Glenn Martin, DDS

Glenn Martin, DDS is an American stop-motion-animated family comedy television series that premiered on Nick at Nite on August 17, 2009. The series was produced by Tornante Animation in association with Cuppa Coffee Studio and Rogers Communications. Glenn Martin, DDS was Nick at Nite's fourth original series (the first was Hi Honey, I'm Home!, the second was Fatherhood and the third was Hi-Jinks).

The show premiered on March 18, 2010 on Sky1 in the UK and Ireland. Season two premiered on June 11, 2010. The show ended on November 7, 2011.

Plot

After accidentally burning down his house in Freeland, Pennsylvania, Glenn takes his family — wife Jackie, hormone-addled 13-year-old Conor, power suit-wearing 11-year-old Courtney, Courtney’s overachieving assistant Wendy, and Canine (the family's dog who has an oversized anus) — on a cross-country road trip to strengthen the family bond.

Characters

• Glenn Martin, the show's titular character, is an optimistic travelling dentist who dreams of becoming closer with his family. As the title indicates he is a Doctor of Dental Surgery.
• Jackie Martin is the wife of Glenn and mother of Conor and Courtney. She is often stressed with the problems involved in raising a family in an RV.
• Conor Martin Martin^[1] is the 13-year-old son of the Martins. He is going through puberty and is hormonal. He also tends to be the subject of pratfalls due to his clumsiness. He also has a crush on Wendy, but always gets rejected.
• Courtney Thorn Martin^[2] is the 11-year-old daughter of the Martins, who acts like an adult business woman. She is competitive, outspoken and boastful.
• Wendy Park (real name Bon Wa-Fo) is Courtney's assistant/employee. She was born in North Korea. Her age is unclear, Glenn has referred to her as a tweenager^[3] but she later claims to be 13.5 years old^[4]
• Canine is the Martins' dog who has an oversized anus.

Development

Former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who put up his own money to produce the pilot episode, pitched it to Nick at Nite rather than ABC. Eisner was quoted as saying the decision was based on Nick at Nite's record of nurturing shows.^[5]

The show has a 1970s sensibility including the design of the Winnebago which is driven across the country.^[6] It was reportedly inspired by the 1971 ABC made-for-TV movie In Search of America, which starred Jeff Bridges as a college dropout who drove a Winnebago across the country with his family.^[5]

Laugh track

Unusual for a modern animated sitcom, the show featured a laugh track in early episodes intended to mimic 1970s sitcoms. This was later removed at the request of the series' creators, with Eric Fogel citing the show having "too much internal thinking".

Awards and nominations

In December 2009, the show was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production.

In November 2010, the show won two Gemini Awards for Best Animated Series and Best Direction for an Animated Series (Ken Cunningham for "The Tooth Will Set You Free").

Episodes

Critical reception

Glenn Martin, DDS received mixed reviews from critics, garnering a 48/100 ^[7] from Metacritic based on 9 reviews after the series premiere. Part of the criticism was leveled at the overuse of laugh tracks (which were permanently removed a month after the show's premiere). Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote: "Glenn Martin, DDS is pretty much laugh-free (though it does have a laugh track)".^[8]

The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Ignore the stilted jokes [and] the limp characterization. [...] Just understand this: Martin is an animated show with a laugh track. Imagination comes in handy, though, in trying to figure out how someone approved this concept, labored on this and then let it free into the world."^[9]

Variety wrote: "Despite the contributions of Eric Fogel (MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch), Glenn Martin isn't as bad as visiting the dentist, but isn't much better than sitting in the waiting room. Positioned as a spoof of classic sitcoms, Glenn Martin gets off to a bad start by incorporating a laugh track, which only highlights some of the deficiencies in the writing."^[10]

The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Still, except for the dog's hindquarters, I like the look of it. (Eric Fogel of MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch oversees the animation.) Press materials indicate that the Martins will be visiting Las Vegas, Yellowstone, the Mall of America and Hollywood in future adventures, and as a fan of the form, I'm interested to see what the animators make of them."^[11]

New York Daily News writer David Hinkley gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "satire with biting wit".^[12]

The Boston Globe called it "cute, giggle-worthy, and only a smidgen dangerous".^[13]

The Detroit News wrote that the show is "full of enough end-of-the week laughs to help you giggle yourself into the weekend".^[14]

Website Shakefire.com rated the show an "A-".^[15]

Criticism and controversy

In November 2009, Maura Buete, a Florida mother, was outraged that the series contained sexual references by airing in an 8pm slot following SpongeBob SquarePants.^[16] In response to several complaints from parents, Nickelodeon moved the show to Friday nights at 10:30.

References

External links

• Nick at Nite's official site
• Glenn Martin, DDS at the Internet Movie Database