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FishCenter Live

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FishCenter Live
The words "fish" and "center" in yellow capital letters, along with the word "live" in white capital letters, with a cartoon depiction of a white-spotted puffer fish above the words, all centered with a fish tank in the background, with five cartoon depictions of the program's human hosts near the bottom right of the image.
The logo from an episode broadcast Thursday, 19 November 2020, featuring cartoon depictions of the five hosts and the 2019 "Galaxy King" Th'Lump
GenreComedy
Talk show
Fish Entertainment
Presented by
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes1400+
Production
Running time
  • 60 minutes (web, 2014 – 2020)
  • 120 minutes (web, 2020)
  • 11 minutes (television)
Production companyWilliams Street
Original release
Networkadultswim.com (online)
Adult Swim (television)
ReleaseSeptember 16, 2014 (2014-09-16) –
November 25, 2020 (2020-11-25)

FishCenter Live (also shortened to FishCenter or FC Live[1] or just FCL) is a discontinued American talk show created by Mike Lazzo and hosted by Dave Bonawits, Andrew Choe, Matt Harrigan, Christina Loranger, and Max Simonet. It premiered on the official website of Adult Swim in September 2014 and started airing on television in February 2015. The series ended on November 25, 2020, following the shutdown of Adult Swim's livestream division.

Summary and production

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FishCenter Live was presented as a weekday call-in talk show narrating over footage of tropical fish swimming around in a fish tank.[2][1][3][4][5][6] The fish are ranked according to their points, which are awarded when the fish complete a number of challenges.[5][7] These challenges include "Coin Quest," floating over coins that are superimposed on the video feed.[8][9]

The show was hosted by Dave Bonawits,[1][10] Andrew Choe,[1][10] Matt Harrigan,[1][a][10] Christina Loranger (since 2019),[12] and Max Simonet,[1][13][10] employees from the digital department room of Adult Swim. An original incarnation of the show involved a straight video feed of the fish tank, without narration. Commentary and a phone number for call-in segments were later added. Initially, callers were mostly other Adult Swim employees; when the competition portion was added, the hosts saw an increase of outside callers.[14]

Starting in 2015, both Dave Bonawits and Max Simonet began hosting another show for the streams, a New York Times crossword solving show initially called Crossword. The series was re-titled Bloodfeast in 2016, and later received two television spin-offs: Tender Touches[15] and Gēmusetto Machu Picchu.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show was done remotely starting in March 2020, with the hosts talking through Zoom. During this time, two hosts left for extended hiatuses: Dave Bonawits left from late April to early June for parental leave, while Andrew Choe left in late July after feeling burnt out,[16] returning for the show's final two weeks in November. The show was reduced to just three days a week in September, running two hours every Tuesday through Thursday, while also being simulcasted to YouTube and Twitch.

On November 10, 2020, parent company WarnerMedia announced a large round of layoffs, with Adult Swim being affected.[17] Among the laid off staff were all of the FishCenter Live hosts, except for Max Simonet, and the layoffs ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the Adult Swim streams. Following two more weeks of programming, FishCenter Live, and the Adult Swim streams as a whole, ended on November 25, 2020, with a two-part finale declaring TZ2 as the last Galaxy King. The live stream then became a silent feed of the fish tank until its eventual removal in January 2021.

Final animal cast

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Name Species Tank
Bijou Marine betta grouper One tank
Green Chicken formerly Midoritori or Gunboat Diplomat Bird wrasse
Hamburger[18][19] or Eel Hamburger[10] Zebra moray[10]
Hot Steve[2][20] formerly Lupin the Third[20] Foxface rabbitfish
Mimosa[2][10] Queen coris
Promises Wolf eel
Slider Sailfin tang
Tabitha Pillows Short-nosed unicornfish
Th'Lump[2][20][19][10] White-spotted puffer
Wei Emperor angelfish
Ed Keshem Bird wrasse Quarantine tank
TZ2 Pinktail triggerfish
[unnamed] Crayfish Crawfish tank

