Fish Police

**Fish Police** (also known as **Fish Police: The Animated Series**) is an American animated television series based on the cult comic book series of the same name created by Steve Moncuse.

The entire series was made available on HBO Max on September 3, 2020.

## **Premise**

*Fish Police* follow the exploits of an underwater police department’s Inspector Gil, a carp police detective, who navigates an underwater metropolis, often solving Mafia-related crimes tangling with squid crime boss Biscotti Calamari, all while avoiding the seduction of vamp Angel Jones, avoiding marriage to diner owner Pearl, and avoiding his own certain demise.

## **Voice Cast**

### Main

* John Ritter as Inspector Gil
* Megan Mullally as Pearl Bethany White
* JoBeth Williams as Angel Jones
* Héctor Elizondo as Biscotti Calamari
* Frank Welker as Mussels Marinara
* Tim Curry as Sharkster
* Buddy Hackett as Crabby

### Supporting

* Robert Guillaume as Detective Catfish
* Edward Asner as Chief Abalone
* Georgia Brown as Goldie
* Charlie Schlatter as Tadpole White
* Page Leong as Connie Koi

* Jonathan Winters as Mayor Cod

## Production

### Development

*Fish Police* started in 1985 as a self-published black-and-white title by British comic book writer and artist Steve Moncuse, through his own Fishwrap Productions label. After eleven issues, the title was picked up by Comico in 1987, which reprinted issues 1–4 in a trade titled *Hairballs*, followed by color reprints of the other Fishwrap issues.

As a part of a spate of attempts by major networks to develop prime-time animated shows to compete with the unexpected success of FOX's *The Simpsons*, an animated adaptation of '*Fish Police*' along with the co-produced *Capitol Critters,* and CBS's *Family Dog*. were .

David Kirschner, president of Hanna-Barbera Productions at the time, which also worked on *Capitol Critters*, recalled pitching the series to CBS Entertainment President Jeff Sagansky last year:

> *“What happened as we presented the series to him,”* Kirschner said, *“he’s laughing and hitting his knee, and he said, ‘Just do it! Just do it! How fast can you have a script?’ We turned it around very quickly and brought it back, and he said, ‘How fast can you have a pilot?’ I explained the process to him, which I’ve done almost every week since. Every time we have to go through it again.”*
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CBS ordered only six episodes of “Fish Police” which would've let to problems if the series did indeed become a hit, given that new episodes took so long to produce. Just in case, Sagansky had given Hanna-Barbera money to get a head start on scripts and storyboards for future episodes.

### Release

All three attempted series were canceled in their first seasons, due to poor ratings and even fewer marketing. A further three episodes never aired in the United States, although the entire series ran in European syndication.

## Reception

### Critical

Critics' opinions were mixed to negative. Ken Tucker of *Entertainment Weekly* gave the show a "C", saying that the "comics are a lot more varied and better constructed — their plots worked as mysteries, whereas here the stories are just excuses for more fish humor." Marion Garmel of the *Indianapolis Star* thought that the show lacked the "dark edge" of the original Fishwrap-produced comics.

In a 2010 interview, *Fish Police* comic creator Steve Moncuse said this of the show:

> *"The less said about the animated series the better. I think I finally got the last knife out of my back about three months ago."*
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## Trivia

* The *Fairly Oddparents* creator Butch Hartman worked as a character designer.
* David Kirschner, the producer of "Fish Police", described the series as an underwater "Barney Miller,".
* The show had a decidedly more mature tone than most other animated Hanna-Barbara animated shows, in which episodes often contained sexual innuendo and mild profanity.