''Mr. Pickles'' is an American

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

. The series revolves around the Goodman family, especially their 6-year-old son named Tommy and the family's

border collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Ang ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, the satanic Mr. Pickles. The series aired from September 21, 2014 to November 18, 2019. The first episode of season 4 was a surprise series finale, replacing the show with a new spin-off series titled ''

Momma Named Me Sheriff ''Momma Named Me Sheriff'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart for Adult Swim. The show serves as a spin-off/sequel series to '' Mr. Pickles'' and focuses on Old Town's dimwitted Sheriff. The show premi ...

''.

Plot

In the small, old-fashioned community of Old Town, the Goodman family and their innocent and dimwitted 6-year-old son Tommy have a satanic

named Mr. Pickles. The two spend their days romping around Old Town, while unknown to Tommy, the family or anyone Mr. Pickles tolerates – except for Tommy's grandfather – Mr. Pickles secretly slips away to kill and

mutilate Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin: ''mutilus'') refers to severe damage to the body that has a ruinous effect on an individual's quality of life. It can also refer to alterations that render something inferior, ugly, dysfunctional, or imper ...

his countless victims. Mr. Pickles will often reassemble and resurrect his victims which then reside in his underground lair and do his bidding. Through his

evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

, murderous rampage against those that threaten his boy, get in his way or annoy him, Mr. Pickles brings some order to Old Town, which is otherwise riddled with crime in the face of the dimwitted sheriff.

Characters

* Dave Stewart as Mr. Pickles, Floyd, Linda, and Deer Hunter #2 * Kaitlyn Robrock as Tommy Goodman, Candy * Brooke Shields as Beverly Goodman *

Jay Johnston Jay Johnston (born October 22, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a writer and cast member on ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'' and for his roles on ''The Sarah Silverman Program, Arrested Development,'' and ...

as Stanley Goodman * Frank Collison as Henry Gobbleblobber, Mr. Bojenkins (Season 1-2) * Will Carsola as Sheriff, Boss, and Deer Hunter #1 *

Alex Désert Alex Désert (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor and musician, known for his roles in the TV series ''The Flash'', '' The Heights'' with Jamie Walters, '' Becker'' with Ted Danson, and Mr. Williams on '' Boy Meets World'', as well as the voi ...

as Mr. Bojenkins (Season 3, finale) Additional voices *

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...

as The Girl *

Pamela Adlon Pamela Fionna Adlon (; ; born July 9, 1966) is an American actress. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series ''King of the Hill'' (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in '' Jung ...

as Mary *

Bob Bergen Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show '' Jep!'', ...

as Crime Man * Sean Conroy *

Andy Daly Andrew J. Daly (born April 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He starred as Forrest MacNeil on the Comedy Central series ''Review'', and had a supporting role in the HBO comedy series ''Eastbound & Down'' as Terrence Cutler. ...

as Doctor *

Colton Dunn Colton Dunn (born June 30, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Garrett McNeil on the NBC workplace comedy '' Superstore'' (2015–2021) and for his work on Comedy Central sketch co ...

as Rich Snob, Darrel * John Ennis *

Dave Foley David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...

as Scientist *

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

as Poison *

Brett Gelman Brett Clifford Gelman (born October 6, 1976) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Murray Bauman in Netflix's horror-supernatural series '' Stranger Things'' and as Martin on the BBC comedy ''Fleabag''. Gelman bega ...

as Cheeseman *

Barbara Goodson Barbara Goodson is an American voice actress who has done voice-over work in cartoons and shows. Her best-known role was providing the English dub voice of the main villain Empress Rita Repulsa in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, starting with ' ...

as Agnes Gobbleblobber/Steve *

Elaine Hendrix Katherine Elaine Hendrix (born December 28, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in ''Superstar'', ''Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'', the 1995 ''Get Smart'' series, the 1998 remake of '' The Parent Trap'', ''Dynasty' ...

as Lorena *

Carrie Keranen Carrie Keranen is an American voice actress, production manager, producer and voice director. She is best known for her work with 4Kids Entertainment, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video, NYAV Post, Studiopolis and Funimation. Her ...

as Lisa * Christine Lakin as Blonde Girl * Michelle León *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in '' ...

as Sidekick Boy *

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose "Candi" Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in Januar ...

as Butt-Faced Woman *

Tracy Morgan Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...

as Skids * Iggy Pop as Texas Red *

Andy Richter Paul Andrew Richter (born October 28, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and talk show announcer. He is best known as the sidekick for Conan O'Brien on each of O'Brien's talk shows: ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Late Night'' and ' ...

