Chicago Party Aunt (First Impressions)

The Animation Guru himself takes a look at the latest adult animated series to grace Netflix: Chicago Party Aunt!

The journey to see the evolution and progression of adult animation has been a rocky road to finding shows that want to push the genre to the next step of having more than just comedy-focused series. Since the most popular adult animated shows are comedies, the path to more variety will take longer than we think. At least with adult comedies going to Netflix, there is a push for either more plot and character-focused stories, while also delivering the crass humor you know and either love, tolerate, or hate. So, where does the upcoming Netflix Chicago Party Aunt fall into place? 

This show is based on the Twitter account of the same name by Chris Witaske. Chicago Party Aunt follows the shenanigan-filled endeavors of Diane Dunbrowski, voiced by Lauren Ash. She has lived a life full of partying, sex, and shenanigans her entire life in what she considers the greatest city of all time, Chicago. Unfortunately for her, Diane’s life is uprooted when her husband leaves her for the second time, her sister evicts her from her condo, and potentially loses her job at the beauty parlor. However, while all of this is going down, she ends up helping out her nephew who’s hesitant about going to college. As you can guess, hijinks ensue, and Diane and her nephew Daniel end up staying in the condo while Daniel thinks about what he wants to do, and the two end up in wacky adventures across the loud and proud city. 

So, with this being a raunchy comedy from Chris Witaske, Jon Barintholtz, and Katie Rich, what does this show offer that you, as a potential viewer, can’t get elsewhere? Let’s talk about the positives first. Lauren Ash as Diane is acting her tail off as the lead character. You all probably know her as Dina Fox from NBC’s Superstore, and she brings a real spitfire energy to the character. It’s rare that we get female-driven comedies on TV or film, and it’s nice to see the show tell everyone that women can be just as raunchy and vulgar as male characters. Unlike many adult comedy series, where it seems like everyone hates one another, there is a real comradery between the characters here. Sure, there are a few stereotypical trope characters that you would see in shows like this, but I like that there is tension and drama that feels a touch more grounded than being as cartoonish as possible. We are at a point where we want less cynicism in our shows, and people are going to be down for shows that have a fun spirit to them instead of being insufferable. 

I know you can look at the visuals and roll your eyes at how it looks like every other show made by Bento Box. Well, the good news here is that it’s not Bento Box. It’s Titmouse, the same studio that made this month’s Q-Force. The designs don’t look all that distinct from other shows, and if you are already not fond of the new adult animation art style, well, there’s nothing the teams that are making these shows can do. Production of adult animated shows is a hellscape, and they don’t always have control of how the show looks in the visual department. The designs are definitely on par with Housebroken, and while the animation is pretty consistently okay overall, it has a few moments to shine and doesn’t feel too much like distracting animation rigs. 

The voice acting is also another high point that makes the show feel cohesive. You have talented individuals like the already mentioned Lauren Ash, Ike Barinholtz, his brother Jon Barinholtz, Rory O’Malley, RuPaul Andres Charles, Jill Talley, Chris Witaske, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Katie Rich. They really engross the show with, of course, a comedic sensibility to the windy city and I think they all work well off one another. The chemistry feels more realistic here than most bad adult comedies that feel like they filled out a quota of what they needed for the show.

The biggest worry, if this show chooses to be renewed, is how it’s going to keep its story going. There are some specific elements mentioned that give the show time to flesh out the characters, and progress their stories. The concern there is that the stakes are artificial, and they go The Simpsons route and say “screw time”, making the in-show universe year as long as they need it to be. This show, as of the episodes watched, feels like it’s clumsily juggling story beats and episodic storylines. 

These thoughts came up due to the fact that after an adult cartoon has been around for more than two or so seasons, there seems to be growing pains in terms of what the writers and showrunners want to do next. There was that feeling when I was watching the eight episodes of Chicago Party Aunt. It’s also the worry about how this entire show is based on a Twitter account. How long do they want this show to go on? What’s the plan? I bring this up because these types of projects that are based on social media accounts, marketing campaigns, and memes don’t tend to have the longest shelf life. Doesn’t help that comedy is subjective and the humor in this show is very hit and miss. Some jokes got a pretty big chuckle, while others fell flat. At least it didn’t try to tackle the same shock comedy as Family Guy, but was more akin to something like Mission Hill. 

To be clear, the overall impressions this show has left behind are mostly mixed to generally positive. There are some solid character dynamics, and when you can be better than 2020’s HOOPS, on par with Q-Force, and better than HBO Max’s The Prince, well, you are on the right track. There is a possibility for this show to be a gem among the adult animated comedies, but you will have to watch it and make that judgment for yourselves.

There was definitely fun to be had in the windy city, and on September 17th, you brave viewers will have to take the trip yourself to see what you think about it. 

Chicago Party Aunt will be readily available on Netflix on September 17th, 2021.