In the earlier days of Adult Swim, quality content geared towards adults was more along the lines of poorly animated scatological humor that ironically attracted a juvenile audience. It got much better as time went on and work by genuine artists came forth. One of which was Dino Stamatopoulos- a name which I am not going to even try to pronounce. He's probably better known as “Star-burns” on "Community," but he's also worked on a number of shows including the one we're talking about today.
“Moral Orel” prides is an open-faced parody of “Davey and Goliath,” an old clay-animated series (done by the guys who made “Gumby,” no less) about a young boy and his talking dog learn biblical lessons in "Leave It To Beaver" fashion. “Moral Orel” adds satire, not so much of the religious nature of "Davy and Goliath," but the hypocritical nature of American religious fundamentalism. The show centers around a town full of people (poorly) hiding deep secrets while using Christianity as a guise. The pastor, Reverend Putty, who preaches love and charity is a chronic masturbator who lusts after local women. The librarian hates knowledge and expression, censoring everything that might cause people to think. The doctor gives away pain pills to make his patients shut up. They all come together each Sunday to church, putting on a pious face. In the middle of it all is Orel, who can only tell right and wrong from what his abusive, alcoholic father tells him. Having no real sense of morality, Orel gets into trouble by taking the words of his father or pastor to logical extremes with drastic consequences for the town, sometimes relating to modern social ills. One episode has Reverend Putty preaching about charity- which leads to Orel giving charity to a drug dealer who, in return, “gifts” Orel with hardcore drugs. One of my favorite “take that!” moments in the show is when the missing link is discovered and is brainwashed into becoming Rush Limbaugh.
The show only lasted for three short seasons, each episode lasting ten minutes. It started out being an episodic show about Orel's misadventures. Starting with the second season, some continuity and character development happened and the show drifted more towards the residents of the town rather than just Orel. Even the hypocrite pastor Reverend Putty gets an episode where he learns he has a daughter and learns how to put aside his selfishness and appreciate his newly found family. The show takes a sudden turning point when Orel's father takes him on a hunting trip- only to show his true colors just in time for Orel to realize how reprehensible his dad is. The third season takes away any restraint the show previously had and focuses solely on the townsfolk. Even one-note characters like Nurse Bendy, whose child-like ignorance comes from a lifetime of being objectified and used by men. It goes to places most shows absolutely refuse- such as grade school teacher Miss Sculptham's self-imposed abortion after being sexual assaulted. Most important is what the season reveals about Orel's family, like his parent's crippling marriage and the cycle of abuse that made his father an alcoholic monster. Orel's father, Clay, quickly becomes the series' central antagonist. Clay is easily one of the most disgusting and morally bankrupt characters ever portrayed in television. What we have is a satire of modern day politics- religion being used to justify horrendous actions while the innocent become victims.
While the show maintained its tongue-in-cheek humor, the progressively darker content made the network uneasy and they canceled it immediately after seeing one episode of the third season. Infuriatingly, Adult Swim had instructed Stamatopoulos to make the show darker. So the show was effectively canceled for following the network's direction. Even worse, only the first season was ever released on DVD in the US. The other two seasons were released on DVD in Australia. I'm not one to advocate piracy, but the only way to see the entire series without importing a DVD and a DVD player that will play region four DVDs is to find it online. The entire season is up on Vimeo and has been for quite some time- probably because Adult Swim doesn't care enough about the series to take it down. We did get a half-hour special showing Orel's early years back in 2012, but beyond that there's no hope of a revival.
In all honesty, the series ending quickly was for the best. After the third season, there wasn't anywhere for the show to go but downhill. But it's quick cancellation meant that half of the third season was cut and was left with a lot of story arcs that were started but never finished. Some episodes are much better than others, especially in the first season, but it still becomes one of the most quotable shows ever to be released.
“Do you know what babies mean to God? That's right: job security.” - Reverend Putty (Episode 34, "Alone")
