Adult Swim Landmark Faces a Crisis It Might Not Survive

If you have ever driven past Williams Street in Atlanta, you know Adult Swim is as Georgia as it gets. One of the state tributes to that legacy is not doing so hot: the giant Early Cuyler statue up in Ellijay is looking rough, and the folks who helped build it say it might be beyond a touch-up.

Ellijay's Early is beat up

Back in 2021, a 15-foot statue of Early Cuyler from Adult Swim's long-running Squidbillies went up in Ellijay, Georgia (a city of roughly two thousand people). Early, for the uninitiated, is the loudmouthed, shotgun-happy patriarch of the clan. Fitting mascot for a show that helped build Adult Swim's whole chaotic vibe. Fast-forward to now: the statue has been tagged with graffiti, and it may have been clipped by a car.

Muelworx, the fabrication company that worked on the piece, recently drove out to check on it after a flood of comments on their earlier behind-the-scenes post about how it was made. Their verdict was not exactly cheerful:

"It has fallen on some pretty bad times."

• The statue is heavily graffitied.
• Muelworx says a vehicle may have hit it.
• They floated the idea of repairs, but also suggested the damage could be too extensive to restore Early to his original look.
• The check-in came via a TikTok field trip after they got a bunch of requests to fix it.

How this big squid showed up in the first place

Muelworx says Adult Swim hired them in late 2021, alongside collaborators Russ Vick and Chris Brown, to create the towering Early Cuyler statue as a send-off to Squidbillies' final season. Their team designed it, engineered it, carved it, coated it, painted it, and installed it. At the time, they invited anyone passing through Ellijay to swing by and say hi to Early. If you do that today, yeah... you will see the years have not been kind.

Why Early matters to Adult Swim

Squidbillies premiered in 2005 and cranked out 132 episodes over 13 seasons before ending in 2021 — the same year the statue went up. It is one of Adult Swim's longest-running series and a big part of why that late-night block became a thing. No real movement on a revival, but studios love an animated comeback these days, so never say never.

If you want to catch up, episodes are available on Adult Swim's site. The show was among the many Adult Swim titles pulled from HBO Max during that great content purge, and there is no confirmation of any return to the streamer or to a regular cable slot anytime soon.

Big picture

Adult Swim is woven into Atlanta's DNA — the operation has lived on Williams Street for decades — and Georgia has scattered nods to that history. This particular one in Ellijay needs love. Whether Muelworx patches it up or retires it, it would be nice if Early's statue stuck around. Squidbillies left a mark, warts and all; would be a shame if the monument did not survive the hangover.

Ellijay locals and Adult Swim diehards: fix it, replace it, or let it go? Where do you land?