Baby Blues (American TV series)

Baby Blues is an American adult animated sitcom, based on the comic strip of the same name by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, produced by Warner Bros. The first eight episodes of "Baby Blues" originally aired in the United States on The WB between July 28 and August 24, 2000, before being canceled. The five remaining episodes from the first season eventually aired on Adult Swim in 2002. A second season, consisting of 13 episodes, was produced but never aired.
The animated adaptation of "Baby Blues" differs from the comic by having it take place when Zoe was still an infant, even though she was the older sister to Hammie in the strip at the time. In addition, it focuses on Darryl and Wanda's relationship with supporting characters created for this series, including the Bittermans, a dysfunctional next-door family with three children; Bizzy, Zoe's babysitter; and Kenny, Darryl's laid-back close friend and co-worker.
Production.
Warner Bros. Animation produced eight of the season one episodes, with overseas animation done by Varga Studio in Hungary for five of them (including the pilot), and Sunwoo Entertainment in Korea for the three others. Rough Draft Studios in Los Angeles did five episodes, which include "Bizzy Moves In", "Rodney Has Two Daddies", "Hurtin' Inside", "Ugly Zoe", and "Wanda Moves Up".
In another attempt to compete with Fox's popular animated sitcoms, The WB made the series to be more adult-oriented than the comic strip (by having some sexuality, mild swearing, etc.). Because Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott had limited creative control over the animated version, they were not completely pleased about this kind of difference, though Scott said he liked "part of it".
The "Baby Blues" animated series took nearly five years to develop and produce, and what was initially the pilot, "A Baby Blues Christmas Special", was supposed to air in December 1998, but it was postponed more than once, while other episodes were being ordered and completed. The Christmas episode finally aired on Adult Swim on February 24, 2002. In 1999, the series was almost to be re-titled "Bluesville" without Scott's knowledge, but "Baby Blues" was kept as the title, given how popular the comic strip is with more than 60 million readers.
Opening sequence.
The opening theme song was a shorter version of "It's All Been Done" by Barenaked Ladies, from their 1998 album "Stunt". The title sequence was designed by Renegade Animation, who would later be known for Cartoon Network's "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi", and shows the characters at the Warner Bros. studios.
In the episode "Rodney Has Two Daddies" the song "Alternative Girlfriend", also by Barenaked Ladies, was featured during a cooking montage.
Episodes.
Unaired second season.
In September 2000, Warner Bros. announced that a second season would be produced. Although a second season, consisting of 13 episodes, was produced it has never aired. The season was written off as a loss by The WB as an accounting practice, as a result Kirkman has stated that the season "will probably never see the light of day".
Broadcast.
The WB typically aired two episodes each week, thus enabling eight different episodes to be shown in the five-week run, but abandoned plans to air additional episodes which had been completed. Previously unaired episodes from the first season later aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim, and on Teletoon in Canada.
Reception.
When "Baby Blues" aired on The WB, it got moderate to low ratings, resulting in its cancellation in August 2000. The series also received mixed to negative reviews from professional critics. Particularly, on its premiere night, South Coast Today wrote that "'Baby Blues' is hardly perfect. Its teen characters are right out of the MTV/WB playbook; the notion of a nutty family next door is as old as the sitcom hills. But as a slightly silly, slightly sweet summer series that's not afraid to show it has a heart, it more than exceeds even this cranky critic's expectations." David Bianculli of New York Daily News was negative towards "Baby Blues", giving it 1 1/2 stars, and called it "depressingly flat". Also in the article, he wrote "Timing and originality, even in comedy, may not be everything – but they count for a lot, and WB's new 'Baby Blues' series doesn't get high marks in either category. First, 'Baby Blues', which premieres with a double header tonight at 8, is an animated prime-time comedy, arriving the summer after a season in which there were too many dull entries in that particular genre. That's bad timing. 'Baby Blues' could overcome that by being funnier than the rest. Unfortunately, it's not. Second, 'Baby Blues', based on the syndicated comic strip by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, is a sitcom in two dimensions. That is, it's an animated show in which human beings engage in everyday activities – working, goofing off, sleeping, fighting and so on. At its best, this particular category of animated comedy gives you 'The Simpsons'. At its worst, it gives you "."
John Kiesewetter from the Television Critics Association wrote a negative article on the series. He calls it "an embarrassment to the newspaper comic's loyal readers, all 60 million", and criticizes The WB for turning "the sweet family musings into a cross between "Dennis the Menace" and "Dawson's Creek"", and for having it lack "the charm, wit and insights of the daily strip about weary new parents Darryl and Wanda MacPherson, and baby Zoe."