Robot Chicken was conceptually preceded by
Twisted ToyFare Theatre, a humorous photo
comic strip appearing in
ToyFare. When
Matthew Senreich, an editor for
ToyFare, learned that
Seth Green had made
action figures of his castmates from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Senreich contacted Green and asked to photograph them. Months later, Green asked Senreich to collaborate on an animated short for ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', featuring toy versions of himself and O'Brien. Continuing the concept of the web series, the show creators pitched
Robot Chicken as a television series, the name being inspired by a dish on the menu at a
West Hollywood Chinese restaurant, Kung Pao Bistro, where Green and Senreich had dined (other ideas for the series' name included
Junk in the Trunk,
The Deep End, and
Toyz in the Attic; some of these would be reworked into episode titles for the
first season). The
Star Wars episode was nominated for a 2008
Emmy Award as Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour). The series was renewed for a 20-episode third season, which ran from August 12, 2007, to October 5, 2008. The fifth season premiered on December 12, 2010. The seventh season premiered on April 13, 2014. The eighth season premiered on October 25, 2015. The ninth season premiered on December 10, 2017. Season 10 premiered on September 29, 2019, containing the 200th episode. Season 11 premiered on September 6, 2021. Following the 2020 cancellation of
The Venture Bros.,
Robot Chicken became Adult Swim's longest-running series, until it was surpassed by
Aqua Teen Hunger Force after its renewal in 2023. In July 2024, having released no new episodes since April 2022, Green announced in a live-streamed interview that, while a new full season of
Robot Chicken would likely not be ready in time for the following year, a new half-hour
Robot Chicken special is slated for release sometime in 2025. In a September 2024 interview, Green announced that
Robot Chicken will be moving away from 20-episode seasons and towards doing more of "a
South Park special model."
The Robot Chicken Self-Discovery Special was released on July 20, 2025, in honor of the series' 20th anniversary. On January 18, 2026,
Aqua Teen Hunger Force co-creator
Matt Maiellaro revealed on social media that he was reprising the role of his
Aqua Teen character
Err in an upcoming, as-of-yet unrevealed
Robot Chicken special. ==Format==