The show was inspired by the comedy antics of Twisted Mego Theatre (now called Twisted ToyFare Theater), which appears monthly in Gareb Shamus's ToyFare magazine. The segment "The Aussie Hunter" on FOX's MAD TV is an early work of the group. Matthew Senreich worked in various capacities with Wizard from commercially available toys such as G.I. Joe or Barbie, or vehicles such as the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard are also sometimes used.

Robot Chicken often uses extremely outrageous and twisted humor. One recurring segment is "Hilarious Bloopers", a parody of the Bob Saget era of America's Funniest Home Videos, though unlike that show, this skit ends with the host using various household methods of suicide. The show tends to avoid political issues, instead mocking pop culture, referencing toys, films, television, and popular fads. When political figures are depicted on the program, the focus of their appearance is usually only tangentially-related to recent news or their positions in world affairs (such as Fidel Castro's Dance Dance Counter-Revolucíon video game competition from Season Two and President George W. Bush fantasizing he is a Jedi). One particular motif often involves the idea of fantastical characters being placed in a more realistic world or situation (such as Stretch Armstrong requiring a corn syrup transplant, Optimus Prime performing a prostate cancer PSA, and Godzilla having problems in the bedroom). The program even had a 30 minute episode dedicated to Star Wars which premiered June 17, 2007 in the US featuring the voices of Star Wars notables George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Ahmed Best.

The show's theme song was composed and performed by Les Claypool of Primus, and he sings the song's only lyrics, "It's alive!", in typical Frankenstein fashion. The ending theme of the show is a portion of the famous Muzak named "The Gonk" (famously used in George A. Romero's 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead) clucked by a chorus of chickens.

Robot Chicken is currently the highest rated original show in Adult Swim and the second highest in the network (right after Family Guy).

• Adult Swim
• AdultSwim.co.uk - Broadband VOD website for Adult Swim UK.
• The Robot Chicken Wiki
• Chicago Newspaper review of Robot Chicken Star Wars including links to the Commentary Extras
• Robot Chicken - Star Wars Review at Variety.com