''In the Bleachers'' is a

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

that comments on, and

lampoons A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

, sports. It was created in 1985 by American cartoonist/filmmaker Steve Moore and is currently syndicated internationally by

Andrews McMeel Syndication Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...

Publication history

The single-panel cartoon appears in about 200 newspapers worldwide, including the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

''. Moore got the idea for ''In the Bleachers'' while working as sports editor at ''

The Maui News ''The Maui News'' is a Wailuku, Hawaii based, daily newspaper covering the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai. ''The Maui News'' began publication on February 17, 1900. Henry Perrine Baldwin became an owner of the ''News'' in 1905. ''The Maui News ...

''. The comic was launched in September 1985, shortly after Moore was hired as an editor at the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. In a July 2018 interview, Moore said that because of his condition of

essential tremor Essential tremor (ET), also called benign tremor, familial tremor, and idiopathic tremor, is a medical condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic contractions and relaxations ( oscillations or twitching movements) of certain muscle groups in ...

, he could no longer create the comic strip. The current writer is Ben Zaehringer.

Collections

''In the Bleachers'' has been published in six book collections, including ''The Best of In the Bleachers'' by

Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hachet ...

In other media

In 2006,

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by So ...

released the movie '' Open Season'' based on ''In the Bleachers'' hunting-related cartoons. Moore was executive producer, along with partner and producer John Carls. The movie grossed nearly $200 million worldwide. There were also sequels called '' Open Season 2'', ''

Open Season 3 ''Open Season 3'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation with animation provided by Reel FX Creative Studios. It is the third installment in the ''Open Season'' film series and the sequel to ''Open ...

'' and '' Open Season: Scared Silly''. On November 4, 2002, 15-second

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

s by Ed Wexler and Gary Katona of

Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

began airing on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. Voices included

April Winchell April Terri Winchell (born January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, and radio host. She is prehaps best known as the second and current voice of Clarabelle Cow, having voiced the character since 1996. Early life Winchell was born in 1 ...

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

and

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in '' Gargoyles'' and Kowalski in the '' Penguins of Madagasca ...

References

External links

* American comic strips Sports comics 1985 comics debuts Gag cartoon comics Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into animated series Television series by Disney Television Animation {{comic-strip-stub