* Jacod Young * Mark Rivers *

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Roll ...

as Government Agent Commander *

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the television sitcom '' NewsRadio'', as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and provided the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickl ...

as Mr. Montgomery *

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

as Sally * Steve-O as Pizza Delivery Guy *

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

as Jon Gabagooli *

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

as Dr. Kelton * "Weird Al" Yankovic as Vegan Member * Rob Zombie as Vegan Cult Leader

Production

The series, which is animated using Adobe Flash, was created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart – known for ''

Funny or Die Presents ''Funny or Die Presents'' is a half-hour sketch comedy show that spawned from the comedy website Funny or Die, created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It premiered on HBO on February 19, 2010. Creation Funny or Die Presents was created in June ...

'' – and executive-produced by Will Carsola, Dave Stewart, and Michael J. Rizzo. The series was one of several shows pitched to

, according to the creators, who also operate under the name "Day by Day". Stewart recalled promoting it as a "one-line sentence", while Carsola remembered that it derived from a "write-off" session, where the two present ideas to each other in the form of scribbles for their amusement. Carsola explained that ideas in this process are released from the pressure "of them being good", occasionally finding "one that sticks". They later explained at the 2014

San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...

that the idea was based on '' Lassie'', but has become "more of its own thing since then." Stewart's own female Australian Cattle Dog served as inspiration for the animators on the character of Mr. Pickles. Stewart even pointed out similarities between her and the main character, and jokingly called her "Ms. Pickles". Animation director Mike L. Mayfield recorded Stewart's dog playing around on video, with animators using the resulting footage as a basis for the character's movements. Its setting is roughly based on Richmond, Virginia, where the creators started out in entertainment before moving to Los Angeles. The creators are given creative freedom by the network, with Stewart explaining the notes received by them as "minimal", much to their surprise. The creators observed some inconsistencies as to what is considered unacceptable, but try not to question it and compromise instead. Elaborating on its 11-minute running time, Carsola described it as a 22-minute show "squished" into a quarter-hour. Among the voices for the characters include Brooke Shields, Frank Collison,

and Carsola and Stewart themselves. Shields' role in the series came after looking at the creator's work for ''Funny or Die'' and obtaining the script for ''Mr. Pickles''. According to Carsola, the two were dubious over her interest in the series, but after being cast she provided lines in a recording booth in New York City while the creators supervised over

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

Episodes

Broadcast and reception

The series was picked up for ten quarter-hour episodes for its first season, premiering on the network on September 21, 2014 following the ninth-season premiere of ''

Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...

''. In July 2013, the pilot episode was released online as part of a presentation of in-development shows for the network, partnered with KFC; viewers could vote for their favorite pilot, with the winner being broadcast on August 26, 2013. The series lost to ''Übermansion'', a

Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (formerly known as Stoopid Monkey and stylized as Stoop!d Monkey) is an American production company and animation studio, formed by Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, John Harvatine IV, and Eric Towner. It was established in 201 ...

production, although the presentation as a whole won an Internet Advertising Campaign Award in 2014 for "Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign". The pilot was later published on the network's website on January 23, 2014, and on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on March 10 of the same year, becoming viral with over 700,000 views after roughly a month later. A second season was mentioned at the 2014 Comic-Con. Aaron Simpson of ''Cold Hard Flash'' called the series an amalgamation of '' Lassie'' and ''

Superjail! ''Superjail!'' is an American adult animated television series produced by Williams Street. It follows the events that take place in an unusual prison. The pilot episode aired on television on May 13, 2007, and its first season began on Septembe ...

'', while observing some social commentary "to ensure this is more than just a multi-episodic sketch." Mike Hale of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' labeled it "the less tasteful but more mainstream" counterpart to '' Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories'', another addition to the network. He wrote that the show was "more grisly than funny," but predicted it to have a cult following and that Shields' voice would add "surreal-pop-culture cachet". In Australia, the series premiered on August 3, 2015 on

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) is a defunct Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Serv ...

, and then moved to the free to air Adult Swim block on

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the series premiered on April 1, 2019 on

. In April 2017, a trailer was released promoting the season 3 premiere to air in fall 2017; however, this was later pushed back, for unknown reasons, to the following year. The first episode of season three premiered on February 26, 2018. The show was renewed for a fourth season, before the third one even premiered.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Pickles 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American black comedy television series 2010s American sitcoms 2010s American surreal comedy television series 2013 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American adult animated comedy television series American adult animated horror television series American animated sitcoms American flash adult animated television series English-language television shows Adult Swim original programming Television series by Williams Street Animated television series about children Animated television series about dogs Animated television series about dysfunctional families Satanism in popular culture