
Related
On Cinema

Decker is an American comedy web series and television series created by Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington. The show is a web spinoff/tie-in to the series On Cinema at the Cinema and began on July 17, 2014. Many recurring jokes and the personas and mutual antipathies expressed by Decker and Turkington carry over from the relationship of the "real" actors, Heidecker and Turkington, in On Cinema.

Contents

The series is a spoof of action films, with intentionally bad production for comedic effect. It focuses on Special Agent Jack Decker (Heidecker), who attempts to stop terror attacks before they occur. At his side is Special Agent Kington (Turkington), with recurring appearances from many guests of the On Cinema series, such as Joe Estevez as President Davidson, and Mark Proksch as Abdul.

The series is part of the "On Cinema universe" which has a cult following, especially through social media. In response, Heidecker and Turkington started Decker-Con, where new episodes of Decker are screened and the cast appears as their "On Cinema" characters, meeting and talking to fans. [2]

Initially an Adultswim.com series, it was announced to be moving to TV on December 17, 2015, and its fourth season premiered on June 17, 2016, on Adult Swim. [3] [4] The series was renewed for a fifth and sixth season, both of which aired in 2017. [5] [6]

Premise

Decker follows the adventures of Jack Decker (Heidecker), a Jack Bauer-esque conservative CIA agent, in his attempts to defeat enemies including the Taliban, ISIS, Count Dracula, environmental science, and the inept, cowardly liberal President Jason Davidson (Joe Estevez). In his quest to save America, Decker is aided by the CIA's "master of codes", the movie-obsessed Jonathan Kington (Turkington), whose name is frequently mispronounced as either Kingston or Klington.

The series is a tie-in to On Cinema, acting as the passion project of the fictional version of Tim Heidecker. In the series, the production is extremely low quality, with CGI errors, notably overt political grandstanding, very low quality animations, misquotes and bad editing, all for comedic effect. The series is also party to overdrawn scenes, such as in season 2, where the main character sings "Our Values Are Under Attack," a partisan political song created by Heidecker. As the series progressed, more CGI was used, but used ineffectively, where sometimes effects would seem unfinished.

Characters

Main characters

Recurring characters

Series overview

SeasonTitleEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
1 Classified5July 17, 2014 (2014-07-17)August 14, 2014 (2014-08-14) YouTube/Adultswim.com
2 Port of Call: Hawaii20March 9, 2015 (2015-03-09)April 3, 2015 (2015-04-03)
3 Gregg Turkington's
Decker Vs. Dracula
4 (& 2 specials)October 12, 2015 (2015-10-12)December 2, 2015 (2015-12-02)
4 Unclassified6June 17, 2016 (2016-06-17)July 29, 2016 (2016-07-29) Adult Swim
5 Unsealed6June 4, 2017 (2017-06-04)July 9, 2017 (2017-07-09)
6 Mindwipe6July 16, 2017 (2017-07-16)August 20, 2017 (2017-08-20)
7 The Animated Adventures of Jack Decker1 pilotJuly 3, 2020 (2020-07-03)July 3, 2020 (2020-07-03)

Production

Heidecker has said of production that there is, to an extent, purposefully little preparation in the process to make the show appear as low-quality as possible, as well as stating: "We'll also go off-script and rant a bit to get everyone confused." [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Decker episode list on Adultswim.com". Adult Swim.
  2. Robert Lloyd (9 June 2017). "'Decker,' 'On Cinema' and the various, intertwined universes of comedian Tim Heidecker". The L.A. Times .
  3. Snierson, Dan (2016-05-04). "Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule sneak a peek at the season 4 premiere". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  4. Petski, Denise (2016-05-12). "'Robot Chicken: Walking Dead' Special on Adult Swim's 2016-17 Slate". Deadline cdate=2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  5. "'Decker: Unclassified' Renewed For Second Season At Adult Swim". November 7, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2016.
  6. 2016 Year in Review
  7. Jake Lauer (1 June 2017). "Tim Heidecker Turns Political With Decker: Unsealed". Paste Magazine .