How Beautiful It Is to Survive

***How Beautiful It Is to Survive*** is an American animated television comedy created by Robert Nimos for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Balor family: Oscar Balor, Marge Balor, Gus Balor, and Pearl Balor. The show is set in the fictional town of Cremos and parodies American culture and society. Like *The Simpsons*, *South Park*, *Family Guy*, *Futurama* and *Rick and Morty*, *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*was aimed at adult audiences and features cartoon violence, adult humor, and pop culture references.

Nimos had began working on *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* in 1991, teaming up with Sid John at Funbag Productions. The studio pitched a seven-minute pilot to Fox in 1993, and the show was greenlit and began production. The series was originally set to premiere in Fall of 1994 with the pilot they showed to Fox earlier that year but the episode was declined to be used by Fox (until it was finally preserved on the volume 1 DVD in 2001). The producers of the show then decided to "go ahead" and air another first episode on January 28, 1996.

Since its debut on January 28, 1996, TBA episodes of *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*have been broadcast. It is the second longest-running American sitcom only behind *The Simpsons* and the sixth longest-running animated series in the U.S., behind *Pikmin*, *The Simpsons*, *The Geo Team*, *Greeny Phatom*, and *Geo's World*. *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*won 20 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 Annie Awards, and 5 Teen Choice Awards. In 1997, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since *The Flintstones* in 1961.

A spin-off series, *The Robinson Show*, featuring Robinson McMurry, aired from September 10, 2006, to May 23, 2010. *The How Beautiful It Is to Survive Movie*, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 1, 2005, and grossed over $288 million. *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* is a joint production by Introvert Hangover, My Bunny Productions, Funbag Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. In 2013, *TV Guide* ranked *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*the thirteenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.

On February 12, 2019, Fox renewed the series for a twenty-fifth season, which premiered on September 29, 2019 on Animation Domination.

## Premise

### Characters

*Main article: List of How Beautiful It Is to Survive characters*

*How Beautiful It Is to Survive*is an animated sitcom that follows the adventures of the Balor family who reside in the town of Cremos and live in a suburban house.

* **Oscar Balor**(voiced by Jeff Bergman) – The main character of the series. Oscar is an accident-prone bronto-crane operator at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company and the head of the Balor household. He is quick to anger (usually over trivial matters), but is a very loving husband and father. He is also good at bowling and is a member of the fictional "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes" (Lodge No. 26), a men-only club paralleling real-life fraternities such as the Loyal Order of Moose.
* **Marge Balor** (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Oscar's wife. She is more intelligent and level-headed than her husband, though she often has a habit of spending money (with Pearl and her catchphrase being "Da-da-da duh da-da CHARGE IT!!"). She often is a foil to Oscar's poor behavior, but is a very loyal wife to him. She is also a very jealous woman who is easily angered if there's even a hint of another woman (especially a pretty one) having anything to do with Oscar.
* **Gus Balor**(voiced by Tom Kenny) – Oscar's son and best friend. His occupation is, for the most part of the series, unknown, though later episodes depict him working in the same quarry as Fred. He shares many of Oscar's interests such as bowling and golf, and is also a member of the "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes".
* **Pearl Balor**(voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Marge's mother and best friend. Like Marge, she, too, has a habit of spending money, and also is highly jealous of other pretty women being around her husband.
* **Dog** (voiced by Frank Welker) – The Balor family's pet dog. A running gag in the series involves Oscar coming home from work and Dog getting excited and knocking him down and licking his face repeatedly.
* **Panza Robertson** (voiced by Tom Kenny) - The Balors' sex-addicted, 35-year-old next-door neighbor and one of Oscar's best friends. He is an airline pilot for Spirit Airlines, but is best known for his extreme sexuality and always saying "Miggity" or "Alright".
* **Robinson McMurry**(voiced by Robert Nimos) - Oscar's mild-mannered friend who formerly owned and ran a deli. He is a heavyset, mustached, 36-year-old guy who is very polite to everyone and has a unique laugh.
* **Joe Rockhead** (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A mutual friend of Oscar. Usually, when Oscar, Robinson and Panza have some kind of falling out, Oscar mentions doing something (such as going to a baseball game) with Joe. Joe was, at some point, chief of the Cremos Volunteer Fire Department (as shown on the episode "Arthur Quarry's Dance Class"). His appearance varied throughout the run of the series, but his appearance in the episode "The Picnic", was the one most commonly used.
* **Mr. Slate** (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) - Oscar's hot-tempered boss at the gravel pit. Mr. Slate fires Oscar on several occasions throughout the series, only to give him his job back by the end of the episode. A running gag is Slate's ever-changing first name, which was revealed to be Sylvester, Nate, and George as the series progressed.
* **Arnold** (voiced by Billy West) - The Balors' paper boy, who Oscar hates, mainly because Arnold is frequently able to best and outsmart Oscar at a number of tasks and also because he often throws the newspaper in Oscar's face.
* **Aunt Lila** (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - Oscar's mother-in-law and Gus' maternal grandmother, who is constantly disapproving of Oscar and his behavior.
* **Mayor Fudge Nison** (voiced by Tom Kenny) - The mayor of Cremos.
* **Uncle Tex Hardrock** (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) - Oscar's maternal uncle and a member of the Texas Rangers. He constantly holds Oscar's future inheritance over his head.
* **Sam Slagheap** (voiced by Jess Harnell) - the Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Lodge.