Former animal cast

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Name Species Reason for departure
Dottie[10][13] Clown triggerfish Death[13] (February 19, 2016)
Long Donovan Yellow-brown wrasse Death (August 26, 2016)
Mammoth[10] Harlequin tuskfish Death (September 6, 2016)
Ronside Majestic angelfish Death (September 21, 2016)
Sir Squirt[14][10] Lagoon triggerfish Death (October 3, 2016)
"Yo Hal Look At That Tang" Tang[14][10] Sohal surgeonfish Removed from tank due to size and aggression
Ol' Blue[10] King angelfish Removed from tank due to size and aggression, sold at fish store
David Anderson[10] Crayfish Death (May 15, 2015) Live food fed to Hamburger[10]
Hoagie Kush[21] Sea urchin Death (June 28, 2016) eaten by Th'lump
Ale Squirrelfish Death (July 16, 2018)
Styletoy Flame angelfish Death (October 29, 2018)
Mom[20][19][22] Arothron meleagris[22] (or "Golden Puffer") Death (February 3, 2019)
Greenbird (or "Greenberg"[10]) Bird wrasse Death (February 11, 2019)
Tan Fake plant Removed due to aggression (August 26, 2019)
Top Xander Cupper Pinktail triggerfish Death (September 3, 2019)
Lady White Cloud Mountain minnow Death (March 30, 2020)
Lucky White Cloud Mountain minnow Death (May 18, 2020)
Jeremy Legg Cuban hogfish Declared missing (October 2020)

Super and Galaxy Kings

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Year Winter Spring Summer Fall Galaxy King
2015 Tang Hamburger Mammoth Sir Squirt Mammoth
2016 Sir Squirt* Hamburger Greenbird Mimosa Greenbird
2017 Th'Lump TX Cupper Greenbird Greenbird Greenbird
2018 Hot Steve Ale† Mimosa Hamburger TX Cupper
2019 Th'Lump Mimosa Bijou Hamburger Th'Lump
2020 Ed Keshem Th'Lump TZ2 Tabitha Pillows TZ2

^* Sir Squirt was represented by Hamburger in the 2016 Galaxy series. Due to Sir Squirt's death the second place fish for the Winter season, being Hamburger, was declared the Super King representative.
^† Ale was represented by TX Cupper in the 2018 Galaxy series due to Ale's untimely death earlier in the year.

Games

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The callers, fish, and guests compete for points in various games:

Games created for guests have included:

Guests

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100 gecs, Alvvays, George Clinton, Carach Angren, Consider the Source, Dinosaur Jr., John Maus, Dying Fetus, Billie Eilish, Yung Lean, Daughters, Hard Working Americans (HWA), Colin Hay, Le Butcherettes, Los Lobos, Morbid Angel, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, David Sedaris, Tower of Power, Trampled by Turtles, and Turkuaz played on FishCenter Live.[2][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][23][32] Alvvays' played the song "Not My Baby" from their sophomore album Antisocialites. HWA played the songs "Burn Out Shoes" and "Half Ass Moses".[6] HWA was on tour promoting their live album We're All In This Together.[6] Post Malone was also a guest[2] twice and did Trivia on frequent FishCenter guest Kelvin Taylor (actor),[33] along with being bitten by Mom after drinking 9 beers on his first appearance.[34] Waka Flocka Flame and DJ Whoo Kid played on FCL as well.[19] Fish-themed Joy Division cover band, Koi Division, said their dream is to appear on FishCenter Live.[7] George Clanton and Nick Hexum played the song "Aurora Summer".[35] 100 Gecs later included their performances on the show in the digital version of 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues, released on July 10, 2020. The final band to play on the show was Dawes, who appeared on the November 12, 2020 episode.

