Starting its second season Saturday, Oct. 16 at 9:00 pm, the Cartoon Network’s Megas XLR is probably the coolest addition to Saturday evenings in years. Combining slamming robot destruction with hot-rod kustom culture, Megas XLR tells the story of a young gearhead who discovers a giant robot that was sent back from the future to save the world. Unfortunately, our hero Coop may or may not be up to the mighty task. We caught up with creators Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic and asked them to explain the Megas XLR universe.

How did you guys come up with the concept for the show?

Jody: We were sitting around playing video games, oddly enough, and we boiled down what we wanted to watch on TV and it just amounted to a big, fat, screaming idiot driving a giant robot.

George: One of the big inspirations for me for this show was – I don’t know if you guys ever watched Robotech or Macross, but like in the very first episode Rick Hunter gets into a robot and instead of being a hero, he wrecks buildings and almost kills Minay. And I was like, “That’s what I would do, man – I would wreck chicks’ houses just to look at them in a giant robot.” That’s why our hero does what he does – he’s a good guy, but along the way he causes a lot of collateral damage.

Had you guys worked on cartoon shows before?

George: Yeah, we both worked together on a show at MTV called MTV's Downtown, which no one saw. We got an Emmy nomination, but they shut us down – I don’t think they ever aired the last episode.

Jody: I actually come from an animation background. George is a writer. I’ve been on a few shows: Beavis and Butthead, I did some stuff for The Head, mainly I was over at MTV for a long time.

How did you pitch your concept for Megas XLR?

George: Funnily enough, we did what you’re not supposed to do, which was to actually ambush an executive at San Diego Comic-Con and jam the stuff into her hands.

Jody: We knew her – she was a friend of ours long beforehand. She had been a teacher back in college when we were both students at The School of Visual Arts. She had moved on to Cartoon Network, so we called her and she wasn’t against it – she was like, “It’s not the thing you usually do.” So we went: “Oh! She didn’t say no!” So we ran in and just jammed it in her lap, and the rest is history.

George: We didn’t think we’d hear back from her, but three months later she called back and she was like, “I love it! Let’s do it!”

Jody: Which, in the world of executives, is blindingly fast.

Did the network require any changes to the concept?

George: There were a lot of changes. Most of the changes were for artwork, because we thought we’d stay in the house style of Cartoon Network and we made it like what you’re used to seeing on Cartoon Network. And she actually wanted something darker.

Jody: She said, “Make this more menacing.” Which is like Christmas for us, because that’s what we like. It was great.

How would you describe the stylistic look of the show?

Jody: “Anime/hot-rod chic” might be a good way to think about it. Sort of a cartoon if it was done on Monster Garage.

George: “Kustom culture anime.”

Jody: Basically, it was a mix of trying to figure out how to make the robots look as cool as possible and get as much of everything we wanted to see jammed in as we could.

What do you foresee for the show creatively?

Jody: A lot of robots punching other robots in the face.

George: I don’t know... we might have some character development. Who knows? That’s not important.

Mostly, the show's mission is robot destruction, then?

Jody: Yes. The simple joys of watching one robot bash the crap out of another robot.

George: As we move forward, we actually will have time to get to know characters more, some of the back-story, some of the relationships, things like that.

Any advice to aspiring animators who want to be doing what you’re doing?

Jody: Don’t.

George: Be a doctor or a lawyer. And if you have to go into entertainment, go into live action, or go into video games. Don’t go into animation.

Jody: Seriously, it is hard work. But if you really want to do it, you have to keep at it. You’re going to have your work cut out for you, there’s a lot you’re going to have to do. You have to stick to your guns and just keep going – and realize that you’re going to have to make some compromises. But you have to keep your eyes on the prize.

So have you guys attained your prize, or do you still have your eyes on it?

George: Like every creative person or artist, you’re always like, “It’s not good enough! We gotta do it again!” So I don’t think we’re there yet. Maybe one day.

Jody: It’s a continual process. Initially, the prize was to get the series. And now the prize is to keep the series going, as well as trying to top yourself with each new show.