### Setting

The primary setting of *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* is Cremos.

*More coming soon!*

## Development

The development of *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*began in 1991, with Robert Nimos announced to make an adult animated series for the Fox network. Nimos wanted to recapture the adult audience with an animated situation comedy. Phil Ortiz had his background and prop design role; along with Salene Weatherwax, the latter having a prop design role during the first four seasons.

The show imitated and spoofed *Family Guy*, although the early voice characterization for Gus was that of Stewie Griffin. Tim Rice admitted that "At that time, *Family Guy* was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* ... *Family Guy* was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept." However, Robert Nimos disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that, "I don't remember mentioning *Family Guy* when I sold the show. But if people want to compare *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* to *Family Guy*, then great. It's a total compliment. *Family Guy* was one of the greatest animated shows ever written." Seth MacFarlane, creator of *Family Guy*, considered suing Funbag Productions, but decided that he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Oscar Balor off the air".

When the series went into production, the working title *The Balors* was changed. After spending a brief period in development as *How to Survive*, Fox settled upon *How Beautiful It Is to Survive*.

Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, which, as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a laugh track.

*How Beautiful It Is to Survive* premiered on January 28, 1996, at 8:30 pm, and quickly became a hit. The first four seasons were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several television commercials for Winston.

## Production

### Executive producers

Nimos has served as an executive producer during the show's entire history. The first executive producers were David Zuckerman, Mala Miles, Terry Ward, and Steve Samano. *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* has had many executive producers in its history, including Henri Dosclez, James Sharp, and Nadjib Mansouri. David A. Goodman joined the show as a co-executive producer in season three, and eventually became an executive producer. James Clayton worked as an executive and supervising producer for the fourth and fifth seasons.

### Writing

The first team of writers assembled for the show consisted of Brian Graden, Mala Miles, Terry Ward, Steve Samano, Henri Dosclez, James Sharp, and James Clayton. The writing process of *How Beautiful It Is to Survive* generally starts with 14 writers that take turns writing the scripts; when a script is finished it is given to the rest of the writers to read. These scripts generally include cutaway gags. Various gags are pitched to Nimos and the rest of the staff, and those deemed funniest are included in the episode.

### Voice actors

*Main article: List of cast members and List of guest stars*

Jeff Bergman voices the show's main character Oscar Balor. Tress MacNeille voices Marge Balor, Pearl Balor, Aunt Lila, Maria McMurry, and Josia Flowers. Tom Kenny voices Gus Balor, Panza Robertson, Larry Koism, Mayor Fudge Nison, and many other recurring characters. The role of Gus Balor was originally going to be given to Richard Steven Horvitz, but was replaced by Tom Kenny for unknown reasons.

Frank Welker voiced the Balor family's pet dog, Dog. Creator Robert Nimos voiced Robinson McMurry, William Johnson, Curtis, Dr. Sam Oliver, Principal, Sea Captain, and other minor characters. John DiMaggio voiced Joe Rockhead and other recurring characters. Other recurring cast members include Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Slate; Billy West as Arnold and Zach Koism, Kevin Michael Richardson as Uncle Tex Hardrock; and Jess Harnell as Sam Slagheap.

Episodes often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest voices star as themselves, including Charlie Puth, Fred Rogers, Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams, Jack Black, Norah Jones, Pentatonix, Ellen DeGeneres, Patti LaBelle, James Earl Jones, Danny DeVito, Christopher Reeve, Andy Grammer, Carol Burnett, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Alec Baldwin, Ray Charles, Jason Mraz, Bill Nye, Katie Couric, and Adam Sandler.

### Animation

Fox provided production services "in case animation proved to be difficult". Animation for the first five seasons were split between Sunwoo Entertainment in South Korea, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, and Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. Fil-Cartoons also provided ink-and-paint facilities during the fifth and sixth seasons. Various other animation studios were contracted beginning in season six.

### Post-production

The show also has sound services at Skywalker Sound in Marin County, California.

### Music

The show's soundtrack was composed by Shawn Patterson, while its theme song was composed by multi-instrumentalist Josh Mancell, produced by Devo's singer Mark Mothersbaugh, and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Mutato Muzika Studios.