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Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel (formerly a creative director for The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack). The series was originally developed as a short for Cartoon Network's unaired Cartoonstitute show, and features characters loosely based on those from Quintel's student films The Naïve Man From Lolliland and 2 in the AM PM. It was green-lit on August 13, 2009 by Cartoon Network and debuted on September 6, 2010. This series is rated TV-PG.

Plot

Two 23-year-old friends, a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby, are employed as groundskeepers at a park and spend their days trying to slack off and entertain themselves by any means. This is much to the chagrin of their boss Benson (a high-tempered gumball machine), along with their co-worker Skips (a yeti); but to the delight of Pops (a naïve, lollipop-shaped gentleman whose father owns the park). Their other co-workers, Muscle Man (an overweight green man) and High-Five Ghost (a ghost with a hand extending from the top of his head) serve as rivals to Mordecai and Rigby. As stated before, the show usually revolves around Mordecai and Rigby's attempts to avoid work and enjoy themselves; however, they oftentimes have to pay for their irresponsible actions, as they always get into more trouble than they thought. This typically results in Mordecai and Rigby going through bizarre and surrealistic misadventures.

Cast and characters

Main characters

Mordecai

Voiced by: J. G. Quintel

A 23-year-old blue jay, who is best friends with Rigby. Mordecai is more conscious, mature and moral about his actions, but he tends to go along with Rigby's misdoing as a result of rivalry. Many have considered Mordecai, who is skilled in video games, a relatable young adult slacker. Mordecai enjoys playing punchies against Rigby, knowing Rigby always loses. He has a major crush on Margaret, the waitress at the local café. He was originally in the short film 2 in the AM PM, which was also created by Quintel.

Rigby

Voiced by: William Salyers

A 23-year-old raccoon, who is best friends with Mordecai. Rigby has an eccentric personality and is significantly more juvenile than Mordecai. He lives solely for self-gratification, which he sometimes achieves through selfish lying or cheating; but consequentially, Rigby has a bad habit of getting himself and other people in trouble. In fact, most of the problems that the park employees encounter appear to be Rigby's fault. Nevertheless, he is best friends with Mordecai and often relies on him for getting himself out of trouble, though there have been times where he's saved Mordecai. He has a younger brother named Don who is often mistaken for the older brother due to Don being taller and larger.

Benson

Voiced by: Sam Marin

A living gumball machine. Benson is Mordecai and Rigby's hot-tempered boss. The two frequently infuriate him due to their constant slacking and mischief, and as such he has limited trust for them, even though it's his responsibility since their mistakes happen on his time. However, he loosened up a bit after "Benson Be Gone", having gained some degree of understanding for them. He is a responsible and hardworking employee, the exact opposite of Mordecai and Rigby. His head turns red whenever he's extremely angry (which happens very frequently). He was originally in the short film 2 in the AM PM, which was also created by Quintel.

Skips

Voiced by: Mark Hamill

A yeti who is apparently far older than he seems. Granted the power of immortality, he is destined to perform a ceremonial dance every year on his birthday. He works out frequently, and as indicated by his name, he "skips" when he moves. Skips' personality seems rather indifferent, but he is always willing to help Mordecai and Rigby whenever they get themselves into trouble. He tends to be the solution to all the problems Mordecai and Rigby cause, usually by means of some sort of contraption he rigs up instantaneously. Skips appears to be very experienced and knowledgeable; whenever Mordecai and Rigby cause trouble, he says "I've seen this before", and then proposes a solution to the problem (implying that Skips used to be much like Mordecai and Rigby).

Pops Maellard

Voiced by: Sam Marin

A lollipop-shaped man who is almost always in a jolly mood. He tends to be overly ecstatic about every situation, and expresses himself as an upright gentleman to the point where he overly extends his words and sentences formally. Despite his old age, Pops is very childlike and naïve about the world around him; therefore, he serves as somewhat of a non-sequitur character. He also seems to like Mordecai and Rigby more than Benson, ironically, despite Mordecai and Rigby's irresponsible behavior and Benson's more responsible behavior. Pops' father, Mr. Maellard, owns the park. Even so, Pops relies on Benson for the upkeep of the park. Benson also seems to be responsible for taking care of Pops, due to his childlike nature. Pops' character is taken from Quintel's short animation The Naive Man from Lolliland.

