By now, you’ve probably seen Too Many Cooks, the parody video by cable network Adult Swim with the catchiest theme this side of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. (And if you haven’t, what’s your deal? Seriously?) Created by Casper Kelly and Paul Painter, the 11-minute video takes the 80s sitcom opening credits premise and runs with it (at times literally), introducing us to no less than 60 characters, including Smarf, Coat and Lars Von Trier as Pie.  Since being uploaded on Friday, it’s been seen over a million times, and no wonder. It’s a sitcom opening that ends up animated, set in space and dragged through blood spilled by a machete-wielding serial killer. (Who also shows up in the credits so you’ll know who he is – don’t worry.)  So why has everyone been so drawn to it? Well, it makes fun of the shows we grew up watching by drawing attention to how embarrassing those shows were. (Or at the very least: how embarrassing those opening credits were. And believe me: they were embarrassing.)  This shouldn’t be surprising. The internet’s favourite topic of conversation is nostalgia, and taking a traditional spoof premise and turning it into a work of art has irresistible appeal. The spoof uses the Full House credits font and opens with the aerial shot from Family Matters. It demystifies and de-romanticises nostalgia, presenting pop culture from our past in a way we can universally understand it: “Here are the stupid things we used to like. We’ve come a long way, and thank goodness.”  Also, it’s weird. And weird is interesting and great.  The material on which Too Many Cooks is based is a little less so because comparably, nothing will be this interesting for a while. The vid pays homage to Family Matters (skyline shot, introduction of Gwydion Lashlee-Walton), Full House (font used), The Facts of Life and Small Wonder (cast shots, types of families featured), Married With Children (house décor), Alf (Smarf), Roseanne (dining room table opening), The Brady Bunch (cast members featured in various squares), Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom (Pie), Battlestar Galactica (show set in space), Three’s Company (familial vibe), GI Joe (animated soldiers), Law and Order (cop drama footage, instrumentals), Dallas (Texan hats), Perfect Strangers (characters performing various activities), and some political drama (bald eagle) – and those are only the references we really caught. We know there are more, so list them off in the comments. And don’t blame us when you can’t stop singing the Too Many Cooks theme at inopportune times.
Adult Swim’s homage to the opening credits of old TV shows has caused a sensation, turning nostalgia into an art form of its own