Big City Greens

**Big City Greens** is an American television series created by The Houghton Brothers.

It focuses on the adventurous life of Cricket Green, a country boy who moves with his family from their rural farm to a modern metropolis.

The series premiered on Disney Channel on June 18, 2018 and aired for three seasons until March 25, 2023.

## Plot

After losing his farm in the country town of Smalton, Bill Green and his two children Cricket and Tilly move in with his mother Alice Green (Gramma), who lives on a small farm in the middle of a city known as "Big City."

By the second half of season three, Bill moves his family back to Smalton after regaining his farm with Cricket's friend Remy coming along for the ride.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Chris Houghton as Cricket
* Marieve Herington as Tilly
* Bob Joles as Bill
* Artemis Pebdani as Gramma Alice
* Wendi McLendon-Covey as Nancy

### Recurring

* Zeno Robinson as Remy
* Anna Akana as Gloria
* Andy Daly as Officer Keys
* Monica Ray as Kiki
* Luke Lowe as Benny
* Lamar Woods as Weezie
* Colton Dunn as Brett / Russell Remington
* Paul Scheer as Chip Whistler
* Danny Trejo as Vasquez
* Lorraine Toussaint as Rashida Remington
* Anna Akana as Ms. Cho
* Nicole Byer as Andromeda
* Maurice LaMarche as Alucard Grigorian
* Jenny Ortega as Gabriella Espinosa
* Tim Robinson as Gregly
* Raven-Symoné as Maria Media
* Betsy Sodaro as Community Sue
* Cheri Oteri as Gwendolyn Zapp
* Brooke Dillman as Patti

## Episodes

See Also: List of Big City Greens Episodes

 2 | 30
 3 | 20

## Production

On March 8, 2016, Disney XD greenlit the series under the title of Country Club. The series is created by the brothers Chris and Shane Houghton, who originally worked on Nickelodeon's Harvey Beaks. Chris Houghton also worked as a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls with Rob Renzetti. The series was later renamed to Big City Greens on July 21, 2017. The show's animation is done entirely in traditional pen and paper as opposed to digital ink. The theme song was written and performed by The Mowgli's, and on July 28, 2017, a sneak peek of it was revealed at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con and was uploaded to Disney XD's YouTube channel on the same day. On May 17, 2018, it was reported that Disney Channel had ordered a second season of Big City Greens ahead of the series' debut. On October 7, 2019, it was announced that the second season would premiere on November 4, 2019, however, it got pushed back to November 16, 2019. On January 13, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. On January 21, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

During production for the first season, an episode titled "Hands-On History" was in development. The episode was directed by Monica Ray, from a story by Carson Montgomery, also being written and storyboarded by Caldwell Tanner and Cheyenne Curtis. It featured Mark Hamill in the role of Dr. Ponderstein, a sinister curator who ran a museum. The plot focused on Cricket and Remy at odds with one another, over Ponderstein's method of educating children. The episode was shelved when the Houghton Brothers found Remy's behaviour in the episode unlikeable - they could not find a way to make the story work so early in the show's run. On cancelling the episode, co-creator Chris Houghton stated, "We killed that episode for the best of reasons: it just didn’t work. We broke and re-broke the story a ton of times. Reboarded it again and again. Sometimes the best course of action is to take your creation out behind the shed, ya know?" The episode's production number, 110, would be given to "Parade Day" and "DIY Guys" instead.

## Release

When announced, the series was scheduled to premiere in 2018 on Disney XD; however, on March 26, 2018, it was reported that the series would debut on Disney Channel in mid-2018. On May 17, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the series would premiere on Disney Channel as part of Disney Channel's GO! Summer on June 18, 2018. The series premiere was made available for streaming via the DisneyNow app and the Disney Channel YouTube channel as of June 8, 2018. Additional new episodes premiered on This Week Mornings at 10:00 AM throughout the summer. In addition, Big City Greens shorts began airing on Disney Channel and Disney Channel’s YouTube channel on June 4, 2018.

## Reception

### Critical Response

Big City Greens received a positive reception from critics. Common Sense Media's Emily Ashby praised the series for its characters and themes, writing that "despite mining familiar stereotypes of rural dwellers, the show has strong family-centric themes and silly, light-hearted laughs". Bekah Burbank of LaughingPlace.com praised the series' characters, stating that "While the mischief and antics are super silly and completely ridiculous, the characters themselves are quite fun. Just like it is with every family, the quirkiness is what you come to love most about the people you spend time with. The Green family might not be perfect, but they’re positive, supportive, and optimistic no matter the situation. Everyone could benefit from spending a little time with this wacky family".

## Awards and Nominations

 Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation
 2021