If you're unfamiliar with Jim Gaffigan and not a fan of Conan O'Brien, then
at best Pale Force will seem very odd to you. Gaffigan created the
animated series as much for a joke on O'Brien as for its pure entertainment
value. Pale Force features animated versions of Gaffigan and O'Brien as
super heroes with the ability to blind criminals with the whiteness of their
skin, as well as the power to shoot laser beams from their nipples. Since
Gaffigan is behind the show, his cartoon counterpart appears as a towering,
heavily muscled heroic figure while O'Brien is portrayed as a squeaky-voiced
uber wimp (Gaffigan provides the voice for the animated O'Brien) with a
predilection for wetting his pants when he's nervous (which is basically all the
time). The animated shorts really do look like the work of a stand-up
comedian as each one is based on a few related jokes with an overall goal of
giving O'Brien an incessant ribbing. You can view all of the episodes in
succession, but to really appreciate them you should watch them as part of
Gaffigan's appearances on O'Brien's show. You'll feel like you're more in
on the joke if you see Gaffigan set-up each episode and then watch O'Brien's
reaction as he supposedly sees each episode for the first time. Watching
the episodes alone is like watching a practical joke being set up. It may
be a little entertaining and worth a few small laughs, but the real humor comes
from watching the victim's reaction.
