Making a run for Bordertown
Let’s get right to it: Bordertown is funny.
The animated comedy, which premiered Sunday, inspires the kind of laughs that come with a wince. How uncomfortable you are will depend on how much you’ve been paying attention to current events.
Created by Family Guy writer Mark Hentemann, Bordertown revolves around two neighbouring families in the fictional southwest desert town of Mexifornia. Bud Buckwald, voiced by Hank Azaria (The Simpsons), feels threatened by a growing immigrant population that looks a lot like his neighbour, Ernesto Gonzalez. Ernesto runs a successful landscaping business, much to the ire of Bud, who perpetually struggles to keep his job as a border patrol agent.
The immigrant debate and a growing culture clash are the targets of Bordertown’s satire, but nothing and no one is left unscathed.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is an executive producer of Bordertown, which depending on what you think of MacFarlane’s brand of humour could make you want to tune in or out. On a scale of Ted (the lowest of the low) to Family Guy, Bordertown would end up on the higher end of the spectrum. But the show is off to a good start with its timely humour.
In fact, today’s headlines might be Bordertown’s best asset. The second episode is called Borderwall and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Bud is among the Mexifornia residents in favour of building a wall to keep Mexican immigrants from crossing the border.