Superjail!

Superjail!
Genre	Black comedy Surreal humour Splatter
Created by	Christy Karacas Stephen Warbrick Ben Gruber
Developer	Augenblick Studios (pilot and season 1) Titmouse, Inc. (seasons 2-4)
Directed by	Christy Karacas
Voices of	David Wain Christy Karacas Teddy Cohn Christopher McCulloch Richard Mather Dana Snyder Eric Bauza
Opening theme	"Comin' Home" by Cheeseburger featuring Doc "Rubber Bullets" by 10cc (pilot only)
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Produced by	Shannon Prynoski Chris McCulloch (consulting)
Running time	11 minutes
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Production company(s)	Williams Street Animation: Augenblick Studios (2007–08) Titmouse, Inc. (2011–14)
Broadcast
Picture format	NTSC (2007) HDTV 1080i (2008-14)
Original run	September 25, 2008 – July 18, 2014

Superjail! is an American adult animated television series produced by Williams Street. It follows the events that take place in an unusual prison. The pilot episode aired on television on May 10, 2007, and its first season began on September 25, 2008 on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim.

Superjail! is characterized by its psychedelic shifts in setting and plot and extreme graphic violence, which give the series a TV-MA-V rating (for graphic violence, including scenes of bloodshed, dismemberment, torture, and extreme cruelty). These elements are depicted through highly elaborate animated sequences, which have been described as "Baroque and complicated and hard to take in at a single viewing".

setting and premise

The majority of Superjail! is set inside the eponymous prison, located in an alternate dimension identified as "5612". The prison is overseen by an individual known only as "The Warden", the amiable, yet sadistic and mischievous head of Superjail with apparently magical powers who uses the prison (and prisoners) to satisfy his numerous whims. Externally, Superjail is built underneath a volcano which is itself located inside of a larger volcano. Internally, it seems to constitute its own reality, where the fabric of time and space is fluid and changes at the whim of the Warden. It has been indicated that the prison itself has a degree of sentience and that the nature of the prison is fluid according to the perceptions of the individual. Superjail's inmate population is estimated by Jared, the Warden's primary assistant, to be in excess of 70,000, though the show's creators mention that the prison processes "billions of inmates".

In the first season, each episode begins with a linear story revolving around an irresponsible scheme concocted by the Warden to satisfy some personal desire. The episode builds in both violence and surrealism into a climactic psychedelic blood bath during which dozens of inmates are brutally and gruesomely murdered either by one another or an external force. Some episode plots have no resolutions at all, with the story simply stopping when events have reached their most chaotic. Regardless, the status quo is always restored by the next episode, unless the episode is a multi-part one.

Beginning with the second season, the creators modified the format of the series to focus more on character development and story, as imagined by a revised writing staff. The second-season premiere "Best Friends Forever" demonstrated an immediate break from the first season's template, focusing the episode on Jailbot and Jacknife as opposed to the Warden, setting half of the episode outside of the prison and lacking an extended murder sequence in the climax.

The third season of the show attempted to meld the formats of the first two seasons, continuing a focus on character development and ongoing storylines while reviving the technique of ending each episode with a complex murder sequence.

production

The series was the creation of Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, and Ben Gruber. Karacas was a member of the band Cheeseburger (who provided the show's theme song "Comin' Home" until season 4), a background designer for MTV's Daria, directed Robotomy for Cartoon Network and later created Ballmastrz: 9009. Stephen Warbrick was originally known for his work on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria, was a digital artist on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and was also an animatic artist at Blue Sky Studios. Ben Gruber originally wrote for Ultracity 6060 on MTV's Cartoon Sushi and later wrote for shows like Teen Titans Go!, Breadwinners, SpongeBob SquarePants and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and would later become a story editor for Jellystone!.

Karacas originally created a student film in 1997 for MTV's Cartoon Sushi, entitled "Space War". He then partnered with Stephen Warbrick in 2001, creating another film known as "Bar Fight", which caught the attention of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, who allowed them, and Ben Gruber, to create a show of their own.

episodes

Pilot (2007)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code
0	"Bunny Love"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, & Ben Gruber	May 10, 2007	000
The Warden plans to dress the prisoners in bunny suits, but the Twins interfere with the purchase order, making half of the order wolf suits. This episode opens with "Rubber Bullets" by 10cc.

