Mr. Pickles

Mr. Pickles
Genre
Created by Will Carsola
Dave Stewart
Written by Will Carsola
Dave Stewart
Sean Conroy
Directed by Will Carsola
Voices of
Theme music composer Mark Rivers
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 31 (and 1 pilot) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s) Michael J. Rizzo
Eric Binns
Ollie Green
Sean Conroy
Editor(s) Will Carsola
Running time 11 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor Warner Bros. Television
Cartoon Network
Release
Original network Adult Swim
Picture format 1080p (16:9 HDTV)
Audio format Stereo
Original release Pilot:
August 25, 2013 (2013-08-25)
Official:
September 21, 2014 (2014-09-21) – present
External links
Website

Mr. Pickles is an American adult animated television series created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart for Adult Swim. The series revolves around the Goodman family, especially their 6-year-old son named Tommy and the family's border collie, the demonic Mr. Pickles. The series was picked up for 10 quarter-hour episodes for its first season, which premiered on the network on September 21, 2014, and ended on November 23, 2014. It was renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 17, 2016, and ended on June 26, 2016. It has been renewed for a third season, which premiered on February 25, 2018. The show will return for a fourth season, announced on November 5, 2017 (before the airing of the third season), with no premiere date information provided.[1]

Plot

In the small, old-fashioned world of Old Town, the Goodman family and their innocent and dimwitted 6-year-old son Tommy own a border collie named Mr. Pickles. The two spend their days romping around Old Town, while unknown to Tommy and the family – except for Tommy's grandfather – Mr. Pickles' secret evilness drives him to slip away, kill, mutilate, and rape his countless victims.

Characters

Additional voices

Production

The series was created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart – of Funny or Die Presents notability – and executive-produced by Will Carsola, Dave Stewart, and Michael J. Rizzo.[2] The series was one of several shows pitched to Adult Swim, according to the creators, who also operate under the name "Day by Day". Stewart recalled promoting it as a "one-line sentence", while Carsola remembered that it derived from a "write-off" session, where the two present ideas to each other in the form of scribbles for their amusement. Carsola explained that ideas in this process are released from the pressure "of them being good", occasionally finding "one that sticks".[3] They later explained at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International that the idea was based on Lassie, but has become "more of its own thing since then."[4]

Stewart's own female pet dog served as inspiration for the animators on the character of Mr. Pickles.[4][lower-alpha 1] Animation director Mike L. Mayfield recorded Stewart's dog playing around on video, with animators using the resulting footage as a basis for the character's movements;[5] the series is animated using Adobe Flash.[6][lower-alpha 2] Its setting is roughly based on Richmond, Virginia, where the creators started out in entertainment before moving to Los Angeles.[3] The creators are given creative freedom by the network, with Stewart explaining the notes received by them as "minimal", much to their surprise.[3] The creators observed some inconsistencies as to what is considered unacceptable, but try not to question it and compromise instead.[4]

Elaborating on its 11-minute running time, Carsola described it as a 22-minute show "squished" into a quarter-hour.[8] Among the voices for the characters include Brooke Shields,[3] Frank Collison, Jay Johnston and Carsola and Stewart themselves.[2] Shields' role in the series came after looking at the creator's work for Funny or Die and obtaining the script for Mr. Pickles. According to Carsola, the two were dubious over her interest in the series, but after being cast she provided lines in a recording booth in New York City while the creators supervised over Skype.[3]

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
Pilot1August 25, 2013 (2013-08-25)
110September 21, 2014 (2014-09-21)November 23, 2014 (2014-11-23)
210April 17, 2016 (2016-04-17)June 26, 2016 (2016-06-26)
310[9]February 25, 2018 (2018-02-25)March 25, 2018 (2018-03-25)

Broadcast and reception

The series was picked up for ten quarter-hour episodes for its first season,[10] premiering on the network on September 21, 2014 following the ninth-season premiere of Squidbillies.[2] In July 2013, the pilot episode was released online as part of a presentation of in-development shows for the network, partnered with KFC; viewers could vote for their favorite pilot, with the winner being broadcast on August 26, 2013.[11][12] The series lost to Übermansion, a Stoopid Buddy Stoodios production, although the presentation as a whole won an Internet Advertising Campaign Award in 2014 for "Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign".[13][14] The pilot was later published on the network's website on January 23, 2014,[15] and on YouTube on March 10 of the same year, becoming viral with over 700,000 views after roughly a month later.[3] A second season was mentioned at the 2014 Comic-Con.[4]

