The Xtacles is an animated comedy television series created by Matt Thompson

Matt Thompson (animator)

Matt Thompson is an American voice actor, writer, director and producer. He is most often associated with Adult Swim and 70/30 Productions.He has been a voice actor, writer, director and producer for Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo, which he co-created with Adam Reed, as well as performing the same...

. It is a spin-off from the Adult Swim

Adult Swim

Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

 animated series Frisky Dingo

Frisky Dingo

Frisky Dingo is an American animated cartoon series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolved around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, and much of the show's humor focuses on parodying superhero and action movie...

, in which the Xtacles, Xander Crews' private army, take a lead role. The series revolves around the Xtacles' lack of direction following the abduction of their leader by aliens at the end of Frisky Dingo. They take on random missions from President Stan, who returns from the previous series. The series premiered its only two episodes on November 9, 2008.

In early 2009, Adult Swim declined to fund the production of any episodes beyond the first two. Around the same time, 70/30 Productions

70/30 Productions

70/30 Productions was an animation production house located on the south side of Atlanta, Georgia close to Interstate 20. They are the creators of Sealab 2021, Frisky Dingo and its spin-off series The Xtacles for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim....

 closed.

Plot

As a spin-off from Frisky Dingo, The Xtacles takes place in the same fictional world, with the primary setting being the Xtacles' flying aircraft carrier, the Xcalibur. The Xtacles are the private army of Iron Man

Iron Man

Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...

-esque superhero Awesome-X (Xander Crews), who like their leader are outfitted with flight-capable, self-contained powered armor and an arsenal of high-tech weaponry. Xander Crews leaves the Earth aboard the spaceship of Killface's alien race at the end of Frisky Dingo, and since then the Xtacles have been simply milling about aimlessly, because Awesome-X's last orders were to wait for new orders. However, about a year after Awesome-X leaves for space, the Xtacles finally activate the Xcaliburs on-board AI, A.L.E.X., who informs them that a clause in their contract directly states that if Awesome X dies, is lost in space, or has sex to death while in space, all of their previous orders are cancelled.

Now led by their highest ranking member, Jack Taggart, the Xtacles once again become a freelance private army of crimefighters. President Stan, unable to locate any other heroes for various reasons, is forced to depend on the Xtacles to solve crimes. However, the Xtacles prove to be catastrophically incompetent, making their attempts to complete the missions they are given humorously destructive and ultimately futile.

Characters

• Jack Taggart (Marshall Bell
  Marshall Bell
  Archibald Marshall Bell is an American actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. His best-known movies are probably A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge , Stand by Me , Twins and Total Recall .-Early life:He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived until...
  
  ) - the leader of the Xtacles. Though Taggart presents himself as a stern and by-the-book commander, he is just as incompetent as his subordinates. He has a habit of jumping to conclusions on any given case, such as assuming that Yeti terrorists are responsible for the destruction of the Rocky Mountains
  Rocky Mountains
  The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
  
   (which he in fact had destroyed with the Xcalibur). His right eye is stark white and has a scar running over it, including a bald spot on his eyebrow, while the left is blue.
• A.L.E.X (Rachael Harris
  Rachael Harris
  Rachael Elaine Harris is an American actress and comedian.-Early life:Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School...
  
  ) - the holographic avatar for the Xcaliburs computer. She is the only competent person aboard the Xcalibur, despite not being a person. She serves as the voice of reason to the Xtacles' trigger-happy attitude, but they usually don't pay attention to her. She takes her job quite seriously, and insists that she doesn't need to look attractive to do her work; the Xtacles disagree.
• Chase Fontaine (Michael Ian Black
  Michael Ian Black
  Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Ed, Viva Variety, Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. He is also a prominent poker player, appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times...
  
  ) - one of the recurring Xtacles who doesn't normally wear his helmet. He is attracted to A.L.E.X., and seems to be oblivious to the fact that she can't have sex with him since she's a hologram.
• Joseph Bigsby (Matthew Stanton) - a younger and more naive Xtacle who is usually seen manning the bridge.
• President Stan (Stuart Culpepper) - the president of the United States. His man-eating clones serve as his press secretaries. Stan makes little effort to hide the fact that he abuses his power, such as building giant statues of himself. He is reluctantly forced to rely on the Xtacles for help, as all the other heroes are either retired or unreachable.
• Mr. Ford (Mr. Ford) - a man whose house was destroyed by the Xtacles. He now lives rent-free in the Xcaliburs reactor room.

Episodes

#	Title	Original airdate	Prod. code

External links

• The Xtacles at Adultswim.com