Fox took a gamble on Universal Basic Guys characters when they greenlit the show from creators Adam and Craig Malamut. It’s a weird premise. Two brothers, Mark and Hank Hoagies, lose their jobs to automation but get $3,000 a month in universal basic income. Suddenly, they have all the time in the world and absolutely no idea how to be useful. It’s funny. It’s also kinda uncomfortable because we’ve all met these guys.
The show, which premiered as part of the "Animation Domination" block, isn’t just about the money. It’s about the ego. Mark Hoagies is the heart of the show, but he’s also a disaster. He’s the guy who thinks he can fix a jet engine because he watched a thirty-second clip on social media.
The Core Dynamic of the Hoagies Brothers
Mark is loud. He’s confident in that specific way that only someone who is completely wrong can be. When you look at Universal Basic Guys characters, Mark stands out because he represents the "unskilled expert." He’s got $3,000 a month and a bottomless pit of bad ideas. He’s not lazy, exactly. He’s just aggressively misdirected.
Hank is different. He’s the brother who mostly goes along with the chaos. While Mark is the engine, Hank is the passenger who forgot to buckle his seatbelt. The chemistry between them works because it’s rooted in that specific sibling shorthand where one person says something insane and the other just says, "Yeah, alright."
Their transition from the Glantontown Chip Factory to a life of leisure is a wreck. Honestly, the show captures that specific post-work identity crisis. If you don't have a 9-to-5, who are you? For Mark, the answer is "whoever I feel like being today," which usually ends in property damage or social embarrassment.
Meet the Supporting Cast of Glantontown
Cassie is the anchor. As Mark’s wife, she’s the one actually living in reality. She works as a school nurse, and you can see the exhaustion in her eyes. It’s a classic sitcom trope—the grounded wife and the man-child husband—but here it feels sharper because of the UBI element. She’s watching her husband get paid to do nothing while she’s dealing with literal scraped knees and flu outbreaks.
Then there's David. He’s the neighbor.
Every neighborhood has a David. He’s a bit high-strung, a bit more "refined" (at least in his own mind), and he serves as the perfect foil to the Hoagies' nonsense. The interactions between Mark and David are where some of the best social commentary happens. It’s the clash between the guy who wants a quiet life and the guy who just bought a chimpanzee with his government check.
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Why the Animation Style Matters
The Malamut brothers have a very specific look. If you remember Game of Zones, you know the vibe. The characters have these bulging eyes and expressive, slightly grotesque faces. It makes the physical comedy land harder. When Mark gets a "great idea," his face contorts in a way that tells you exactly how much trouble is coming.
It’s not "pretty" animation. It’s gritty. It fits the town of Glantontown perfectly. This isn't the shiny Springfield or the surreal Quahog. It feels like a town in Pennsylvania where the biggest landmark is a closed factory.
The Reality of UBI in Animation
People talk about Universal Basic Income like it’s a futuristic utopia. This show looks at it and asks: "What if the people getting it are kind of idiots?" It’s a cynical take, but it’s grounded in human nature. Most of us, if given $36,000 a year for free, wouldn’t write the next great American novel. We’d probably buy a used jet ski and try to jump it over a pier.
The Universal Basic Guys characters aren't social activists. They aren't trying to prove that UBI works. They’re just trying to kill time.
That’s the nuance.
The show avoids being a political lecture by making the characters' flaws the center of the story. Mark isn't a victim of AI; he's a guy who was probably pretty bad at his factory job anyway and now has the resources to be bad at everything.
Secondary Characters and Local Flavor
You can't talk about this show without the town itself. Glantontown feels like a character. It’s populated by people who are all reacting to the "Great Automation" in different ways. Some are bitter. Some are thriving.
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- The Bar Crowd: There's a revolving door of townies who provide the background noise for Mark and Hank's schemes.
- The Tech Overlords: While rarely seen as individuals, the presence of the "robots" that took their jobs looms large.
- Animal Sidekicks: Mark has a habit of involving animals in his plans, which usually ends poorly for everyone involved.
Mark’s confidence is his superpower and his curse. In one episode, he decides he’s a professional animal whisperer. He has zero training. He has no experience. But he has the vibe. That’s the core of the show’s humor—the gap between perception and reality.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Show
Some critics looked at the pilot and thought it was an attack on the working class. It’s really not. If anything, it’s an attack on the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The Malamut brothers grew up in the area they’re satirizing. There’s a lot of love in the way they draw these characters. Mark and Hank are lovable losers, not villains. They’re just guys who have been told their whole lives that work is what makes a man, and then the work disappeared.
Watching them navigate a world where they are "obsolete" is actually kind of poignant, if you can look past the poop jokes and the screaming. It’s about the struggle to find purpose when the traditional path is blocked.
Key Characters at a Glance
If you're just starting the series, keep an eye on these dynamics:
Mark vs. Responsibility: This is the primary conflict of every episode. Mark will go to incredible lengths to avoid doing something the "right" way, even if the right way is easier.
Hank vs. Mark: Hank is the "yes-man" who occasionally has a moment of clarity. Seeing him struggle between loyalty to his brother and his own fading common sense is a highlight.
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Cassie vs. Her Own Patience: She isn't a wet blanket; she’s a survivor. Her reactions to the Hoagies' latest "business ventures" provide the necessary reality check for the audience.
How to Watch and What to Expect
The show fits perfectly into the Sunday night lineup. It’s got that fast-paced, joke-a-minute rhythm that modern animation requires. But it also has a bit of that King of the Hill DNA where the humor comes from the specific regional quirks of the characters.
Don't expect a deep dive into the economics of Silicon Valley. Expect two guys from Jersey/Pennsylvania trying to figure out how to use a 3D printer to make "better" hot dogs.
Next Steps for Universal Basic Guys Fans
To get the most out of the series and understand the deep cuts in the humor, you should check out the creators' previous work, specifically Game of Zones. The DNA of the Hoagies brothers is all over those early sketches.
If you're interested in how the show reflects real-world discussions, look into the actual UBI trials happening in cities across the U.S. and Europe. While the show is a comedy, the "automation anxiety" it portrays is a very real sentiment in the current labor market. Watch the episodes "Pet Sitter" and "Sunset Donald" first; they offer the clearest look at how Mark and Hank's logic operates under pressure.