'Teen Titans Go!': 20 episodes to watch before 'Teen Titans Go! To the Movies'

“Pie Bros” is the second episode of the show, but the show pretty much hit the ground running. That’s partially because it’s based on the pre-existing "Teen Titans" cartoon and comic, which are more serious. Cyborg and Beast Boy, best friends to this day, have their first real conflict. Also, people are baked into pies. Right off the bat, they let you know this show is insane.

Like a lot of teenagers, the Titans love pizza. Here, they try the classic bit of delaying a pizza delivery boy so that they don’t have to pay for their food. That’s the entire premise of the episode. Well, that and Robin trying to decide between building a pool or a senior center. It’s a summery episode, which is perfect before watching a movie coming out in July.

Starfire and Raven, as the two female members of the Titans, are often paired together in juxtaposition to the boys. When the boys have a night out of their own — mostly involving buying hats and eating fries — the girls don't mess around. Starfire and Raven break the villainous Jinx, a delightful character with a complicated history with the Titans, out of prison for a night of fun of their own.

Raven often feels like the most overlooked Titan. Perhaps she’s harder to write for because she’s quiet and sarcastic instead of big and brash. “Crazy Day” is a fine showcase for the moody demon. It’s about how all the other Titans drive her insane, but she’s willing to accept that. Also, all the other Titans act like total lunatics, which is half of what "Teen Titans Go!" is as a show.

From the beginning, "Teen Titans Go!" has had its detractors because it’s supremely goofy, and they want their superheroes deadly serious. This episode takes that head on. The heroes of "Young Justice" show up and seriously take down the H.I.V.E. So, Robin decides the Titans need to get grimmer. Expect these kind of jokes in the movie, given the climate of superhero movies now.

At its core, "Teen Titans Go!" is about goofy, random humor and the characters running around all silly and stuff. “Truth, Justice, and What?” calls that out, but also has fun with it. Plus, the Titans kill Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles analogs and steal their skateboards.

Beast Boy can turn into any animal, and humans are animals, so Beast Boy can become a Beast Man, which he does. Then he ends up working for “The Man.” It’s a celebration of having fun and goofing around. Also, the freedom that a lack of responsibilities provide. It speaks to Cartoon Network’s audience in that way, but adults can still enjoy "Teen Titans Go!," because it’s just — simply — a funny show.

Robin is in love with Starfire, but she does not return his affection. Still, Robin does whatever he can to try and win her heart. In this episode, that means wearing a cat costume and pretending to be a cat, which works. It’s completely insane.

The Titans have alter egos. They are also the League of Legs, which they become for the first time in “Leg Day.” Raven gets the rest of the crew to stop working out their glamour muscles and do a little leg work. Their legs get super buff, and the League of Legs would appear again later in the series.

"Teen Titans Go!" is an incredibly meta show, and it’s a guarantee that the movie is going to be meta as well. Even the trailer has jokes about how similar Slade, the movie’s villain, is to Deadpool. When they want to get meta, the villainous Control Freak shows up. He informs the Titans that they are characters on a TV show, and if the show doesn’t get better, he will reboot them. Not all superhero fans are going to be cool with that, but for others, the lack of reverence will be refreshing.

“Two Parter” is the first, well, two-part episode of the show. The Titans enter the Hall of Justice and wear the costumes of more famous superheroes. Then, they have to save the Justice League from Darkseid, who is voiced by “Weird Al” Yankovic. This was their first chance at an “event,” which makes it a good dry run of the movie.

This is a program that loves parody. “The Cruel Giggling Ghoul,” as you might expect, is a parody of "Scooby-Doo." It might have nothing to do with the movie. It’s just a delightful episode. You should watch it.

“Finally a Lesson” is an episode of a cartoon that airs during the afternoon, interspersed with commercials for toys, that is about how to build equity. Robin teaches the most banal lesson imaginable, and it surely went over the heads of many of the kids watching. It’s something of a parody of episodes of kids shows that teach lessons. It also shows how out there, creatively speaking, "Teen Titans Go!" would be.

Perhaps indicating the age of the writers, "Teen Titans Go!" has a lot of affection for ‘80s movie tropes. Here, the Titans become rad rollerbladers. Robin challenges the titular rad dudes with bad ‘tudes to an insane rollerblading obstacle course challenge. It’s somewhat cinematic but mostly silly.

There are five “Island Adventures” episodes, so it feels necessary to include one of them on this list. “Coconut Cream Pie” is the first one, so it makes the most sense. Also, it’s a "Gilligan’s Island" parody, and the funniest of the quintet.

The Titans have an antagonistic relationship with Santa because in the world of the show, he’s a mean grouch who wants to control all the holidays. It turns out he can’t, so he quits Christmas, and the Titans have to step in to deliver the presents.

Befitting an episode with a title like this, “Movie Night” is the most cinematic outing for the show. They parody four different movie genres along the way. That’s impressive for a 15-minute show (11 without ads). It also shows that "Teen Titans Go!" have had movies on the mind for a while.

The prog rock song “The Night Begins to Shine” is a touchstone for "Teen Titans Go!" That’s so much the case, they dedicated a four-episode run to the song, Cyborg’s love for it, and also, a dragon from outer space who wants to control the song for his own evil desires.

In this episode, the Titans are transported back to an earlier version of the "Teen Titans" show thanks to Control Freak. However, they don’t go back to the actual "Teen Titans" show that existed. Instead, it’s a parody of cheap, ’60s-style animation because there is nothing this show seems to enjoy more than poking fun at pop culture.

"Teen Titans Go!" are in the early stages of the fifth season, but we’re ending this list with a two-parter from the end of the fourth season. “Flashback” is a fake flashback to when the Teen Titans were formed by Robin. Since so many movies are origin stories, it feels fitting to be the last episode you watch before checking out the film. Unless you love the show and want to watch some more. Then, by all means, binge away.