In 2010, Cartoon Network premiered Regular Show, created by J. G. Quintel. It centered around two slacker best friends, Mordecai and Rigby, who work in a park and the surreal, often supernatural situations they find themselves in.
The show ran for 8 seasons, including a TV movie, before ending in 2017.
Well, now your two favorite slackers are back with more weirdness in Regular Show: The Lost Tapes.
I was able to watch two episodes from the new series, and nothing has changed. And that familiarity is both the biggest strength—and limitation—of The Lost Tapes.
The first one was episode 4, Coffee Shop Wars, which centered around Margaret and Eileen. They have to compete with a new coffee shop that could put the diner where they work out of business. The episode feels like classic Regular Show, blending a simple premise with the kind of escalating absurdity the series was known for.
The second one was episode 6, Corpse Flower. Margaret is taking a poetry class and has to do a live reading. Eileen finds out that Margaret’s presentation is the same night the corpse flower is supposed to bloom that night. Rigby comes up with a plan so Eileen can do both. Like the original series, it takes a grounded situation and pushes it into something completely ridiculous, without losing the character-driven humor.
It was great to have the old cast there. J. G. Quintel as Mordecai. William Salyers as Rigby. Janie Haddad-Thompkins as Margaret. Minty Lewis as Eileen. And Sam Marin as Muscle Man. The chemistry between the cast still feels natural, as if no time has passed since the original series ended. Since I only saw the two episodes, I’m not sure who else is supposed to return, but I did read that Mark Hamill is returning as Skips.
The format is still the same. Starts off normal and quickly descends into chaos. Still with the 15-minute time format for each episode. And the writing is what you are used to from a Regular Show episode, which is good. It’s a format that still works, even years later, though it doesn’t do much to evolve beyond what the original series already established. The Lost Tapes leans into that idea, presenting these episodes as stories that could have existed alongside the original run rather than continuing it.
This first season will have 9 episodes, and the show has been greenlit for two seasons.
I really loved Regular Show, so personally, I’m glad it’s back. Even though the series had a definitive ending, The Lost Tapes shows there are still smaller stories worth exploring within that world.
For fans of Regular Show, The Lost Tapes delivers exactly what you’d expect—nothing more, and nothing less.
Regular Show: The Lost Tapes premieres on May 11 at 4 PM EST. It will arrive on HBO Max and Hulu later this year.
Newsdesk 
Dan Kleiner