Free for All (TV series)

Free for All
The main cast of Free for All. From left to right: Angus, Sylvia Jenkins, Douglas Jenkins, Johnny Jenkins, Clay Zeeman, and Paula Wisconsin.
GenreSitcom
Off-color humor
Comedy
Satire
Created byBrett Merhar
Developed byMerriwether Williams
Directed byDave Marshall
Voices ofJonathan Silverman
Brett Merhar
Sam McMurray
Mitzi McCall
Juliette Lewis
Dee Bradley Baker
Opening themeFree for All by Felix the Cat
Ending themeFree for All (instrumental)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producersMerriwether Williams
Brett Merhar
EditorGil Ferro
Running time24–26 minutes
Production companiesFilm Roman
Showtime Networks
Original release
NetworkShowtime
ReleaseJuly 11 (2003-07-11) –
September 12, 2003 (2003-09-12)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Free for All is an American animated series and sitcom created by (Randall)[1] Brett Merhar for Showtime. The series, set in Colorado, follows the day-to-day life of Johnny Jenkins, an innocent 19-year-old college student who has to deal with a bitter, cigarette smoking grandmother and a coarse, sometimes-violent, alcoholic father, in a rather dysfunctional family while his friend, Clay, is living large with the settlement money he got from suing a taco restaurant for personal injuries.[2]

The show was developed for television by Merriwether Williams, the head writer for the first three seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants.[3] The show lasted for only seven episodes that aired over the summer of 2003, the last ending on a cliff-hanger. Despite favorable to mixed reviews from critics, the show had very low ratings, due to poor promotion and basing the series on an already-unsuccessful property. Showtime canceled the animated series shortly after the last episode aired. Though the series is now considered "obscure" and no DVD release has been planned for it, the entire series is legally available on iTunes and Amazon.com.

In America, the series was rated TV-MA for explicit sexual content, including nudity and scenes of sexual intercourse (S), extremely offensive language (L), and adult content (AD on Showtime's content warning screen). In Germany, the series was aired on MTV Germany and in Latin America, the series was aired on FX. The entire series is available on Paramount+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and SkyShowtime in several European countries.

  1. ^ "People v. Bateman, No. B285745". casetext.com. May 23, 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 350–351. ISBN 978-1476665993.