I was excited when I heard about this show--I grew up in a religious family, and I was looking forward to a little holy cow hamburger. Why hasn't anyone done this before? South Park can only do so much--they've got lots of other religions to puncture! If parody is like deer hunting, making fun of conservative Christianity is like cow hunting. I've got so many crazy stories that should be shared--the herbal store that got picketed because people assumed it must be for witches, the woman who got thrown out of Bible study for practicing yoga, the church that wouldn't pay their bill because "they were doing the Lord's work"--and I haven't even mentioned creationism or the Republican party.But Moral Orel (it should be Oral! Can't they even get that right?) is like a cow hunter that keeps coming home empty handed. I was stunned. How could they miss? How could they fail at making fun of conservative American Christianity? It was obvious the show's writers had never seen the inside of a church. They didn't know the things Christians do that are funny, so they made stuff up, and parodied their imaginary conception of Christians. But... that's not funny. Silly, yes, but not funny. It ain't parody if you just make it up. And with such an easy target. Watching it is like listening to somebody trying to make fun of Rush Limbaugh, only they've never heard his show.

Created by Mr. Show alumnus Dino Stamatopoulos (best known now for playing the character Alex "Starburns" Osbourne on Community; his Mr. Show alums Jay Johnston and Scott Adsit (best known for his role on 30 Rock) are also major artistic contributors) created this stop-motion puppet show for Adult Swim. It's a parody of Davey and Goliath, a religious cartoon from the '60s. Oral is a young boy living in the very Christian town of Moralton, Statesota (located in the exact center of the United States, between Missouri and Kansas). He eagerly wants to do right by God, and tries to take the advice of his reverend, his parents and his elders, but that advice always leads to horrible situations (in the first three episodes he raises the dead, who of course attempt to eat everyone's brains, he gets a bunch of women pregnant and he gets addicted to crack). This is the basic structure of the first season and most of the second season. At the beginning, it reminded me a lot of South Park. Like South Park, it's funny, but ultimately cheap. In the second season, the writing grew a lot sharper, but, as it goes on, something happens. Even in the first season, it's revealed that there is a lot of darkness and misery underneath the adult characters' positive, Christian exteriors. But Stamatopoulos and his writers add a lot of depth in that second season, and they do a lot of world and character building. It starts to get pretty interesting, and then comes the final two episodes of the second season, where Orel, always an innocent before, learns the truth about his father: that in reality, he is an abusive, alcoholic *beep* While these episodes are very funny, there is an unprecedented emotional depth for any animated series I've ever seen. It's absolutely devastating, and it just kind of left me shaking. And then comes the third season. Unable to move past the season finale of Season 2, the first 10 episodes of 13 (each billed as Episode 1 of 13 and so forth), it weaves the complex story of Orel's family and the other citizens of Moralton in the days leading up to the hunting trip, often focusing on just one sentence a character speaks during those two episodes and expanding on why they would say that, the backstory of that sentence's existence. Only in Episode 10 of 13 do we move to the events after the hunting trip, dealing with its fallout until we reach the season's and series' enormously powerful final moment. It's one of the most complexly structured seasons of television I've ever seen. It's an unbelievably enormous achievement, especially considering how slight the first few episodes of the series are (honestly, if I were watching this live, I probably wouldn't have bothered seeking it out after that first season; each episode only being 11.5 minutes long - yes, it does all this in 11.5 minute installments - it wasn't much of a commitment). I am not at all kidding when I say this turned out to be the best thing I've watched all year. I have not stopped thinking about it for a minute since I finished it a few days ago, and I have a hard time not weeping whenever it comes to mind. The night I finished it, I almost couldn't go in to work. I felt too emotionally exposed. The biggest tragedy of it all is that only that first, fairly mediocre season made it onto DVD. They never did release the second and third seasons. There are bits and pieces of the series on Youtube, and you can watch the hunting episodes, entitled Nature, as well as the three episodes which follow it, on Adult Swim's website, but you can't purchase it (though, of course, you can find it elsewhere, not legally). Supposedly they are working on a follow-up special for Christmas this year, so maybe that will spur them to release the entire series. Any way you can see this, though, it's worth your time.