Season 1 (2008)

Main article: Superjail! (season 1)

No.overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code	US viewers (millions)
1	1	"Superbar"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	September 25, 2008	101	N/A
2	2	"Combaticus"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	October 2, 2008	102	0.33
3	3	"Ladies Night"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	October 9, 2008	104	0.76
4	4	"Cold-Blooded"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, & Christopher McCulloch	October 16, 2008	110	0.53
5	5	"Don't Be a Negaton"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	October 23, 2008	105	N/A
6	6	"Terrorarium"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	October 30, 2008	106	0.63
7	7	"Mr. Grumpy-Pants"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, M. Wartella, & Ben Gruber	November 6, 2008	107	0.58
8	8	"Dream Machine"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, & M. Wartella	November 20, 2008	103	0.66
9	9	"Time-Police"(Parts 1 and 2)	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, Aaron Augenblick, Chris Burns, M. Wartella, & Christopher McCulloch	November 27, 2008	108	0.60
10	10				December 4, 2008	109

Season 2 (2011)

No.overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code	US viewers (millions)
11	1	"Best Friends Forever"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas& Stephen Warbrick	April 1, 2011	203	N/A
Jailbot is shot down while carrying Jacknife through the outer worlds in the opening sequence. Jared and Alice end up gambling with the inmates over who will kill the other/survive longer. Meanwhile the Warden tries to live without Jailbot, and do Jailbot's duties around the jail. In the end he goes crazy, and convinces himself he is Jailbot. This episode is the third in which Jacknife is not imprisoned in Superjail.
12	2	"Mayhem Donor"	Christy Karacas	Joe Croson & Adam Modiano	April 8, 2011	202	N/A
A freak accident in the jail leaves Jared disfigured with the body parts of dismembered prisoners. Meanwhile, the Warden's plans to sell organs on the black market backfires when the stored organs fuse into a monster that goes on a rampage through the jail.
13	3	"Lord Stingray Crash Party"	Christy Karacas	John Miller Story by: Christy Karacas, Chris McCulloch & Stephen Warbrick	April 15, 2011	201	N/A
Supervillain Lord Stingray is castaway on Superjail after military forces capture his home island. The Warden sends Jailbot to retrieve him. After Meeting the Warden, Lord Stingray poses as a friend to The Warden, as he spoon feeds top secret information about the jail to Stingray. Lord Stingray commands a full on assault on Superjail. The Warden, his staff, and all the inmates are captured with ease. Meanwhile, the commander that took over Stingray's home island is hellbent on capturing him. He sends 5 special operatives to apprehend him. Alice teams up with the special ops to take down Stingray, At the same time, The Warden rallies the inmates into fighting to take back Superjail. Stingray's forces are destroyed, and he is incarcerated in Superjail.
14	4	"Hotchick"	Christy Karacas	John Miller	April 22, 2011	204	N/A
An alien blob crash lands in the jail, the blob, using the memories of Jacknife as a template, morphs into the shape of a beautiful woman. The Warden recruits her after a guard training session ends with her being the only survivor, then he falls in love with her. The woman has a savage rage against the Twins, where they respond by lying that they are the only survivors of a mass genocide that occurred on their home planet when a tyrannical ruler took over. Whereas, in reality, they are simply there as "exchange students" refusing to go home. The woman is actually a family dog named Hunter sent by the ruler/father to bring the Twins back home.
15	5	"Gay Wedding"	Christy Karacas	Joe Croson & Adam Modiano	April 29, 2011	205	N/A
Two inmates, Jean and Paul, decide to take their relationship to the next level and get married in the romantic halls of Superjail! When the Warden learns of the plans, he and Alice intervene, taking over the finer details of the wedding with excitement and fervor. However, things go awry when the bachelor party they planned provides Paul with an opportunity to engage in questionable relations with a male stripper. When Jean catches him in the act, he angrily throws his ring at him and declares their relationship over. The Warden is appalled at his plans being foiled, and declares that he will try to help the former lovers reignite their "spark." When Jean and Paul by chance end up in next-door bathroom stalls to take care of other business, Jean realizes Paul is next door, and they make up with each other by exchanging sweet words, renewed vows, and more through a glory hole. The Warden, Alice, and Jailbot meanwhile watch above the stalls, pronouncing Jean and Paul officially married. The newlyweds ride off in a makeshift carriage with the sentiment "Just Gaymaryed" painted on the back and enjoy their honeymoon in solitary confinement.
