Helluva Boss

Helluva Boss is an American adult animated musical black comedy web series created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. The show features a different cast of characters and a different storyline than "Hazbin Hotel", another show created by Medrano, despite taking place within the same universe. As Medrano described it, while both shows share the same setting, "Hazbin Hotel" is about redemption and consequences, while "Helluva Boss" follows "characters and societies that already exist in Hell" with the main focus on the interpersonal relationship between characters. The pilot was released on November 25, 2019, while the first episode of the first season, produced by SpindleHorse Toons, was released on October 31, 2020. The first season was released exclusively to Medrano's YouTube channel like Medrano has done for other animations.
Premise.
The series follows the employees of I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals), an imp-run assassination company in Hell, on their many different jobs. The members of I.M.P. include Blitzo, the boss of the venture, along with weapons specialist Moxxie, powerhouse Millie, and receptionist hellhound Loona. With the help of an ancient book obtained from Stolas, a Goetial demon of Hell, they access the living world to complete their assignments.
Production and release.
In June 2019, Medrano noted that she was working with Erica Lindbeck, Brock Baker, Brandon Rogers on a "new project," likely referring to "Helluva Boss". In August, she posted illustrations of the main cast of characters. The pilot was cast by voice actor Kellen Goff and voice directed by Medrano and Rick Zieff. The company Horseless Cowboy assisted Medrano with voice work during the first season, with Horvitz and Medrano voice directing. According to Medrano, the influence on developing "Helluva Boss" was to develop a backup project with the same "demons in Hell" formula and concept under her complete creative control in case anything should happen to delay or cancel "Hazbin Hotel". Later, Lucas Bermudez of "Screen Rant" attributed the success of "Hazbin Hotel" as the sole reason for "Helluva Boss" being greenlit. At some point, Rogers asked Jinkx Monsoon to voice a character in Helluva Boss, but Monsoon wanted to "voice stock characters instead" and they did so, voicing various characters during the show's first season.
On November 25, 2019, the pilot was released on Medrano's YouTube channel. Medrano contributed her writing and animation skills for this episode. Writing production for more episodes began in December 2019, with 8 episodes ordered. For these episodes, Sara "Serval" Fisher worked as an animator, Sam Miller as a background designer, and Eddie Mead as a cleanup artist. In December 2019, Medrano reported that she and Rogers were writing episode plots for the upcoming season, and were looking for storyboard artists. Episode writing continued into January 2020.
In June 2020, Medrano stated her intent to feature more Black characters in "Helluva Boss" and "Hazbin Hotel" in a Tweet where she called on Black animators to share their work with her as a resumé to potentially be hired for work on the series in order to help "talented people in need of opportunities." A few months later, in August 2020, the recording for the first eight episodes of season 1 was completed, and Lucas Bermudez of ScreenRant predicted that more episodes of "Helluva Boss" would be released to YouTube "as a web series" because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also mentioning the news that "Hazbin Hotel" had been picked up as a series by A24.
In October 2020, the first episode of season 1 was released on Halloween (October 31, 2020). She stated on October 7 that the season would be started in fall 2020, but not all the episodes would be dropped at once, with the first eight episodes serving as the beginning of a "much grander season". On October 31, she said that the "first self-made season of a cartoon has begun." This contrasted with news that the first season would be released in late 2021. In the episode, Rogers and Horvitz return as Blitzo and Moxxie, and while Lindbeck returns as Loona, she is replaced by Vivian Nixon as the voice of Millie. Baker was replaced by Bryce Pinkham as Stolas. Guest stars of the episode include Monsoon, Mara Wilson and Maxwell Atoms. Wilson voices a former human teacher at Puppies Junior School who committs murder-suicide after discovering that her husband had an affair with a mistress named Martha (who is voiced by Monsoon). Martha is a wife who appears to be "happy and wholesome" on the surface, but is actually homicidal (along with the rest of her family). Additionally, Atoms voices Ralphie, the husband of Martha. Medrano also voiced a "random cashier lady." The same day, Jefferson Friedman released a single from the first episode entitled "Stolas Speaks". On November 15, the official Twitter account for the show stated that the second episode would be "comin' soon." Medrano shared several teasers for the second on her Instagram and Twitter. On December 8, 2020, the official "Helluva Boss" Twitter account announced that the next episode, titled "Loo Loo Land", would be released the following day. On January 31, 2021, the third episode of the series was released on YouTube following teasers shared on Twitter. However, the episode was age restricted by YouTube, leading to an outcry from those working on the show. Afterward, Newgrounds expressed interest in hosting the uncensored version of the episode and "promo with a front page banner," something which Medrano supported. On February 1, after the episode's age restriction had been lifted by YouTube, Medrano tweeted that the episode "is viewable again."
