It’s no surprise that as the economy steadily worsens, Americans long to immerse themselves in an animated fantasy of wealth and power. And so, following the great tradition begun by Richie Rich, Kid Notorious has appeared on the scene. The protagonist of the new Comedy Central show is a dashing Beverly Hills cad who gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it and often through somewhat sleazy means. Kid Notorious is, of course, Robert Evans, the great producer of the 1970’s golden age, whose rise and fall were depicted in a biographical film, The Kid Stays in the Picture, released last year.

‘Kid Notorious’ seems ambitiously prepared to satire every Hollywood celebrity and world politician in existence. With the help of his manservant, English, and his faithful black cat, Puss Puss, our hero waltzes through some very bizarre storylines. For instance, in one episode Evans finds himself in a high-stakes poker game with Jacques Chirac and George H.W. Bush.

This segues into a 1980’s flashback in which Chirac breakdances on the Paris streets in a futile attempt to win LaToya Jackson from Evans. By the end of the episode, Evans has engaged in a violent argument with Francis Ford Coppola over some marinara sauce, and the two wind up in a jail cell. Robert Evans has said that the stories depicted on the episode are all true, but this is no doubt meant to be taken with a grain of salt.

While at some points the humor is undeniably lacking, ‘Kid Notorious’ is fairly good at its parodies of the stars. In one episode, Evans finds himself crashing at the pad of Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist Slash, who turns out to be an extremely anal roommate and reprimands Evans for eating his carrot sticks.

In another show, we find out that, in typically narcissistic Hollywood fashion, Sharon Stone will star in a ‘Vagina Monologues’-style production entitled ‘Sharon Stone’s Vagina.’ Evans reacts dismissively: ‘Sharon Stones vagina? We’ve all seen it.’

The animation is slick and appropriately reminiscent of illustrations in Vanity Fair, while the humor is fast-paced and over-the-top in the manner of ‘South Park.’ As with the infamous ‘South Park,’ the show constantly striving to be edgy sometimes feels like overload.

But the show does have some killer one-liners that sound perfect when spoken in Evans’ smooth Hollywood croon. When an acquaintance in the industry shouts, ‘You slept with my wife!’ Evans defends himself by saying, ‘It was a threesome. And nobody slept.’ Indeed, one of Evans’ most alluded-to qualities is his ability to get any starlet in the sack. It may not be entirely because his sidekick on the show is a cat that Evans first proposed the show be called ‘Pussy Power.’

Kid Notorious is the kind of guy you would probably despise in his life, but something is very charming and funny about his animated bravado. The animated Evans embodies everything that is Hollywood: duplicity and vice, decadence and greed, but also an undeniable charisma and appeal. While viewers may condemn the sleaziness that the show seems to glorify, they can’t help but shake their heads and smile at Evans’ glamorous Beverly Hills misadventures.