16	6	"Ghosts"	Christy Karacas	John Miller & Stephen Warbrick	May 6, 2011	206	1.46
When Jared's photo of the Warden reveals ghosts haunting Superjail, the Warden scoffs. But after some nightmares and a poltergeistkidnapping, the Warden becomes a believer. They visit Superjail's Doctor, who temporarily kills the Warden in order to send his spirit to the "other side" so that he can determine what's going on. He meets Quetzalpocetlan (voiced by John Waters), a 1,000-year-old Aztec-like priest (nicknamed "Chet") who used to run Superjail back when it was a temple where innumerable beheadings occurred. "Chet" is stuck between worlds, bottling up the spirits. An attempt to revive the Warden unleashes thousands of ghosts in Superjail, who wreak havoc. After killing himself trying to revive the Warden, Jared ends up in the spirit realm. He loses his cool, and knocks "Chet" loose. After a brief sojourn in a Buddhist-like paradise, the Warden and Jared are revived and returned to Superjail.
17	7	"Jailbot 2.0"	Christy Karacas	Joe Croson & Adam Modiano	May 13, 2011	207	1.48
When Jailbot begins to have technical problems (to that point that he busts Jacknife out of prison in the opening credits), Jared decides to replace him with a new, highly-advanced robot: Jailbot 2.0 (which bears a resemblance to an Android phone or iPod or iPhone or iPad). Jailbot is consigned to a basement room where he meets up with previous versions of jailbots. Jailbot 2.0 makes Alice and Jared superfluous, and so efficiently manages Superjail that it becomes nonviolent, antiseptic, and hyper-efficient. The Warden, however, loves Jailbot 2.0's endless diversions (like cartoons, a vibrating chair, etc.). After Jailbot, Alice, and Jared convince the Warden that Superjail has lost its pizazz, the Warden agrees that 2.0 must go. But this drives Jailbot 2.0 to attack them in anger, leading to much mayhem.
18	8	"The Budding of the Warbuxx"	Christy Karacas	Joe Croson, Adam Modiano, & Christy Karacas	May 20, 2011	208	1.34
After watching a 1950s-era anti-cannabis film on Superjail movie night, the Warden attempts to crack down on the non-existent drugtrade at Superjail. He soon suspects that Alice is addicted as well. Meanwhile, one of the Twins begins budding a Warbuxx, which is a process like pregnancy but involves crystals jutting from his swollen abdomen. After Warden runs off to start cracking down on Superjail's "Drug Trade", the inmates hold their own movie night. Ash fears all movies in general due to a traumatic moment in his childhood and is reluctant to go, but gay inmates Jean and Paul help him face his fears. While this is happening The Warden, Jared, and the Doctor discover some of the Warbuxx crystals on the floor. Assuming they are illegal drugs, they decide to get high to deter the inmates from using them. They begin to physically mutate (but believe this is just the effects of the drugs), run through Superjail, and scare the inmates. They send Ash into a flashback, and he burns the theater down. The three drugged individuals burst in on Alice who is acting as the "bud-steward" for the Twins, who are in the Superjail refrigerator preparing for the budding of the Warbuxx. When the Warbuxx does bud The Twins reveal that the Warbuxx is actually a delicacy, and eat it in front of a horrified Warden, Jared, and Doctor which kills their buzz. Shortly afterwards, Alice sends part of the Warbuxx to a starving adopted child in Africa to devour himself. Note: This is the first episode which does not feature Jacknife, does not include any major violence, and does not have an opening sequence in which Jailbot captures Jacknife.
19	9	"Superjail Grand Prix"	Christy Karacas	Joe Croson & Adam Modiano	June 3, 2011	210	1.30
The annual Superjail Grand Prix is held, with the winner being offered their freedom from the prison. However, the Warden competes with the help of a kidnapped ringer. The Warden's team gets into a clash with Lord Stingray right at the race's end, and as the Warden and Stingray fell out of the cars, Jacknife—who was in the Warden's trunk—wins and is released.
20	10	"Vacation"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas & Stephen Warbrick	June 10, 2011	209	N/A
The Warden builds a massive airship and takes the prisoners on a cruise-ship-style vacation to an archipelago of floating islands; the vacation quickly goes awry when the Warden makes poor choices—such as flying through a flock of strange beasts (clogging the engines) and angering a Poseidon-like deity. Lord Stingray leads a mutiny and lands on an island ruled by Amazons in search of treasure. After reclaiming the ship and returning home, they find the Mistress of Ultraprison waiting for them, for which she had taken control over Superjail! In the cliffhanger after the credits, Jailbot reactivates itself and goes off to find the warden and the others.

