Webcomics don’t always survive the jump to the screen. Usually, the soul gets sucked out in favor of clean lines or "marketable" humor that feels like it was written by a committee of people who haven't laughed since 2004. But the Poorly Drawn Lines show is different. It’s strange. It’s jagged. It feels like something you weren't supposed to find, tucked away in the corners of a streaming library.
Honestly, if you’ve spent any time on the internet in the last decade, you’ve seen Reza Farazmand’s work. You know the bird. You know the existential turtle. You know that specific brand of dry, nihilistic wit that makes you feel slightly better about the impending heat death of the universe. When FX decided to bring this to life via their Cake anthology series (and later as standalone episodes on Hulu), people were skeptical. How do you animate a comic whose entire charm is based on the fact that it looks, well, poorly drawn?
They did it by leaning into the chaos.
The Surreal Logic of the Poorly Drawn Lines Show
The show doesn’t try to be The Simpsons. It doesn't even try to be Adventure Time. It exists in this weird middle ground where the animation is purposefully stilted, and the dialogue feels like a conversation you'd overhear at a 2:00 AM diner between two people who have completely given up on social norms.
Each episode is a bite-sized exploration of the absurd. One minute you’re watching a trio of animal friends—Bud, Kevin, and Dot—deal with a mundane problem like a lost remote, and the next, they are accidentally dismantling the fabric of reality. It works because it respects the source material. Reza Farazmand serves as an executive producer, and his DNA is all over the scripts. It’s not just a licensed property; it’s a direct extension of the comic's philosophy.
Think about the way most modern cartoons look. They’re slick. They use "CalArts style" with the bean-shaped heads and the constant fluid motion. The Poorly Drawn Lines show rejects that. It keeps the minimalist, almost flat aesthetic of the original strips. This isn't laziness; it's a deliberate stylistic choice that forces the viewer to focus on the writing. And the writing is sharp. It’s the kind of humor that sneaks up on you. A character will say something incredibly profound about the futility of human endeavor, and then immediately trip over a rock. It’s relatable because life is basically just a series of profound thoughts interrupted by tripping over rocks.
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Why Existentialism Works for Modern Audiences
We are living through a very weird era. People are tired. They’re burnt out. Traditional sitcoms with their canned laughter and "everything is fine in 22 minutes" structure feel fake.
The Poorly Drawn Lines show taps into the collective "everything is a bit much right now" vibe of the 2020s. It’s a show about characters who are frequently confused by the world around them but just sort of keep going anyway. Take the character of Kevin the bird. He’s often the voice of cynical reason, or at least the one most likely to point out that a situation is entirely nonsensical.
- The humor isn't mean-spirited.
- It's absurdist but grounded in emotional honesty.
- The episodes are short enough for our collective ADHD.
There is a specific episode where the characters find a "portal to the unknown" and their reaction isn't one of grand cinematic wonder. It’s more like, "Oh, okay, I guess we’re doing this today." That’s the core of the show’s appeal. It treats the extraordinary with a shrug and the mundane with intense, misplaced focus. It’s a mirror for how we navigate the internet—scrolling from a video of a cat to a news report about a natural disaster without changing our facial expression.
The Production Pedigree (It’s Not Just a Webtoon)
A lot of people think these animated shorts are just indie projects uploaded to YouTube. While the comic started on the web, the Poorly Drawn Lines show has serious backing. Produced by Floyd County Productions—the same powerhouse behind Archer—the show has a level of technical intentionality that might surprise you.
Working within the Cake anthology on FXX allowed the creators to experiment. Cake has been a breeding ground for experimental animation (think Dicktown or The Shivering Truth). By being part of this ecosystem, Poorly Drawn Lines avoided the pressure of having to fit into a standard 30-minute broadcast slot. It’s allowed to be as long or as short as the joke requires. This is a rarity in television. Usually, writers have to "pad" the runtime to hit commercial breaks. Here, if a joke takes 90 seconds to land, the segment ends at 90 seconds.
