Adult Swim decided to fire longtime Squidbillies actor and musician Unknown Hinson for racist and offensive rants on social media back in 2020. The decision left the long-running series in a bind, as it had to replace its star long into the series’ run. Now, the show has found a solution for its final season and, if I may be so bold, found an A+ replacement to play Early Cuyler. Tracy Morgan – yes, 30 Rock and The Last O.G.’s Tracy Morgan – will voice Early in the final season.
The announcement came during a comedic promo for the process, in which many iconic Cartoon Network voice actors tried their hand at voicing the redneck squid. Check out the video, which features voice work from actors like Cowboy Bebop voice actor Steve Blum, Space Ghost’s George Lowe, Rick and Morty’s Spencer Grammer, and, of course, Tracy Morgan.
When one thinks of redneck culture, living in the mountains, and drinking moonshine, I’m sure Tracy Morgan isn’t the first person who comes to mind. At the end of the day, though, why not just for an outlandish casting, especially for a series as bizarre as Squidbillies? Sure, co-creator Dave Willis probably could’ve found a voice closer than Meatwad’s to make it work, but can he make “Do not touch the trim” sound as hilarious as Morgan?
Tracy Morgan will voice Early Cuyler in Squidbillies’ final season, which will premiere on Sunday, November 7. The day will mark the beginning of the end for an Adult Swim series that first started back in 2005. It’s the close of an era for another classic series from the programming block, though, with Morgan in at the lead, it should be interesting for sure.
Squidbillies decided to move forward without Unknown Hinson following social media tirades that contained offensive and racist language. Hinson called country music legend Dolly Parton a “slut” and other offensive terms for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. Hinson did apologize for his remarks, but the apology didn’t impact his removal from the series. Squidbillies' hiring of someone who sounds nothing like Hinson seems an indicator the team doesn’t wish to hide his removal from the show, which seemed unavoidable in any event considering what occurred.
As previously mentioned, Squidbillies returns to Adult Swim for its final season on Sunday, November 7 at 12:00 a.m. ET. I’m excited for the end of the series, though I’ll definitely need to catch up on an episode or two over at HBO Max, considering I’ve missed a few episodes over the past decade. Hopefully, this last season will live up to the series’ reputation. The first 12 seasons are currently available streaming on HBO Max.