Season 3 (2012)

No.overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code	US viewers (millions)
21	1	"Stingstress"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, & Janine DiTullio	September 28, 2012	302	1.07
Superjail is taken over and becomes co-ed. The Warden has to rise back to power with a little help. The episode picks up right where the previous season left off and involves Lord Stingray teaming up with the Mistress. After he mistreats her, she dumps him and he returns to his old inmate status. In order to cheer the sex-hungry Mistress up, Alice and Charice try to hook the Warden up with the Mistress, and it almost works until the Warden's childish antics repulse the Mistress. It's up to Alice to save the day by fulfilling the Mistress' sexual urges. Stingray and his gang of inmates witness the horrifying scene. In the end, the Mistress realizes she doesn't need a man to be complete, and decides to give Superjail back to the Warden and leave to start her new lifestyle as a sexually liberated hippie. Note: The opening title card for Superjail! is "Ultrajail!"
22	2	"Superfail!"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	October 5, 2012	303	1.09
Jared accidentally knocks the Warden out and must learn how to run Superjail himself. He then proceeds to fail miserably at the new position. He then teams up with the Doctor to rescue the Warden from the mess that he created. This episode dives deeper into the Warden's past, showing more of the abusive relationship between him and his father in flashbacks.
23	3	"Uh-Oh, It's Magic"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas	October 12, 2012	304	0.93
The Warden runs a magic show until he has problems when his ventriloquist dummy becomes the star of their show.
24	4	"Sticky Discharge"	Christy Karacas	Stephen Warbrick	October 19, 2012	301	1.35
Superjail finally must deal with their first parolee.
25	5	"Special Needs"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	October 26, 2012	305	0.90
The Warden completes construction on making Superjail handicap accessible.
26	6	"The Trouble with Triples"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	November 2, 2012	306	0.93
The Warden's new plans for Superjail are interrupted by visitors for the Twins.
27	7	"Nightshift"	Christy Karacas	Stephen Warbrick	November 9, 2012	307	0.95
An inmate's final meal causes Alice to rethink her career.
28	8	"Oedipus Mess"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	November 16, 2012	308	1.403
A cloning experiment in Superjail causes a mass riot.
29	9	"Planet Radio"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick & Janine DiTullio	November 30, 2012	309	1.46
The prisoners get caught in a fight when Lord Stingray and Gary broadcast different stations while The Warden decides to pacify the imprisoned masses with television.
30	10	"Burn Stoolie Burn"	Christy Karacas	Ethan T. Berlin	December 7, 2012	310	1.33
The Warden learns a little about friendship and a lot about fire from an inmate.

Season 4 (2014)

