YMMV / Squidbillies

• Awesome Music: The show has quite a bit of this going on, especially if you're into country and Southern Rock.
  • This cover of the show's theme by Trampled by Turtles. A very fast-paced bluegrass take on the theme song that fits the chaotic nature of the show.
  • "Walt Whitman", an original song by Trampled by Turtles which actually features the citizens of Dougal County jamming out to them at the Jiggle Hut.
• Badass Decay:
  • Dan Halen. The first few seasons portray him as an almost demonic force of nature, doing unspeakably evil deeds for no reason other than being evil and always getting away with his actions. Nowadays, he's more of a Corrupt Corporate Executive who is almost always fueled by Greed with his actual Satanic ties being long forgotten. He's also been losing (and dying) somewhat more often such as in "The War on the War on Christmas", "Forever Autumn", "The Inkubator Lives", and "Granite Caverns".
  • To some extent, Early is this also. Compare his nigh-invincibility from the early seasons to... marrying and getting mauled by a bear later on.
• Broken Base: There's a part of the fanbase that think the later seasons do not measure to the older episodes and that the series should end. Especially in the final season where Early's VA had to be changed. The other part of the fanbase believe that the show has been Growing the Beard; believing that the latter half of the series is when the show actually gets good. Claiming that the first few seasons put too much emphasis on sadism and Black Comedy without much levity or catharsis. These fans say that the show rightfully deserves its longevitiy.
  • Early being voiced by Tracy Morgan in the final season. Many fans complained that the change in voice is too jarring and that they should have got someone that can actually resemble his old voice. Other fans find it hilarious that Early sounds so intentionally wrong (with the show itself taking the piss out of it) and that it falls in line with the series' general lack of consistent rules.
• Catharsis Factor: It can be pretty satisfying to watch Early getting brutally injured or dying on a near constant basis due to how much of a Jerkass he can be. Dan Halen also, however infrequent it is.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Glenn has become this for many fans, due to his Deadpan Snarker tendencies and often playing as the Straight Man to both Early and Dan Halen.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Parts of the Sheriff's totally unhinged rant in "Government Brain Voodoo Trouble" (It's always about yooou!) sound uncomfortably like what The Sheriff's voice actor at the time, Charles Napier, was actually going through when it came to how he viewed his own career; Napier was so obsessed with being more famous that his wife put him on an episode of Dr. Phil just to call him out on it.
  • "Swayze Crazy", which features a man posing as Patrick Swayze and eventually killing the actual Swayze in the same episode, can feel a little mean-spirited after the death of the real-life Patrick Swayze.
  • The episode "Anabolic Holic" features a Hulk Hogan Expy named "Thunderclap", who lost his title following an incident involving an African person. Years later, in 2015, Hulk Hogan himself was fired from the WWE after a scandal involving him essentially admitting he was racist — much to the surprise of his Black co-wrestlers.
  • "The Fine Ol’ Solution" has Early grow annoyed at the increasing amounts of Mexican immigrants populating Dougal County, and decides to build a wall around his house to keep them away from him. This episode is extremely awkward to watch nowadays in light of the 2016 presidential election, in which one of Donald Trump's supposed plans when he became president was to build a wall across the border of Mexico to keep immigrants out.
    • Of course, since both Early's and Trump's plan ended in failure, this might be Hilarious in Hindsight as well.
  • Early's politically incorrect attitude was meant to be an easily mockable parody of a certain Southern or Appalachian conservatism. Now, however, it's become more than a little uncomfortable after his voice actor, Unknown Hinson, was fired from the show in August 2020 after making several derogatory remarks regarding Dolly Parton's support of the Black Lives Matter movement, to the degree that you'd be forgiven for thinking Unknown Hinson was doing the whole thing in character. (He wasn't.)
  • In-Universe, one episode has Early smashing Glenn's Father's Day mug and insulting his children. In a later episode "Class of '86", Glenn says that his children died in a house fire. Though a later episode called "Thanks-Taking" shows that his kids are still alive.
• Ho Yay:
  • Ga Ga Pee Pap "12 Gun" Cuyler towards his grandson Rusty in "Dead Squid Walking."
    Ga Ga Pee Pap: "I'm not into boys...as much."
  • Implied with Early and the Tim Tebow Expy.
    Early: "You so damn handsome! Wait — wait, I can't be feelin this!"
• Les Yay:
  • Lil and Granny deep-kissing in the episode "School Days, Fool Days".
  • Granny in general, once her character development really kicked in.
• Love to Hate: While Dan Halen is an unlikable villain with little to no redeeming qualities, much of the show's humor comes from his diabolical schemes and sadism.
• Misblamed: Many people blame the shortcomings of the final season on the fact that Unkown Hinson was fired and replaced by Tracy Morgan to voice Early, essentially writing him into a completely different character. In reality the final season had already been planned and worked out long before Hinson's firing and everything involving Early was always going to play out as planned.
• The Scrappy: To many, Tammi has become this. While she was initially introduced as a pleasant and competent character who was sweet to Rusty, she would later suck the fun out of the series in any future appearances, with her enforced morals and demands for child support payment.
• So Okay, It's Average:
  • While this show definitely has devoted fans, others don't think it's anything to write home about, especially to fans of, for instance, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, who believe that the latter show deserved more time to be on the air and cannot even fathom how this series managed to last longer.
  • The appeal of Squidbillies can be sometimes overly regional and specific, and if you're not from the Deep South or Appalachia, the jokes aren't going to land, and it's not going to be very funny.
• Tear Jerker: The final fate of Early even though he deserved it. With all his family members either moving on or dead, he's all alone. He swore he would have his revenge on Rusty and Tammi for stealing his truck and moving to Elberton, but like many things in life, he never followed through.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: There's a few episodes that veer really hard hard toward sadism and bleakness without any levity, to the point that it can be a bit hard to watch: "Thanks-taking" and "From Russia with Stud" being the infamous examples. Early himself is a nasty, violent asshole, and there are several incidences where he will ruin what would otherwise be a humorous slapstick gag just by being himself.
• Values Dissonance: Of a very recent variety. The show's plethora of Confederate flags^note or rather the Confederate Battle flag — the Confederacy had a rather confusing vexillology used as decoration and parts of scenery might be jarring to people with more politically correct sensibilities, but in fact the frequent display and flying of the Confederate flag in the South was more or less a nonissue until 2015, when it became the extremely controversial topic that it remains today. In later seasons the show actually addressed this, with its usual inability to take anything seriously.
• The Woobie: A few.
  • Rusty is repeatedly beaten down, by his father in every way shape imaginable — sometimes literally, but often emotionally and mentally with a shocking callousness on Early's part. Yet all Rusty wants is his daddy's approval...
    • Several episodes portray him as sensitive, generous, and intelligent, with the implication that he could easily break the cycle of poverty and excel, if he could only escape living with Early and Granny. Of course other episodes make it clear he's very much like his dad and the apple don't fall far from the tree.
  • Granny is regularly abused by Early in often shockingly violent ways. (Then again, she often finds ways to get her revenge...)
  • Glenn, Early's co-worker, is frequently humiliated and belittled by Early in front of the rest of the office — to make matters worse, Donna, his wife, is Early's favorite target for sexual harassment. And if that wasn't enough, their children died in a house fire.

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