Mitch "Muscle Man" Sorenstein

Voiced by: Sam Marin

An obese, dwarfish, green-skinned man whose behavior seems quite erratic and immature. Muscle Man believes himself to be macho and superior to everyone, referring to Mordecai and Rigby as "ladies". He is always cracking "My mom!" jokes, much to the chagrin of everyone else (except his best friend High Five Ghost, who enjoys them). In the episode "Muscle Woman", his real name is revealed to be Mitch Sorenstein.

High Five Ghost

Voiced by: Jeff Bennet

A ghost with a hand on his head. High Five Ghost is best friends with Muscle Man. He is frequently shown giving Muscle Man a high five to accompany his "My Mom!" jokes. High Five Ghost is at first shown to be mute most of the time (as he was jinxed by Muscle Man and therefore not allowed to talk), though recently he was un-jinxed by Rigby (allowing him to speak more often). When he talks, he uses a quivery and high voice.

Recurring characters

Margaret

Voiced by: Janie Haddad

A robin who works at a local coffee shop. She is kind and respectful to both Mordecai and Rigby, but may be unaware that Mordecai has a crush on her. A running gag on the show is that she appears to have a new boyfriend almost every episode she is in, much to Mordecai's chagrin.

Eileen

Voiced by: Minty Lewis

A mole who also works at the local coffee shop alongside with Margaret. She has a crush on Rigby, but he is unaware of it. She first appeared in the episode "Brain Eraser".

Mr. Maellard

Voiced by David Ogden Stiers

A lollipop man like his son Pops, and the boss of Benson. He first appeared in "Dizzy". Maellard is very impatient towards Benson (similar to Benson's impatience towards Mordecai and Rigby), and Maellard blames Mordecai and Rigby's shenanigans on Benson (as he expects Benson to take responsibility for Mordecai and Rigby as park manager). He mistakes Benson's name a lot in some of the episodes he is in. He finally got Benson's name right in "Benson Be Gone", due to Benson coming to his rescue when he was captured by Susan.

Episodes

Season 1 began on September 6, 2010 with the episode "The Power" and ended on November 22, 2010 with "Mordecai and the Rigbys". There was a pilot of the series, but it was never aired on television but aired on Cartoon Network Video. Season 2 began on November 29, 2010 with "Ello Gov'nor" and is still currently in its second season run. Furthermore, the series has been renewed for a third season.

Awards and nominations

Critical reception

Devin D. O'Leary of Alibi.com's "Idiot Box" column gave the show a favorable review, saying that its theme felt like a workplace sitcom and that the "parade of super-strange characters" added to the show's humor. He compared the show to Beavis and Butt-head and SpongeBob SquarePants. PopMatters critic Chris Conaton gave the show a six-out-of-ten rating, saying that it was "mildly amusing." His review praised Quintel's and Salyers' voice acting, but thought that the humor was derivative of Beavis and Butt-Head and The Ren & Stimpy Show.

References

1. BentonConnor. "How many half-hours are in season 2? J.G told me you were doing 20 half hours, does that include seasons 1 and 2? | Formspring". Formspring.me. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
2. "Cartoon Network Announces Comedy Animation Greenlights". Turner Broadcasting System. August 13, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
3. Cruz, Eileen (April 21, 2010). "Toonzone at the Cartoon Network 2010 Upfront". Toonzone.net. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
4. "Adventure Time Nominated for an Annie". Frederator Studios Blogs. 2010-12-06.
5. O'Leary, Devin D. (September 2, 2010). ""Regular Show" on Cartoon Network". Alibi.com. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
6. Conaton, Chris (September 7, 2010). "'Regular Show': Mildly Amusing". PopMatters. Retrieved September 10, 2010.

External links

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• Cartoon Network's official page for Regular Show
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• Regular Show at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show

• 2010s American animated television series
• Animated sitcoms
• Cartoon Network original programs
• Children's comedy series
• Fantasy television series
• Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios series and characters
• Surrealist works
• Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters