Mission Hill

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File:Mission Hill Opening**Mission Hill** is an American animated television series that ran on The WB from September 24, 1999, to July 16, 2000, and on Adult Swim from July 14, 2002 to August 11, 2002. Although 18 episodes were planned, only 13 episodes were produced. The show was put on hiatus by The WB Network after two episodes due to poor ratings. It returned to the WB in the summer of 2000 but was canceled after four additional episodes. The show went on to develop a cult following, thanks to repeated airings of all 13 episodes on Teletoon's "Teletoon Unleashed" block, Cartoon Network's popular late night programing block, Adult Swim and Too Funny To Sleep, a late night programing block on TBS. *Mission Hill* was formerly known as *The Downtowners*, although MTV's production of the similarly titled *Downtown* forced a name change.

It has also been popular outside of the United States and Canada, receiving broadcasts in Australia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Spain and New Zealand. Stylistically, the series is recognizable for its bright, neon color palette, and features a peculiar mixture of modern animation and traditional "cartoonish" drawings (dashed lines coming from eyes to indicate line of vision, red bolts of lightning around a spot in pain).

The show was created by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, former executive producers of *The Simpsons*, and the artistic designer was Lauren MacMullan. It features the voices of Wallace Langham, Scott Menville, Brian Posehn, Vicki Lewis, Nick Jameson, Tom Kenny, Herbert Siguenza, Jane Wiedlin, Tress MacNeille and Lisa Kushell. The theme song is a faster, instrumental version of "Italian Leather Sofa" by Cake. Warner Home Video released all 13 completed episodes on DVD, on November 29, 2005.

Mission Hill received the 2000 Pulcinella Award for "Best Series for All Audiences"; the award cited the show's "stylized design and honest approach to sexual and moral issues." The series also won an award from GLAAD for its positive portrayal of a gay relationship.

## Plot

Set in the world of teens and 20-somethings, this series follows hip 25-year-old Andy French, whose sheltered suburban teenage brother moves in with him and his roommates in a big-city loft. The series takes place in a district called Mission Hill, a diverse neighborhood in a much larger city called Cosmopolis, which is depicted as a large modern urban metropolis similar to New York City or Chicago.

## Characters

**Andrew "Andy" French** (voiced by Wallace Langham) — A 24 year old in his third consecutive "post-college slump year." Andy is an aspiring cartoonist. From the pilot episode to "Unemployment, Part 1," Andy worked at a waterbed store where his boss was a short, ill-tempered foreign man who frequented strip clubs. From "Unemployment, part 2" to "Plan 9 from Mission Hill" (and including the unfinished episodes "Supertool" and "Pretty in Pink"), Andy works as an artist at the same advertising agency as Jim. Though he's often bored and mellow, Andy is easily annoyed by his younger brother, Kevin.

**Kevin French** (voiced by Scott Menville) — 17 years old. Kevin moved in with Andy when his parents left for Wyoming, bringing his sheltered, suburban mindset to Mission Hill. He hopes to attend Yale University. He has a habit of "bling-blonging", saying "bling blong" over and over again while doing homework to drown out any/all distractions.

**Jim Kuback** (voiced by Brian Posehn) — In his mid 20s, loft mate Jim has been Andy's best friend since high school. He is extremely tall and lanky, with red hair and a beard. Jim is a genius at all things electronic, whether it's electronic music or computers. He is mellow and able to express a wide variety of sentiments by nuancing the word "Okay." Jim is a high-powered advertising agent who is paid vast amounts of money to alter marketing campaigns to appeal to Generation Y.

**Posey Tyler** (voiced by Vicki Lewis) — In her mid 20s, Posey, the fourth loftmate, is somewhat a flower child, and very concerned about the health and well-being of her plants.

**Stogie** — Andy's Golden Retriever, who can apparently stomach anything from alcohol to remote controls. At one point in the series his primary source of food was eating the couch cushions. Posey has stated that "there are dark forces at work within him".

## Episodes

Thirteen episodes of *Mission Hill* were produced while five more were written, but never completed. Animatics for some of these episodes were in production at the time of the show's cancellation. It was planned to put these animatics on the DVD for the series, but this never came to fruition. However, several of the animatics—including a completed video animatic and synchronized audio read-through of the episode "Pretty in Pink (Crap Gets in Your Eyes)"—have been released through various internet outlets.

## References

1. ↑ Warner Renames The Downtowners. *Animation World Magazine*. Animation World Network (September 1999).