Reception for Mr. Pickles has been polarized. Writing for Strange Kids Club, Mat Spitkovsky stated the series' extreme content matter left him at a loss for words as well as confused. Afterwards, he found it lacking in "class, creativity and goddammit, originality" in the vein of Superjail!, although its "brazen approach at crass offense ... all in good fun" was "kind of cool."[16] Aaron Simpson of Cold Hard Flash called the series an amalgamation of Lassie and Superjail!, while observing some social commentary "to ensure this is more than just a multi-episodic sketch."[6] Mike Hale of The New York Times labeled it "the less tasteful but more mainstream" counterpart to Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories, another addition to the network.[17] He wrote that the show was "more grisly than funny," but predicted it to have a cult following and that Shields' voice would add "surreal-pop-culture cachet".[17]

In Australia, the series premiered on August 3, 2015 on The Comedy Channel.[18] and then moved to the free to air Adult Swim block on 9go

In April 2017, a trailer was released promoting the season 3 premiere to air in fall 2017;[19] however, this was later pushed back, for unknown reasons, to the following year. The first episode of season three premiered on February 25, 2018.[20]. The show was renewed for a fourth season, before the third one even premiered.[1]

References

Informational notes

  1. ↑ Stewart mentioned that she was an Australian Cattle Dog.[5] He also pointed out similarities between her and the main character, and jokingly called her "Ms. Pickles".[4]
  2. ↑ Cold Hard Flash is an entertainment and news website dedicated to media produced with Adobe Flash, founded by Aaron Simpson.[7]

Citations

  1. 1 2 Robrock, Kaitlyn. "Looks like #MrPickles has been greenlit for Season 4 before Season 3 even aired!" – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 Milligan, Mercedes (July 30, 2014). "Adult Swim Premiering Mr. Pickles September 21". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kutner, Brad (April 1, 2014). "RVA Born Day by Day Premieres the Terrifying Mr. Pickles on Adult Swim, Brooke Shields Lends Voice". RVA Magazine. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Begley, Jim (August 17, 2014). "SDCC – Adult Swim's Mr. Pickles Is the Touching Story of a Boy and His Evil Dog". Spinoff Online. Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Zargari, Shahab; Brunty, Ryan; Davis, Ryan (July 28, 2013). "SDCC 2013 Press Roundtable Interview Series: Mr. Pickles, King Star King, and Superjail!". Verbicide. Scissor Press. See video; 0:20–0:25, 6:00–6:50. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Simpson, Aaron (March 24, 2014). "Adult Swim's Mr. Pickles Pilot". Cold Hard Flash. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  7. ↑ Simpson, Aaron (February 25, 2013). "About Cold Hard Flash". Cold Hard Flash. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  8. ↑ Zargari, Brunty & Davis 2013, 6:45–6:55.
  9. ↑ http://www.adultswim.com/streams/development-meeting/thursday-february-22nd-2018
  10. ↑ Zargari, Brunty & Davis 2013, 7:10–7:20.
  11. ↑ "'Like a Slap to Your Taste Buds': KFC Gives Bite-Sized Chicken a Hot and Spicy Kick". KFC. July 23, 2013. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Adult Swim Pilots – Mr. Pickles". Adult Swim. Turner Broadcasting System. July 2013. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Adult Swim Pilots". Adult Swim. Turner Broadcasting System. July 2013. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Adult Swim & KFC Wins 2014 Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign Internet Advertising Award for Adult Swim Pilots". Internet Advertising Competition. The Web Marketing Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Mr. Pickles". Adult Swim. Turner Broadcasting System. January 23, 2014. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ Spitkovsky, Mat (April 15, 2014). "Adult Swim Seeks New Levels of Depravity in Mr. Pickles Pilot". Strange Kids Club. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  17. 1 2 Hale, Mike (September 18, 2014). "A Devil Dog Tears into People, and Other Tales". New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. C3. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ Purcell, Charles (July 30, 2015). "New this week (Aug 3): Rogue, Jonathan Strange, Bitten, 7 Days in Hell and live sport". The Green Room. Archived from the original on July 30, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Will Adult Swim Greenlight Mr. Pickles for Season 4?". premieredate.news.
  20. ↑ "Mr. Pickles - Season 3 Episodes List". next-episode.net.
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