Great TV While High: Invader Zim

“I am Zim!”

I’ve always loved cartoons. I grew up watching shows like Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and many others on Saturday mornings. Now that I’m a bit older I’ve realized these cartoons, while made for kids, are still great.

One of these shows is Invader Zim, created by Jhonen Vasquez and aired on Nickelodeon back in 2001. The series is about an alien invader named Zim who comes to earth with the goal of conquering and destroying the planet. However, his efforts to enslave and destroy the human race are constantly thwarted by his own incompetence or by Dib, a boy who studies paranormal activities.

Zim is overzealous and compulsive in his attempts to wipe out humanity, and his schemes constantly and hilariously fail despite his access to superior alien technology. His crazy robot side-kick, Gir, doesn’t help much either.

Much of the hilarity comes from Zim’s own ineptitude and his run ins with Dib. The actor who voices Zim, Richard Horvitz, does a great job with his varied use of tone and pitch. My favorites are when Zim refers to himself in the third person.

Most of the episodes are broken up into two mini, self-contained stories and the first season is currently available on Netflix. The shows is absolutely hilarious once you get accustomed to it’s art style and type of humor, especially after a couple bowl hits.

To get you started, here’s a clip of some great moments during the show. Enjoy!

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great TV While High series!