No.overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod.code	US viewers (millions)
31	1	"SuperHell!"	Christy Karacas	Janine DiTullio, Christy Karacas, & Stephen Warbrick	June 13, 2014	401	1.49
The Warden, with the help of a disfigured inmate named Ash, continue their arson spree across Superjail. Meanwhile, Alice and Stingray get lost on a planet full of vicious monsters. Note: The opening title card for Superjail! is "SuperHell!"
32	2	"The Last Pack"	Christy Karacas	Stephen Warbrick & Janine DiTullio	June 20, 2014	406	1.54
After Warden comes to his senses and puts out the fires across Superjail, he begins blaming the whole thing on cigarettes. This prompts him to ban the use of tobacco products throughout the entirety of Superjail, which leads to some inmates to go to drastic measures in order to obtain their "buzz".
33	3	"Jean, Paul, Beefy, and Alice"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	June 27, 2014	404	1.06
After spotting two Peacocks together during mating season while hunting Jacknife through Africa, Jailbot becomes obsessed with finding love. The Twins capitalize on this and hand Jailbot a strange alien fungus with humanoid features which he promptly falls in love with. The fungus begins giving off mold spores infecting everyone in Superjail turning them into horrendous mutated monsters with a similar appearance as to itself.
34	4	"The Superjail Inquisitor"	Christy Karacas	Adam Modiano	July 4, 2014	402	1.41
While the Warden is building a new dam in Superjail several inmates start to run a tabloid newspaper called the Superjail Inquisitor. The Warden is astonished by one of the fake articles and believes that his favorite childhood monster, "Manglefang" may be lurking in Superjail. This prompts the Warden to suspend construction and go on a massive hunt for Manglefang and torturing anyone who refuses to believe in it. The Twins then discover an article made by Ash about aliens, so they modify the image in the newspaper and then send it to the Triplets in space. The Triplets arrive on Earth in response, and in a fit of rage they make every fake article ever written in the tabloid (including Manglefang, to Warden's delight) manifest in reality resulting in chaos and the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to Superjail.
35	5	"Superstorm!"	Christy Karacas	Stephen Warbrick	July 11, 2014	403	1.28
It's Superjail's annual Field Day, and Warden is dead-set on winning the Three-Legged Race this year. As such, he builds himself the perfect partner: A walking weather machine named "Sunshine". Using Sunshine to create weather anomalies that distracts the competitors, Warden cheats his way to victory. However in his gloating Warden breaks his remote controller for Sunshine causing it to develop its own will and abandon Warden. Sunshine promptly creates dangerous weather anomalies all over Superjail, destroying the Candyland section in the process which enrages Warden (as it's his favorite place in the prison). Meanwhile, Jared is crying over losing Sharice to The Doctor who makes multiple attempts to take his new relationship with her to third base. His plans backfire when Sharice blindly ignores his advances, leading The Doctor to create a Frankenstein-style clone of her with slutty tendencies. Which Jared finds first. In the end, Sharice and Jared reconcile while The Doctor decides to stick to using the Sharice clone he made for his libido.
36	6	"The Superjail Six"	Christy Karacas	Christy Karacas & Adam Modiano	July 18, 2014	405	1.51
During a routine sewer cleaning in Superjail, Stingray discovers a long forgotten secret that Alice and Jared had kept from the Warden. Apparently there were six dangerous inmates (known as the Superjail Six) during Superjail's early years that managed to escape from prison and make it into the badlands around the jail. After Warden learned of this he shut himself in his office for days due to depression which led to Alice and Jared forcing him to forget the incident. When Stingray learns of this story from one of the older inmates, he sets out with Prison Peedee's help to drive Warden back into his depression. The plan backfires, however, and Warden falls through the sewer pipes with Stingray and Peedee in tow. While Peedee and Stingray are chained together lost in the bayou the Warden comes across some mutated hillbilly/alligators. He subsequently falls in love with a female Alligator Hillbilly with whom he fathers many babies that he neglects and mistreats, much to her chagrin. After partying with them, he angers the entire group by destroying their sacred tree. This leads to a full invasion of Superjail by the Alligator Hillbillies. After Ash ends the invasion with a massive explosion, the last member of the Superjail Six returns to the Jail. Warden promptly kills him.

