Tonight, for your header, I’m going to talk about one of my favorite cartoons: Regular Show. It doesn’t get a lot of appreciation from critics like Adventure Time, and it doesn’t have the crazed fanbase of Steven Universe, but I think it’s just as impressive and enjoyable as either of those shows.

Regular Show is the story of a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby who work at a small park, alongside whimsical lollipop Pops, anger-prone gumball machine manager Benson, all-knowing yeti Skips, and the odd couple Muscle Man and High-Five Ghost. In their efforts to avoid work and enjoy themselves, Mordecai and Rigby often unleash supernatural horrors, wander into violent secret societies, and generally get in way over their heads.

While Regular Show initially limits itself to that sort of episodic silliness with no overarching progression, eventually the characters start to mature and grow closer together. Mordecai faces up to his self-doubt and passivity in the theater of romance, Rigby tries to make something more of his joke of a life, Benson learns to care about his employees and tolerate their flaws, Skips confronts his troubled past, and Muscle Man settles down from his wild life. The defining arc of the series, though, is of the group’s dynamic as a whole. The park staff starts out as a group of coworkers that can grudgingly work together, but by the end of the series, they’re blood brothers who would die for one another.

Though context tempts you to compare Regular Show to its contemporaries on Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, really the best point of comparison is adult cartoons, including The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and even Family Guy and South Park. None of the characters are kids or teenagers, and they deal with real adult situations (as much as Mordecai and Rigby would prefer to avoid that). Despite the supernatural wackiness that happens in almost every episode, the show is grounded in real and mature emotion, which is ultimately what makes it great.

Now time for my confession. This header is an advertisement. I’m going to be going through Regular Show’s seasons on Rabbit, hitting the essential episodes (roughly half of the total count). I hope a lot of you all can join me, because I love this show to death and I think anyone who gives it a fair shot can too.

One final note: you know who ELSE really likes Regular Show?

MY MOM!!!!