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The voice cast also brings a lot to the table. You’ve got Tony Revolori (from The Grand Budapest Hotel and Spider-Man) voicing Moose. He brings this perfectly earnest, slightly dim-witted energy that balances out the sharper edges of the other characters. D’Arcy Carden (everyone’s favorite from The Good Place) and Ron Funches add a layer of professional comedic timing that elevates the "poorly drawn" visuals. It’s a high-contrast experience: top-tier comedic talent inhabiting characters that look like they were sketched on a napkin during a lunch break.
Misconceptions About the Show
People often assume that because it’s called "Poorly Drawn," the animation is bad. That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the "lo-fi" aesthetic.
In the world of art and design, achieving a "simple" look that actually functions and conveys emotion is incredibly difficult. It’s easy to add detail. It’s hard to take it away. Every line in the Poorly Drawn Lines show is there for a reason. The lack of complex backgrounds makes the characters pop. The limited animation style—where a character might just slide across the screen instead of walking—actually enhances the deadpan humor. It’s a visual representation of the characters' lack of effort.
Another misconception is that it’s "just for kids" because it looks like a cartoon. Absolutely not. While it isn't necessarily "adult" in the sense of being overly vulgar or violent (though it has its moments), the themes are distinctly grown-up. It deals with social anxiety, the boredom of the workplace, the complexity of friendships, and the crushing weight of choice. It’s a show for people who have jobs and bills and occasionally stare at a wall for twenty minutes wondering what they’re doing with their lives.
Comparing the Comic to the Show
If you’re a die-hard fan of the webcomic, you might wonder if the transition to a narrative format works. In the comics, the punchline usually comes in the fourth panel. It’s a quick hit.
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In the show, the writers have to build a world. They’ve done this by expanding the trio of main characters—Dot, Bud, and Kevin—and giving them a home base. They live in a world that looks like ours but is populated by talking animals and sentient objects. The show adds "connective tissue" that the comics don't need.
For example, the relationship between the characters is much more fleshed out. In the comic, they can be interchangeable vehicles for a joke. In the show, Dot is clearly the driven, somewhat intense leader. Bud is the relaxed, go-with-the-flow presence. Kevin is the skeptic. This dynamic allows for longer stories that actually have stakes, even if those stakes are something ridiculous like winning a trivia night or finding a legendary sandwich.
How to Watch and What to Expect
If you want to dive in, the Poorly Drawn Lines show is primarily available through the Cake series on Hulu or FXX. You can find "best of" compilations, but watching the episodes in their original context is better.
Don't expect a linear plot. Don't expect a "message" at the end of every episode that tells you how to be a better person. Expect to feel a little bit uncomfortable and then laugh at that discomfort. It’s a show that rewards repeat viewings because the background jokes and the subtle timing of the dialogue are easy to miss the first time around.
It’s also worth following Reza Farazmand on social media. He often shares behind-the-scenes glimpses into how a strip becomes an animated segment. Seeing the storyboard-to-screen pipeline makes you appreciate the craft involved. It’s a reminder that "simple" is a style, not a lack of skill.
Practical Steps for New Viewers
If you're ready to get into it, here's how to maximize the experience:
- Start with the "Cake" segments: Look for Season 1 of Cake on Hulu. It’s the best way to see the show's origins and how it fits into the broader world of experimental animation.
- Follow the Webcomic First: Go to the official Poorly Drawn Lines website or Instagram. Read through a year’s worth of strips. It takes about ten minutes. This will calibrate your brain to the specific type of humor the show uses.
- Watch with Friends (The Right Ones): This isn't a show for everyone. If your friends like I Think You Should Leave or Nathan for You, they will love this. If they prefer The Big Bang Theory, maybe watch this one solo.
- Pay Attention to the Sound Design: Because the visuals are so minimalist, the sound work is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The ambient noises and the specific way the voice actors deliver their lines are where 50% of the jokes live.
The Poorly Drawn Lines show is a rare example of an internet-native property being translated to television without losing its edge. It’s weird, it’s short, and it’s deeply honest about how strange it is to be alive. In a sea of over-produced content, its simplicity is its greatest strength. It doesn’t need 4K hyper-realistic textures to tell a good story. It just needs a few poorly drawn lines and a very dry sense of humor.