Big Mouth finally ended its run on Netflix last week after eight awkward, sticky, and painfully relatable seasons. The show made its name for its inventive, funny, and informative approach to topics that no other mainstream animation had really touched before, from shame and anxiety to periods and masturbation. Needless to say, it leaves behind a gap for adult animation in the streaming landscape.
So with no more episodes on the horizon, it seems like a good time to round up the best R-rated animated shows. From originators to button-pushers and modern classics, check out our guide to 5 animations that definitely are NOT for kids.
(We have chosen not to include anime in this list as we would probably be here all day.)
South Park (1997-present)
Having South Park on a list like this is a bit like having the dictionary on a ranking of best books. The Simpsons was already on autopilot by 1998, about to reach its 200th episode and attracting guest stars like U2, when Trey Parker and Matt Stone threw their deceptively amateurish looking hand-grenade onto Comedy Central and changed TV forever. That the show continues to be such an essential satire—ruthlessly skewering Harry and Meghan, the manosphere and Ozempic in its most recent season—only confirms Parker and Stone’s unique genius. Long may it last.
Most memorable voice cameo: George Clooney as Sparky the dog in the first season set the tone, but it’s got to be Radiohead in the legendary “Scott Tenorman Must Die.”
BoJack Horseman (2014-2020)
One of the most amazing things about BoJack Horseman is that every person who watches it seems to think it was written for them. Not bad for a show in which the hero is an alcoholic and vaguely toxic talking horse whose bete noire is a labrador named Mr. Peanutbutter.
Best voice cameo: We are tempted by Paul McCartney’s micro-appearance, but Alan Arkin as J.D. Salinger is too inspired to leave out.
Invincible (2021-present)
Premiering on Prime Video in March 2021, during arguably the first major crisis of superhero fatigue, Invincible could not have come at a better time. Combining richly sketched characters that could actually die with single episode story arcs that never took away from the series’ overarching narrative, it felt like a breath of fresh air. And after 13 years of the MCU, the show’s blood, guts, and bone-crunching violence provided a welcome visceral thrill.
Most memorable voice cameo: It’s lights-out across the board, but Mark Hamill brings so much warmth in his few scenes as the waistcoated superhero tailor Art Rosenbaum.
Archer (2009-2023)
With its unique visual style and dry sense of humor, nothing looked or sounded like Archer when it released in 2009. Arriving five years after Brad Bird’s The Incredibles, we cannot credit Adam Reed with re-popularizing the retro-futurist spy caper, but you were never going to find this kind of sex or violence in a Pixar movie. It might have overstayed its welcome in later, genre-bending seasons, but its 14 year run still goes down as one of the greatest of any animated show, TV-MA or not.
Most memorable voice cameo: No shortage to choose from, but it’s got to be the late, great Anthony Bourdain as Chef Lance Casteau in “Live and Let Dine.”
Monkey Dust (2003-2005)
Like Nathan Barley and Jam, Monkey Dust was one of those early aughts shows that seemed to only exist as a DVD box-set, strictly limited to one per friend group and passed around like a strange and haunted object—as cursed and irresistible as the VHS in The Ring. How a TV show that poked fun at IRA kneecapping, pedophilia, and adolescent Jihadists ever made it past the censors in 2003 remains a mystery. Even today, it packs a dangerous, subversive punch.
Most memorable voice cameo: Too niche for any big stars at the time, the show featured a young Sharon Horgan in some of her first credited voice roles.
Where To Watch The Best R-Rated Animated Shows Online
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