Off the Air is an American anthology television series created by Dave Hughes for Adult Swim. The series is presented without explanation or narration as a showcase of surreal footage arranged around a single loose theme (expressed in the episode title) and blended without pause into a single continuous presentation. The show follows a strange format of euphoric images that transform into something dark, then into calm. Many audience members claim it caters to the "trip-head" community, offering LSD/DMT ready images. Although there is no evidence to support any intention of "trip-head" targeting, none can argue that the show is not trippy.
Hughes, a former employee of MTV Animation, first pitched it to Mike Lazzo at Adult Swim after producing a video mixtape for the network's 2010 Carnival Tour event. As a result of its 4 a.m. graveyard slot and small selection of episodes, the series remains relatively unknown on the network, but has been received positively and dubbed a cult phenomenon by critics and Adult Swim itself.