Mission Hill (TV series)

Mission Hill
The heads of the five main characters (top row: Jim Kuback, Kevin French. Middle: Stogie; bottom row: Andy French, Posey Tyler)
Also known asThe Downtowners (original title)
Genre
Created by
Voices of
Theme music composerJohn McCrea
Opening theme"Italian Leather Sofa" by Cake
ComposerEric Speier
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producers
  • Bill Oakley
  • Josh Weinstein
ProducerColin A.B.V. Lewis
Running time21–23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkThe WB
ReleaseSeptember 21, 1999 (1999-09-21)[1] –
July 16, 2000 (2000-07-16)
NetworkAdult Swim
ReleaseMay 26 (2002-05-26) –
August 11, 2002 (2002-08-11)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Mission Hill[a] is an American adult animated sitcom created by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein for The WB. It originally aired for five episodes from September 21, 1999,[1] to July 16, 2000; unaired episodes were burnt off on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim from May 26 to August 11, 2002.[3] The series follows Andy French, a retail worker who lives with roommates Jim and Posey as well as their dog, Stogie. Andy's lifestyle is taken for a turn when his younger brother Kevin moves in with him.

While initially garnering poor ratings, it has since gained a cult following, and is also popular outside of North America, receiving broadcasts in Australia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Spain and New Zealand. Stylistically, the series is recognizable for its bright, neon color palette, and features a peculiar mixture of modern animation and traditional "cartoonish" drawings (dashed lines coming from eyes to indicate line of vision, red bolts of lightning around a spot suffered). The style was made to be reminiscent of 1930s rubber hose cartoons such as Fleischer Studios, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM, as well as mid-century modern cartoons with the likes of Hanna-Barbera, UPA, Jay Ward, and The Pink Panther. The designs were done by Lauren MacMullan, who cites the comic series Eightball as her source of inspiration for her overall design.

  1. ^ a b "TV Listings for - September 21, 1999". TV Tango. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Warner Renames The Downtowners". Animation World Magazine. Vol. 4, no. 6. Animation World Network. September 1999. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  3. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 399–400. ISBN 978-1538103739.


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