characters

Main

• The Warden (voiced by David Wain) – The proprietor and warden of Superjail and main protagonist of the series. A tall, thin man clad in a purple tailcoat and top hat, gloves, red cummerbund, and yellow-tinted glasses. The Warden has been described as a "sadistic version of both the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland and Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Despite possessing an ever-cheerful and friendly disposition, he's actually a severely deranged and violent sociopath due to his upbringing by his cruel father who was also a warden. The Warden devised Superjail as a means for expressing himself and regularly endangers the inhabitants of Superjail, often intentionally, to satisfy some unusual whim. He has very little respect for human life, and one day wishes to incarcerate all of humanity within the Superjail, according to one episode depicting an alternate future where he conquers the entire world and transforms it into a single prison state. Rather than handling any actual administrative tasks, he spends most of his time lusting after Chief Guard Alice, a recurring gag poking fun at the Warden’s naivety regarding Alice’s biological sex, or indulging his own bizarre fantasies. The Warden also possesses magical abilities, such as the ability to shapeshift into virtually anything he can imagine, and the ability to control the laws of reality within Superjail. Though the Warden's name is never revealed, David Wain answered "Mark Davis" to a user on Reddit.
• Jared (voiced by Teddy Cohn) – Superjail's large-headed, long-moustached, uptight/high-strung accountant and Warden's primary assistant. Jared handles most of Superjail's administrative duties and extracurricular activities, such as the Superjail Newspaper. He was first taken to Superjail as a prisoner for unknowingly working for the mafia and got his current job when impressing the Warden with his intelligence and financial skills (An allusion to The Shawshank Redemption). He's in recovery for, according to the show's creators, every addiction possible: alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling, and compulsive eating. Periodically, Jared suffers relapses into his addictions, especially when he's stressed out or temptation proves to be too much for him.
• Alice (voiced by Christy Karacas) – Superjail's hulking, muscular head prison guard. Alice regularly engages in sadomasochistic rituals with the prisoners (often without their consent), all the while rebuffing the Warden's constant advances. Originally a male guard at a normal prison, she discovered her true nature after falling in love with that prison's homosexual warden, who quickly fired her as a result of his transphobia. Alice was hired by the Warden shortly thereafter. Alice doesn't seem to take hormone therapy, but does have breast implants and publicly considers herself a woman. It's apparent throughout the show that she has not undergone gender reassignment surgery.
• Jailbot – A white, tombstone-shaped, levitating robot that the Warden created to perform tasks in and around Superjail. Within his simplistic-looking body seems to be a limitless storage space, from which he can produce a vast arsenal of deadly weaponry and tools, including numerous telescoping arms. At the beginning of every episode, Jailbot is tasked with capturing (and beating up) a criminal named Jackknife and bringing him to Superjail, often maiming or killing innocent bystanders in the process. A running gag for the intro in the first three seasons shows Jailbot carrying Jacknife through various other dimensions into a cloud resembling Warden's head which leads to Superjail. In the episode "Jailbot 2.0", the Warden claims that Jailbot single-handedly built the vast prison, but flashbacks suggest that Jailbot is really the latest in a series of similar robots. He's mute, with a dot matrix screen that displays a simple expressive face. Despite his ruthlessness, Jailbot also possesses a childlike personality, protecting the Warden from any harm and watching out for the welfare of young children who come across his path, however, he can be cold and ruthless to children who are mean to him; Christy Karacas described him as a "red-headed stepchild...seeking approval." He has even shown compassion for Jacknife, such as releasing him in "Best Friends Forever".
• The Doctor (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) – The resident physician of Superjail. He regularly experiments on the inmates in grotesque ways and has a German accent, but at times says words in French. It was revealed in "Vacation" that he fought in World War II and was at one point a POW.
• The Twins (voiced by Richard Mather) – Two green-blooded, blonde, identical twin aliens with European-sounding accents who inhabit a laboratory underneath Superjail and wear outfits resembling those worn by the Sandmen in Logan's Run. They took a year abroad trip to Earth and then decided to stay much to their father's chagrin. Their on-screen appearances are accompanied by techno music. The Twins use their alien powers—including teleportation, shrinking, and materializing various items to interfere with the Warden's plans for their amusement. Although their plots often result in mass death and destruction, the Twins do not appear to harbour any malice towards either the Warden or the prisoners.
• Jackknife (voiced by Christy Karacas) – A low-level criminal who appears in the openings of most episodes committing crimes before getting captured (and beaten up) by Jailbot, where his subsequent journey through various "outer worlds" and back to Superjail makes up the opening credits sequence (with the latter being omitted in the 4th and final season). He's often depicted escaping the jail during the murder sequences in the first season and periodically throughout seasons 2 and 3. He never speaks and communicates only by way of animalistic grunts and shrieks. He's labelled by Jared to be Superjail's most vile inmate due to his upbringing and near lack of any form of morality. Jacknife is depicted as being short-tempered, violent, and misogynistic. During the events of Oedipus Mess, Jacknife is revealed to have sired a son with one of Ultra-Prison's inmates. Having recognized the child as his, Jacknife escaped while the Warden created 10,000 clones of Jacknife that ran amok worldwide until all but the original were killed off. In the Season 3 premiere, a female version of Jacknife causes chaos at a male strip club and is later sent to UltraPrison, suggesting that Jacknife either has a sister or a wife.
• Lord Stingray (voiced by Eric Bauza) – A stereotypical supervillain character, akin to Cobra Commander, and the main antagonist of the show. After being defeated by his army-themed enemies, he crash-landed on Superjail Island and tried to take it over, but ended up being imprisoned. He's been a thorn in the Warden's side ever since by trying to either escape or take over Superjail. Lord Stingray first appears in the second season.

Recurring

• Gary and Bird' – Gary is a silent, bespectacled man obviously based on Robert Franklin Stroud, the Birdman of Alcatraz. However, Gary is mostly a servant to Bird, a small female canary, who appears to be the unofficial "boss" of all of the prisoners in Superjail until Lord Stingray got imprisoned. In the episode 'Uh Oh, It's Magic, Gary uses his ventriloquism to throw his voice into the Warden's puppet Prison Peedee to stage a break-out. However, the plan is foiled prior to Gary's vocal cords being surgically removed and discarded.
• Paul Guaye and Jean Baptiste Le Ghei (voiced by Christopher McCulloch, Stephen Warbrick) – Two homosexual inmates that can be seen in nearly every episode. Former leaders of rival "Purple Pythons" (Jean) and "Double Rainbow" (Paul) prison gangs in Superjail, which parodies 1961 musical West Side Story. They fell in love as a result and eventually got married. Paul is depicted as being the more feminine of the couple and is somewhat controlling of Jean. Jean is more of the stereotypical male. Despite being violent criminals, the two of them are actually somewhat kind and caring towards others and are respected by the other inmates.
• Ash (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) – A severely burned pyrokinetic pyromaniac prisoner. His burns come from a fire caused by his father, a drunk, dropping a cigarette in a movie theatre. Ash's personality is almost childlike.
• Fatty (voiced by Stephen Warbrick) – A bald, middle-aged, overweight inmate with a high-pitched voice and giggly/creepy personality, with an affinity for trying to show off his genitals, usually towards Gary. It is revealed in the episode "Superjail Grand Prix" that Fatty is a pedophile. Fatty is often killed during the murder scene or at some point in any episode, he appears in, only to be inexplicably revived for the next episode.
• Peedee (voiced by Dana Snyder) – A live ventriloquist's dummy possessed by Gary's vocal cords. Originally, he was controlled from within by Bird with Gary projecting his voice, but the dummy gained independence after Gary's severed vocal cords first possessed a rat and then the doll, turning it to a foul-mouthed criminal with a mobster accent and a standard inmate status. He shares a rivalry with Lord Stingray, but the two occasionally work together against the Warden and the other inmates.

Ultra-Prison

• The Mistress (voiced by Sally Donovan) – The female warden of Ultra-Prison (a women's prison). She had a brief one-night stand with the Warden while under the effects of Spanish fly. In the season 2 finale, she takes control of Superjail. She engaged in a relationship with Lord Stingray in the season 3 episode "Stingstress". However, after a night of intercourse with Alice, the Mistress returns Superjail to the Warden while she begins a new life-style as a hippie.
• Bruce (voiced by Melissa Brown (Ladies' Night) and Chris McCulloch, Stephen Warbrick (Stingstress) – the head guard at Ultraprison and part of the Mistress' staff. He is the opposite counterpart to Alice and is thus also transgender.
• Nova (voiced by Sally Donovan) –The pink robot of UltraPrison. While she appears to be the female version of Jailbot, she is also sleeker, refers to herself as 'newer model' than he is however since they both are custom built prototypes no one can be newer or older.
• Charise (voiced by Kamala Sankaram ("Ladies' Night") and Sally Donovan in "Vacation" and onwards) – part of the staff at Ultraprison, acting as both Mistress' personal assistant and her accountant. She is the counterpart to Jared.

influences

In a Cold Hard Flash interview, creator Christy Karacas explained influences for the show were Gary Panter, Robert Crumb, Sally Cruikshank, Mad, Vince Collins, Looney Tunes, Fleischer Studios, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Schoolhouse Rock!, Sesame Street, the Itchy & Scratchy segments from The Simpsons, kids' art, Muppets, outsider art, underground comics and Pee Wee's Playhouse.

home releases

Season			Episodes	Release date	Features
				Region 1
	1	2008	10 + Pilot	April 12, 2010	All episodes from the first season, the music video "Comin' Home", the animatics for episodes 1,9,10, and the pilot. All featured in 2.0 Stereo and closed captioning. Dialogue remains censored in the feature episodes despite the label on the DVD stating otherwise.
	2	2011	10	April 2, 2012	Episode commentary for all episodes but 2 and 7, Cheeseburger concert footage, Cheeseburger animated music video, interview with Christy Karacas and Joe Bradley, script to film comparison of episode 10, animation tests, animatics for episodes 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10, "Introstring" of the episode openings. Dialogue and footage are uncensored.
	3	2012	10	July 22, 2013	Animatics for episodes 1 and 7, animation tests of episodes 6 and 10, "Introstring" featurette. Dialogue and footage remain censored despite the DVD label stating otherwise.

The series is also available on HBO Max since September 1, 2020.