| Regular Show | |
|---|---|
Regular Show title card |
|
| Genre | Comedy Fantasy Surreal humor |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | J. G. Quintel |
| Creative director(s) | Mike Roth (season 1) John Infantino (season 2-present) |
| Starring | J. G. Quintel William Salyers Sam Marin Mark Hamill |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 80[1] (51 aired) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | J. G. Quintel |
| Producer(s) | Janet Dimon (Supervising Producers) Chris Reccardi (season 1) Mike Roth (season 2-present) |
| Running time | approx. 11 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Cartoon Network Studios |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Cartoon Network |
| Original run | September 6, 2010 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel (formerly a creative director for The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack). The series was originally developed as a short for Cartoon Network's unaired Cartoonstitute show, and features characters loosely based on those from Quintel's student films The Naïve Man from Lolliland and 2 in the AM PM. It was green-lit on August 13, 2009 by Cartoon Network[2] and debuted on September 6, 2010. The series was renewed for a third season in late 2010 and premiered on September 19, 2011. "Stick Hockey" began the show's third season. On October 26, 2011, it was announced that Regular Show had been renewed for a fourth season.[3]
Contents |
Two 23-year-old friends,[4] a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby, are employed as groundskeepers at a park and spend their days trying to slack off and entertain themselves by any means. This is much to the chagrin of their boss Benson (a high-tempered living gumball machine), along with their co-worker Skips (a yeti); but to the delight of Pops (a naïve, lollipop-shaped gentleman whose father Mr. Maellard owns the park). Their other co-workers, Muscle Man (an overweight green man) and High Five Ghost (a ghost with a hand extending from the top of his head) serve as rivals to Mordecai and Rigby.[5] The show usually revolves around Mordecai's and Rigby's attempts to avoid work and enjoy themselves; however, they oftentimes have to pay for their irresponsible actions, as they always get into more trouble than they thought. This typically results in Mordecai and Rigby going through bizarre and surrealistic misadventures.
Voiced by J. G. Quintel
A 23-year-old blue jay, who is best friends with Rigby. Together, Mordecai and Rigby are employed as groundskeepers at a park, but they are both lazy and rarely get their jobs done. Mordecai is more conscientious, mature and moral about his actions, but he tends to go along with Rigby's mischief as a result of rivalry. He can also get jealous at times, causing him to get angry. He once killed Rigby, but wished him back. Mordecai enjoys playing "punchies" against Rigby, knowing Rigby always loses. Mordecai has a major crush on Margaret, a red-breasted robin and waitress at the local café. He is an art school graduate. He was originally in the short film 2 in the AM PM, which was also created by Quintel.
Voiced by William Salyers
A 23-year-old raccoon, who is best friends with Mordecai. Rigby is eccentric, immature, and extremely mischievous, which puts him at odds with Mordecai at times. Rigby lives solely for self-gratification, which he sometimes achieves through selfish acts of lying or cheating; but consequentially, Rigby has a bad habit of getting himself and other people in trouble. In fact, many of the problems that the park employees face appear to be (mostly) Rigby's fault. Nevertheless, he is best friends with Mordecai and often relies on him for getting himself out of trouble, though there have been times where he's saved Mordecai. He has a younger brother named Don who he is jealous of due to people often mistaking him for the older brother due to Don being taller and larger. He was killed (and later revived) three times in Season 2, once by Mordecai, another time by Snowballs the Ice Monster, and once by Skips.
Voiced by Sam Marin
A living gumball machine. Benson is the manager of the park, employed under Mr. Maellard and is also the employer of Mordecai and Rigby. The two frequently infuriate Benson due to their constant slacking and mischief, and as such he has limited trust for them, even though it's his responsibility since their mistakes happen on his time. He is a responsible and hardworking employee, the exact opposite of Mordecai and Rigby. Benson is very hot-tempered and sarcastic, and is prone to fits of rage (turning red whenever this happens). However, Benson loosened up a bit after "Benson Be Gone", having gained some degree of understanding for them; in the same episode, Benson (temporarily) became a slacker, before reverting back to his old responsible self. He was originally in the short film 2 in the AM PM, which was also created by Quintel, and the voice also done by Marin.
Voiced by Mark Hamill
A yeti who is apparently far older than he seems. Granted the power of immortality, he is destined to perform a ceremonial dance every year on his birthday, for if he doesn't, Skips will die. He works out frequently, and as indicated by his name, he "skips" when he moves. Skips' personality seems rather indifferent, but he is always willing to help Mordecai and Rigby whenever they get themselves into trouble. He tends to be the solution to many of the problems Mordecai and Rigby cause, usually by means of some sort of contraption he rigs up instantaneously. Skips appears to be very experienced and knowledgeable; whenever Mordecai and Rigby cause trouble, he says "I've seen this before", and then proposes a solution to the problem (implying that Skips used to be much like Mordecai and Rigby). In "Skips Strikes", it is revealed that Skips is an excellent bowler, and that his birth name was Walks, but he changed it due to the fact that he never walked, he only skipped.
Voiced by Sam Marin
A naïve lollipop-shaped man who is almost always in a jolly mood. He tends to be overly ecstatic about every situation, and expresses himself as an upright gentleman to the point where he overly extends his words and sentences formally. Despite being an elderly man, Pops is very childlike and naïve about the world around him; therefore, he serves as somewhat of a non sequitur character. He also seems to like Mordecai and Rigby more than Benson, ironically, despite Mordecai and Rigby's irresponsible behavior and Benson's more responsible behavior. Pops' father, Mr. Maellard, owns the park. Even so, Pops relies on Benson for the upkeep of the park. Benson also seems to be responsible for taking care of Pops, due to his childlike nature. Pops' character is taken from Quintel's short animation The Naïve Man from Lolliland.
