Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

**Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law** is American adult-animated television sitcom created by American television excutive-writer Michael Ouweleen and American screenwriter Erik Ritcher for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim, premiering on December 20, 2000.

The series wasn't available at launch, but was prominetly featured in assorted promos airing on [adult swim].

## **Premise**

*Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law* features third-rate, ex-superhero Harvey T. Birdman of *Birdman and the Galaxy Trio* as he gets a new lease on life, after becoming an attorney working for a law firm alongside an endless menagerie of Hanna-Barbera characters of the same area.

## **Cast**

* Gary Cole as Harvey Birdman, Judge Mightor
* Stephen Colbert as Phil Ken Sebben, Myron Reducto
* Joe Alaskey as Peter Potamus
* Thomas Allen as Peanut
* Paget Brewster as Birdgirl
* Grey DeLisle as Debbie, Daphne Blake, Dr. Gale Melody, Mary
* Chris Edgerly as Peter Potamus, DVD, Mr. Finkerton, The Funky Phantom, Augie Doggie, Cumulus the Storm King, Captain Caveman, Gorak, Fancy Fancy
* John Michael Higgins as Mentok the Mindtaker, Zardo, Grape Ape
* Maurice LaMarche as Azul Falcone, Stan Freezoid, Apache Chief, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, Der Spuzmacher, Inch High, Speed Buggy, Hi-Riser, Doggie Daddy, Droopy, Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, Morocco Mole, Garok, Cavey Jr., Magilla Gorilla, Mr. Peebles, Benny the Ball, Dum Dum, Shazzan, Atom Ant, Nitron
* Peter MacNicol as X the Eliminator
* Michael McKean as Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton
* Matt Peccini as The Bear
* Neil Ross as Vulturo, Dr. Benton Quest, Ding-A-Ling Wolf
* Debi Mae West as Gigi
* Paul Adelstein as Murro the Marauder
* Jack Angel as General
* Dee Bradley Baker as Jonny Quest, Lizard Man
* Michael Bell as Zan
* Jeff Bergman as George Jetson, Old Man Bakov, Clown
* Mary Birdsong as Chibo, Tana
* Lewis Black as Elliott the Deadly Duplicator
* Steven Blum as Yakky Doodle, Clamhead, Stavros
* Bill Farmer as Secret Squirrel
* Keith Ferguson as Bill Ken Sebben
* Nika Futterman as Debbie
* Mark Hamill as Ricochet Rabbit
* Toby Huss as Ernie Devlin, Shado
* Scott Innes as Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo
* Tom Kenny as Boo-Boo Bear, Elroy Jetson, Top Cat, Choo Choo, Computer Voice
* Phil LaMarr as Black Vulcan
* Steve Landesberg as Bailiff, Grok, Doctor Quincy
* Tress MacNeille as Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone
* Diane Michelle as Jane Jetson, Orbitty
* Laraine Newman as Sybil Schussler
* Rob Paulsen as Baba Looey
* Doug Pries as Thundarr the Barbarian, Beegle Beagle
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney Rubble
* André Sogliuzzo as Dynomutt
* Fred Tatasciore as Nikos
* B.J. Ward as Velma Dinkley
* Frank Welker as Fred Jones, Jabberjaw, Biff, Robot, Avenger
* Billy West as Dr. Zin
* Kym Whitley as Norlissa
* Wally Wingert as Hadji, George Jetson, Astro, Harry Twiddles, Moby Dick

## **Production**

### Development

*Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law* creators Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter were originally writers for *Space Ghost Coast to Coast*, which was where the titular character originally made its debut. The show was Adult Swim's most expensive original series at the time, and is the most expensive spin-off of *Space Ghost Coast to Coast*.

The series uses a surrealist style of comedy, featuring characters, objects, and jokes that are briefly introduced and rarely (if ever) referenced thereafter. Because the series relies heavily on popular culture references to classic television animation, *Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law* constantly delves into parody, featuring clips of these series or specially created scenes which mimic the distinctive style of the animation being referenced.

Much of the humor is derived from giving superheroes and supervillains more eccentric qualities, such as transforming mad scientist Dr. Myron Reducto into a paranoid prosecutor. Several of the plots revolve around popular myths about classic Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo being recreational drug users.

Although the first season was animated using digital ink and paint, the remaining seasons were animated using Adobe After Effects. The reason for the switch was that the animation studio was having difficulty maintaining the fast pace of the show, and thus the production of episodes slowed down due to constant retakes.

By animating the later episodes at Turner Studios in Atlanta with Adobe Flash, not only were problems corrected more quickly, but production costs were much lower.

### Release

The pilot first aired as a sneak peek on Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000. The series officially premiered on Adult Swim on September 2, 2001, the night the block launched. It ended on July 22, 2007, with a total of 39 episodes, over the course of four seasons.

The entire series has been made available on DVD, and other forms of home media, including on-demand streaming.

In Canada, *Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law* previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block since March 2003, and later G4 Canada’s ADd (Adult Digital Distraction) block since June 2009. The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim since July 2012.

A video game based on the series has been released for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation Portable video game consoles, and developed by High Voltage Software and published by Capcom, with gameplay mechanics similar to Capcom's very own Ace Attorney series. It was released on January 8, 2008, and includes five new, interactive cases.

A spin-off series titled *Birdgirl*, was ordered to series in May 2019.

### Special

On May 14, 2018, it was announced that there would be an upcoming revival special based on the series entitled *Harvey Birdman: Attorney General*. In the special, Harvey Birdman becomes the next Attorney General of the United States, under President Phil Ken Sebben. The original voice cast returned for the special. It premiered at midnight on October 15, 2018.

## **Reception**

### Critical

In 2009, *Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law* was named the 91st-best animated series by *IGN*. They called the concept of the show "wonderful" and the show as a whole "especially clever." The review summarized that "Harvey Birdman worked as both a parody and homage to these animated characters we know and love, with plenty of funny, surreal jokes along the way.

## **Trivia**

* There is a lobster that flashes across screen randomly in every episode
* Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is the first Williams Street cartoon to maintain continuity through the entire series.
	+ Various episodes reference Harvey's (or another superheroes') former crime-fighting career.
	+ The episode "Turner Classic Birdman" serves to bridge the gap between *Birdman and the Galaxy Trio* and *Attorney at Law*.