Collaboration

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On 24 October 2019, American rock band Cage the Elephant released a music video for the song "Social Cues" from their eponymous album. It was shot at FishCenter Live with additional direction from Matt Shultz.[32][36]

Homages

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In the episode broadcast Thursday, 13 December 2018, a parody of the original Star Trek's USS Enterprise was featured called the "USS FishCenterprise NCC-1065." 1065 is a reference to the street number for Williams Street, which produces content for Adult Swim.[37]

Broadcast and reception

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What is our version of a sports show? What is our version of a relationship Q&A show? You can test these things out, just as we did with FishCenter, in an office with a couple microphones.

FishCenter Live was originally released in September 2014 on Adult Swim's official website.[38] The show came about when staff decided to film the tropical fish swimming around their aquarium as an idea for developing content for the website's online streaming channels. New episodes were presented on weekdays. The show was added to the network proper in February 2015, broadcast at 4 a.m. These airings are condensed versions of the live version, consisting of 11-minute highlights from each day.[14][b]

In the first week of its televised broadcast, the show garnered 2.6 million viewers in total.[14] In a press release, the network ranked the program first place across all targeted demographics in its time slot during the second week of March 2015.[39] The network observed some of these viewers as confused Twitter users, wondering if the show was a prank. After these airings, live viewership rose from 120 to 5,000. The success led to the creation of a separate live stream dedicated to the network's Toonami block.[14]

In August 2017, a premiere of a Rick and Morty episode was delayed due to an episode of FishCenter Live on the same live stream.[22]

Critical reception has been positive. Adweek's Jason Lynch called FishCenter Live "its flagship livestreaming show."[9] The Comedy Bureau received the series favorably with "you'll find, while giggling the whole way through, that you do get sort of invested in the individual fish."[40] Decider's Kayla Cobb said "[i]t's weird, but it works."[20] Ranked sixth in their list of best "unknown" television series of 2015, Newsday's Verne Gay reviewed ""FC Live" is insane — as such, a perfect distillation of all that is Adult Swim."[1] The Outline's Samuel Argyle said "FishCenter border[s] on the avant-garde.[2] JamBase's Andy Kahn called it "wacky."[27] The Guardian's Mark Lawson critiqued "Ambitiously, this is a phone-in show, although disappointingly, the fish don't take the calls, but swim in tanks that surround the presenters."[41] The A.V. Club's Erik Lindvall said FishCenter "the latest weird thing" to come from the network "in a streak of really weird things", describing it as a "wonderful, web-based world of piscine sports".[5]

Live for Live Music's Ming Lee Newcomb described FishCenter Live as "eccentric" and "bizarre."[6] Ranked fourth in their list of "[t]he 26 Weirdest Adult Swim Shows Ever," Deadspin's Sheldon Pearce commented "Adult Swim employees came up with this one, which means it's definitely on-brand if nothing else."[42] In reviewing Tender Touches, Geek's Jose Rodriguez said the pilot had "more in common with Xavier: Renegade Angel or FishCenter."[43] Reviewing their Alvvays performance, Uproxx's Derrick Rossignol declared "every band should be on it, because at the very least, it's one of the most bizarre live internet shows you can possibly watch."[23] Later, while reviewing the Post Malone episode, Rossignol followed-up with "a totally bizarre, daytime, aquatic, call-in web show that doesn't make much sense, and that's what makes it great."[18] In an interview with host Max Simonet, Sonoma Index-Tribune's David Templeton remarked "[it's] a bizarrely simple cult-hit web-and-television show."[13]

Controversy

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In 2016, two Dragon Con cosplayers, claiming an association with Adult Swim and Cartoon Network and wore "Make FishCenter Great Again" hats, dressed as the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.[44][45][3][46] Images of the cosplay were widely shared on social media sites as Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.[44][46] Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston speculated they were cosplaying as the game Rampage,[3] while Facebook commenters drew a connection with the anime Terror in Resonance.[45]

Australian Adaption

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Australian channel 9Go! promoted their Australian adaption of FishCenter (known as FishCentre) airing at 12:00 on the channel, along with the Adult Swim block they have on the channel.[citation needed] Unlike the American version of FishCenter, FishCentre was not live and consisted of scripted shorts no longer than 2 minutes in length, with voices super-imposed onto the fish. It ran for 12 episodes.[47]

Notes

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  1. ^ Harrigan, a creative director at the network, was first hired at Turner Broadcasting System in 1994. The Wall Street Journal observed this relationship as a rule of management to not "get hung up on hierarchy and protocol" at the studio.[11]
  2. ^ These broadcast versions have also been uploaded to the network's YouTube channel.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Gay, Verne (28 December 2015). "Best TV shows you didn't watch in 2015: Hulu's 'Difficult People,' more under-the-radar series". Newsday. Edward Bushey & Debby Krenek. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Argyle, Samuel (29 March 2019). "A fantasy getaway in a fish tank". The Outline. theoutline.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Johnston, Rich (6 September 2016). "Cosplay Controversy At Dragon*Con – 9/11 Or Rampage?". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  4. ^ Lee, Christina (18 June 2015). "A day inside Adult Swim: the craziest TV network in America". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d Lindvall, Eric (February 11, 2015). "Discover the Wonderful, Web-Based World of Piscine Sports with Adult Swim's FishCenter Live". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Newcomb, Ming Lee (6 October 2017). "Watch Hard Working Americans Play Adult Swim's Bizarre Fish-Tank Stream/Talk Show, 'FishCenter Live'". Live for Live Music. L4LM. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b Rylah, Julliet Bennett (7 September 2017). "Koi Division Is the Fish-Themed Joy Division Cover Band the World Needs Right Now". LA Weekly. Voice Media Group. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  8. ^ Arnold, Eden (4 June 2020). "Adult Swim Live Stream a Wonderfully Weird World. And There's Fish". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Lynch, Jason (20 July 2017). "How Adult Swim Cracked the Code on Livestreaming to Attract Massive Audiences". Adweek. Beringer Capital. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Kopcow, Chris (29 May 2015). "Adult Swim's 'FishCenter': A Beginner's Guide". Splitsider. The Awl. Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  11. ^ Jurgensen, John (March 12, 2015). "Shop Rules at Adult Swim". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  12. ^ LinkedIn staff. "Christina Loranger - Production Assistant - Adult Swim". LinkedIn. LinkedIn Corporation. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d Templeton, David (23 February 2017). "Sonoma's Max Simonet making big splash on Adult Swim". Sonoma Index-Tribune. Sonoma Media Investments, LLC. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Jurgensen, John (March 12, 2015). "Adult Swim: How to Run a Creative Hothouse". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  15. ^ Schwarz, John (17 December 2017). "Adult Swim To Premiere Five Nights Of "Tender Touches" – Bubbleblabber". Bubbleblabber. bubbleblabber.com. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Fishcenter Live". Adult Swim. 2020-07-23. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  17. ^ Holloway, Daniel (2020-11-10). "WarnerMedia Begins New Round of Layoffs Amid Restructuring". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  18. ^ a b c d Rossignol, Derrick (1 November 2017). "Post Malone Went On Adult Swim's Absurd 'FishCenter' Web Show And Got Bitten By A Fish". Uproxx. Uproxx Media Group. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  19. ^ a b c d Cortez, Kevin (17 April 2017). "Watch Waka Flocka's Fish Tank Play By Play". Mass Appeal. massappeal.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  20. ^ a b c d e Cobb, Kayla (10 May 2017). "Cult Corner: 'FishCenter Live' Is The Most Delightfully Pointless Show on TV". Decider. New York Post. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  21. ^ Adult Swim staff (7 July 2016). "Adult Swim - Posts". Facebook. facebook.com. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  22. ^ a b c Dwilson, Stephanie Rube (7 August 2017). "'Rick and Morty': What Is the Fishcenter Live Stream?". Heavy.com. Heavy Inc. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  23. ^ a b c Rossignol, Derrick (11 October 2017). "Alvvays Can't Stop Laughing At The Absurdity Of Performing On Adult Swim's 'FishCenter'". Uproxx. Uproxx Media Group. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  24. ^ Hay, Colin (25 February 2017). "Colin appears on FishCenter". Colin Hay. Tumblr. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  25. ^ Jambands.com staff (19 April 2019). "Pigeons Playing Ping Pong to Appear on Adult Swim's 'FishCenter Live'". Jambands.com. Relix Media Group, LLC. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  26. ^ JamBands staff (23 January 2020). "Watch Turkuaz Perform "Make You Famous" on Adult Swim's 'FishCenter Live'". JamBands.com. Relix Media Group. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  27. ^ a b Kahn, Andy (6 October 2017). "Hard Working Americans Perform On Adult Swim's 'FishCenter Live'". JamBase. JamBase Inc. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  28. ^ Kennelty, Greg (19 October 2018). "DYING FETUS Were The Musical Guests On Adult Swim's FishCenter Live Talk Show". Metal Injection. Metal Injection LLC. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  29. ^ Kennelty, Greg (24 October 2018). "CARACH ANGREN Is The Latest Metal Artist To Guest On Adult Swim's FishCenter Live Talk Show". Metal Injection. Metal Injection LLC. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  30. ^ Kennelty, Greg (6 March 2019). "DAUGHTERS Is The Latest Metal Artist To Guest On Adult Swim's FishCenter Live Talk Show". Metal Injection. Metal Injection LLC. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  31. ^ Mason, Pete (10 February 2018). "Consider The Source Announce Coast-To-Coast Spring Tour". NYS Music. nysmusic.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  32. ^ a b Rossignol, Derrick (21 November 2019). "100 Gecs Is The Most Fittingly Bizarre Musical Guest In 'FishCenter' History". Uproxx. Uproxx Media Group. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Kelvin Taylor - Post Malone Trivia on FishCenter". Vimeo. 2019-10-21.
  34. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Post Malone | FishCenter | Adult Swim". YouTube.
  35. ^ "George Clanton + Nick Hexum "Aurora Summer" | Fishcenter | adult swim". Youtube. 2020-08-14.
  36. ^ Rutherford, Kevin (24 October 2019). "Cage the Elephant Wants You to Text This Number After Watching the 'Social Cues' Video". Billboard. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  37. ^ Hillebrand, Jörg; Schneider, Bernd (1 January 2020). "Ex Astris Scientia - Visual Crossovers with Other Series/Movies". Ex Astris Scientia. ex-astris-scientia.org. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  38. ^ Jurgensen, John (March 12, 2015). "Adult Swim: How to Run a Creative Hothouse". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
    • For "September", see: Jurgensen, John (March 12, 2015). "Shop Rules at Adult Swim". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  39. ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 10, 2015). "Monthly Ratings Notes for Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT & NBA TV: Rizzoli & Isles, Cougar Town, NBA Basketball & More". TV by the Numbers. Tribune Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  40. ^ The Comedy Bureau (10 February 2015). "Adult Swim Will Apparently Be Streaming a Daily..." The Comedy Bureau. Tumblr. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  41. ^ Lawson, Mark (25 July 2016). "Bring on the orphaned elephant: why TV's animal takeover is almost complete". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  42. ^ Pearce, Sheldon (19 November 2015). "The 26 Weirdest Adult Swim Shows Ever". Deadspin. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  43. ^ Rodriguez, Josef (5 October 2017). "NYCC: Adult Swim's On the Green Tour". Geek. Geek Media Ventures/Source Interlink Media. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  44. ^ a b Boult, Adam (5 September 2016). "Anger over 'Twin Towers' cosplayers". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  45. ^ a b Frye, Patrick (6 September 2016). "2016 Dragoncon Twin Towers Cosplay Costume Takes NYC 9/11 Jokes Too Far, Cartoon Network Adult Swim-Inspired Costumes Had Flaming Barbie Dolls Jumping To Their Deaths From World Trade Center". The Inquistr. inquistr.com. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  46. ^ a b Sandle, Tim (5 September 2016). "Dragon Con sci-fi fans trigger 9/11 controversy". Digital Journal. digitaljournal.com. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  47. ^ "FishCentre Australia - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-09-11.

Further reading

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