There were three seasons of this show and it changed dramatically from one season to the next, the third season being by far the best. This show evolved more in three seasons than probably any other show has in ten or more seasons. It is a remarkable thing. It is one of the best, if not the best, TV show I have ever seen.It has been compared to "South Park" and "Davey and Goliath" and other shows and that is just ridiculous. It is not anything like them or any other show ever. It is not meant to be a parody or satire or even meant to be explicitly funny. It is not a comedy, though it is frequently humorous. It is not a drama, though it is just as frequently serious. There has never been another show like this.I have read all of the reviews on IMDb about this show and I think almost all of them have it wrong, the good and the bad reviews both.This show has as it's backbone, Christianity. But that is far from the point of the show. I believe the point of the show is to highlight our human failings, and obsessions or things that control our lives, whether that be a reliance on religion to run our lives or some other thing, such as eggs, which rules Francis Clara Censordoll's life (her initials are FCC, by the way) or cleaning, which controls Bloberta's life or sex which drives not only Reverend Putty's life, but also Coach Stopframe's life, among others. Others are controlled or obsessed by loss of a child, or by a lack of love or by drinking, etc.It takes all of these themes to the extreme to see what would happen. Predominately the extreme is based on a religious theme, especially in season one, but it is in no way limited to religion. That is why I disagree with so many of the other reviews. They look at this show as a religious show, while I look at it as a human show. After all, most people believe in some religion or another. It just so happens that in America most people believe in Christianity so that is what the show is primarily about, but it is not about Christianity exclusively. It is about the human condition. Religion just happens to have the most powerful effect on human life and how people act than just about anything else, except perhaps for sex, and this show deals with both of those subjects almost equally.There were several people reviewing this show that saw it as an attack on Christianity and said that they would not have dared to attack Islam or some other religion in the same way. I disagree. As I said, I don't think this show is specifically a show about religion, but is a show about humanity. If this show would have happened to, or been allowed to have been made in a country where Christianity was not the predominant religion, it would have been almost the exact same show.It is about how an idea can be taken too far. Whether that be a religious idea or not. For example, Nurse Bendy's obsession with the loss of her child and subsequent preoccupation with dolls and her childish attitude have nothing to do with religion. Also, Ms. Papermouth. Her obsession is with zebra statues and a lack of self-esteem which also has nothing to do with religion. There are many more examples like that.After the first season, most of the shows didn't have anything to do with religion, as a matter of fact. It dealt mainly with the relationships between a father and son and the relationships between different people in Moralton.The third season especially is a deeply insightful exploration of human feelings and how people interact with each other. It has virtually nothing to do with religion in any way and is also very rarely funny, though that is done very much on purpose. It also happens to be one of the best explorations of human psychology that I have ever seen depicted on screen. It is so deep and thoughtful that I have seen this series three times or more in total and I am still finding new meanings and new things to think about.It is an amazing show, and anyone who dismissed it after the first few shows should give it another look. They will be pleasantly surprised. It is not some one dimensional parody of religion or some other show. It is a unique insightful look at how humans act and why they do so. It is an amazing achievement that I have never seen equaled anywhere else.

Moral Orel is a great parody of Davey and Goliath. Actually, it is the best. I'm sure it's not the only one because the internet and all. But anyways, this was a great show for my liking. It is actually like saying it's the softer side of Adult Swim, except it's still like the violent, offensive animated shows that Adult Swim hand-selected and airs.Moral Orel is always getting into trouble because he tried to follow God's rules and usually takes it literally. That causes him to get a spanking. That is basically the plot of the whole series, and I'm glad it's going to go for another season. I'm Catholic, but I'm still Christian but I don't find this show offensive. It could be offensive to other people since it shows the life of a stereotypical Protestant family which could get this show cancelled.Anyways, I thought this was a great show and I plan to watch more episodes of the animated series. Also, I might try to find a channel that airs Davey and Goliath or something and watch it. Just to see the difference from this show and Davey and Goliath.