In February 2021, Medrano told Insider that "Helluva Boss" remains independent of "Hazbin Hotel", saying she intended to keep it that way as "long as the audience wants to keep seeing it," adding that they have "a plan for where the story goes and ends," noting that having an ending seems "surreal" to her due to the dedicated team working on the show.
On February 26, 2021, a teaser for episode four was released on the official "Helluva Boss" Twitter account, saying that the episode was "cookin' up" and was the "zaniest" episode yet. An additional teaser shared on the Twitter account stated that episode four would be released on March 14, 2021.
On April 17, 24, and 27, teasers were shared on the Twitter account, all promising a quick release of episode 5.
LGBTQ representation.
"Helluva Boss" has various LGBTQ characters, specifically a bisexual demon named Moxxie, and a pansexual demon named Blitzo. Another demon named Stolas is implied to be a member of the LGBTQ community due to his relations with both men and women. Medrano also reacted positively to a fan idea of a sitcom set in an alternative universe where "Blitzo and Stolas are two single dads getting married". Episode 5 introduced the character Sallie May, Millie's sister, who was confirmed on the show's official Twitter account to be transgender.
Other media.
"Oh Millie" music video.
On February 14, 2020, an animated "Helluva Boss" music video called "Oh Millie" was uploaded on YouTube, centering around Moxxie and Millie's loving marriage. The video features a song written by Parry Gripp, with vocals from Horvitz and Lindbeck.
Voice dubs.
On September 16, 2020, the French dub of the pilot was released on Medrano's YouTube channel.
Reception.
"Helluva Boss" was met with critical acclaim, garnering praise for the animation, characters, voice acting, and humor. In December 2019, in an article about the current state of adult animation, "CBR" animation critic Reuben Baron, stated that while the pilot episodes of "Hazbin Hotel" and "Helluva Boss" have garnered "some warranted criticism" because of their immature and edgy humor, they are still "clear labors of love from an animation standpoint." This contrasted with Tito W. James's assessment on Comicon.com that demons having access to a portal that goes to the human realm "adds a new dynamic and is ripe for narrative potential." Similarly, a reviewer for the Spanish site "Cafetoons" praised the characters for being introduced in a "very appropriate way" while maintaining the adult comedy, and catchy songs. Some even claim that the "Helluva Boss" pilot was better than the "Hazbin Hotel" pilot. Other animators praised the show's first episode. Others stated that there are "multiple musical numbers in each episode" like "Animaniacs" and "Family Guy", and although the second episode is more serious than previous episodes, there are "plenty of laughs and raunchy jokes." The same was said about the show's third episode, which one reviewer said had other types of humor like "fourth-wall breaking and blink-and-you-miss-it sight-gags." Grant Nelson wrote in "The Clarion" that the series is one that "every nerd and goth would love" and said the show hits home on abuse of sex workers and broken families.
Awards.
The "Helluva Boss" episodes "Murder Family" and "Loo Loo Land" were nominated for a Ursa Major Award in the Best Dramatic Series category. The Ursa Major awards are given in the field of furry fandom works and are the main awards in the field of anthropomorphism.