Voiced by Sam Marin
Another groundskeeper at the park. Mitch Sorenstein (better known by his nickname "Muscle Man") is an obese, dwarfish, green-skinned man (ironic given his nickname). His behavior seems quite erratic and immature. Muscle Man believes himself to be macho and superior to everyone, constantly disrespecting Mordecai and Rigby and referring to them as "ladies". He is always cracking "My mom!" jokes (botched attempts at "Your mom!" jokes), much to the chagrin of everyone else (except his best friend High Five Ghost, who enjoys them). In the episode "Muscle Woman", his real name is revealed to be Mitch Sorenstein.
Voiced by Jeff Bennett (early episodes), later J. G. Quintel
A ghost with a hand on his head. High Five Ghost is best friends with Muscle Man. He is frequently shown giving Muscle Man a high five to accompany his "My Mom!" jokes. He rarely talks, but when he talks, he uses a quivery and high voice. In spite of his close friendship with Muscle Man, he doesn't seem to share in the rivalry with Mordecai and Rigby, at least not to the degree Muscle Man does.
Voiced by Janie Haddad
A robin who works at a local coffee shop. She is kind and respectful to both Mordecai and Rigby, but may be unaware that Mordecai has a crush on her. A running gag on the show is that she appears to have a new boyfriend almost every episode she is in, much to Mordecai's chagrin. However since the "Camping can be Cool" episode, she is currently single and may be learning (albeit slowly) of Mordecai's true feelings for her and maybe warming up to him. Also in the episode, Margaret revealed that she goes to university and plans on quitting her job once she graduates.
Voiced by Minty Lewis
A mole who also works at the local coffee shop alongside with Margaret. She has a crush on Rigby, but he is unaware of it. She first appeared in the episode "Brain Eraser". She also appears in "Do Me a Solid", where Rigby learns of Eileen's crush on him (even though Rigby is not interested in Eileen), though he goes along with it for a while. Since the episode "Camping can be Cool", Rigby has warmed up to Eileen and considers her a cool person and praised her actions throughout the episode.
Voiced by David Ogden Stiers
A lollipop man like his son Pops, who owns the park and is the boss of Benson. He first appeared in "Dizzy". Maellard is very impatient towards Benson (similar to Benson's impatience towards Mordecai and Rigby), and Maellard blames Mordecai's and Rigby's shenanigans on Benson (as he expects Benson to take responsibility for Mordecai and Rigby as park manager). He mistakes Benson's name a lot in some of the episodes he is in. Maellard finally got Benson's name right (and starts to respect him as well) in "Benson Be Gone", due to Benson coming to his rescue when he was captured by Susan (a woman whom Mr. Maellard had hired as the park manager after demoting Benson), and also gave Benson his old job back.
Voiced by Robin Atkin Downes
Gary is a chaffeur that first appeared in "Free Cake", where he was hired by the Guardians of Eternal Youth to take Skips to be executed. He has made a reappearance in the episode "Skips Strikes", using magic to defeat Mordecai and Rigby in bowling. He also appeared in "Cool Bikes" as Mordecai and Rigby's attorney.
Voiced by Julian Holloway
Pictured as a grim reaper-like character with a scythe on his back speaking with a Cockney Accent, Death is known to be the controller of who lives and dies, first appearing in "Over the Top" after Skips killed Rigby in a game of arm-wrestling. Skips challenged Death to an arm-wrestling match to bring Rigby back to life, and Death lost after Skips cheated with the Playco Armboy. It is shown that Death can revive people with a loogie. In the episode "Skips Strikes", Death and his team The Magical Elements tried to beat Mordecai and Rigby's team in bowling so he could kill the four due to a bet made by Rigby. However, Mordecai's team won, so Death had to fork over a magical bowling ball filled with dead souls.
Season 1 began on September 6, 2010 with the episode "The Power" and ended on November 22, 2010 with "Mordecai and the Rigbys". There was a pilot of the series that aired on Cartoon Network Video, an extended remake was aired on July 11, 2011. Season 2 began on November 29, 2010 with "Ello Gov'nor" and ended on August 1, 2011 with "Karaoke Video". Furthermore, the series has been renewed for a 40-episode third season and premiered on September 19, 2011 with the episode "Stick Hockey".
| DVD title | Season(s) | Aspect ratio | Episode count | Time length | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Show: Slack Pack[6] | 1, 2 | 16:9 | 12 | 137 minutes | April 3, 2012 |
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 Annie Awards | Best Animated Television Production for Children[7] | Nominated |
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short-format Animated Program | Nominated |
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 BAFTA Children's Award (United Kingdom) | BAFTA Kids Vote Powered By Yahoo! - Top 10s - Television 2011[8] | Nominated |
| International 2011[9] | Nominated |
Devin D. O'Leary of Alibi.com's "Idiot Box" column gave the show a favorable review, saying that its theme felt like a workplace sitcom and that the "parade of super-strange characters" added to the show's humor. He compared the show to Beavis and Butt-head.[10] PopMatters critic Chris Conaton gave the show a six-out-of-ten rating, saying that it was "mildly amusing." His review praised Quintel's and Salyers' voice acting, but thought that the humor was derivative of Beavis and Butt-Head and The Ren & Stimpy Show.[11]
Common Sense Media reviewer Melissa Camacho said the show to be "pretty edgy for non-Adult Swim Cartoon Network fare" due to its fantasy violence and language but also said that "viewers who are into creative animation will definitely appreciate the wit featured here."[12]