Clarence (American TV series)
Clarence is an American animated television series created by Skyler Page for Cartoon Network. The series revolves around the title character and his two best friends, Jeff and Sumo. The creator of the series, Skyler Page, a former storyboard artist for "Adventure Time" and revisionist for "Secret Mountain Fort Awesome", developed the series at Cartoon Network Studios as part of their shorts development program in 2012. The pilot aired after the 2014 "Hall of Game Awards" show on February 17, 2014. The series officially premiered on April 14, 2014, and was seen by approximately 2.3 million  viewers, outperforming shows in its same demographic in the time slot. The series' pilot was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award. The series completed its four-year run on June 24, 2018, after 3 seasons and 130 episodes. Premise. The series focuses on the daily life of Clarence Wendle, a fun-loving and spirited 10-year-old boy, and his best friends: Jeff, who is the more intellectual type, and Sumo, who often uses drastic measures when solving problems. Clarence lives with his divorced mother Mary and her boyfriend Chad in the fictional town of Aberdale. Each episode focuses  on the daily-life situations and problems that Clarence and his friends encounter, and their everyday adventures and life experiences as kids. Other characters include students and faculty at Aberdale Elementary, Clarence's school. Certain episodes focus on the life of supporting characters, like the citizens of Aberdale and Clarence's classmates. Production. At their 2013 upfront, "Clarence" was announced along with various other series. The series was created by Page, a former storyboard artist for "Adventure Time" and revisionist for "Secret Mountain Fort Awesome". He is the fourth creator on the network who graduated from the California Institute of  the Arts, and at age 24, he is also the youngest. As part of their shorts development program in 2012, the series was developed at Cartoon Network Studios; four others, "Steven Universe", "Over the Garden Wall", "We Bare Bears" and "Long Live the Royals" also came from this initiative. Page, together with creative director Nelson Boles, conceived the series at CalArts. It was further considered when Page became hired at Cartoon Network Studios. A crew of two or three polished the pilot episode; after it had been picked up, a crew of 30 to 35 writers, storyboard artists, revisionists, colorists  and designers were employed. Meanwhile, animation is outsourced to South Korea through the Saerom Animation. Page explained that the hardest part of production was keeping pace, especially where once an episode is completed, one must start over. He called this "exciting", but "very challenging". According to writer Spencer Rothbell, the series was created with a naturalistic tone, similar to cartoons of the 1990s, combined with a more modern feeling. Given this naturalism, writers can reference works that have inspired for them or fit the genre of an episode. He ultimately felt that it was about "empowering kids and having fun . Rothbell also avoids pigeonholing" into one type of story, and that while some plots are mostly character-driven, others are "based on one idea that we think is really funny". Inspiration also came from the shows Page watched as a child, which invoked more poignant and relatable situations. Despite this, elements of fantasy are allowed, and that conveying both incongruous to one another was one technique he particularly enjoyed. Boles noted that the art direction called for inconsistent character design to avoid having to fit model sheet with the universe perfectly—a result of what he dubs "The Simpsons" effect . Attention is also paid to background characters in order to expand variety in its plot and universe. Crossover. In the end of the Steven Universe"/"Uncle Grandpa" crossover episode, "Say Uncle", UG looks over the list of characters from former and current Cartoon Network shows and saw Clarence is the last on his list. Clarence, Jeff, Sumo, and Belson appeared in "The Grampies", the short accompanying the "Uncle Grandpa" episode "Pizza Eve", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons. Belson had a speaking role in that short. In "The Amazing World of Gumball" episode "The Boredom , Clarence and Mary make an appearance, alongside Uncle Grandpa" and "Regular Show" characters. In the "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes" episode "Crossover Nexus", Jeff made an appearance, along with other Cartoon Network characters. Page's firing. In July 2014, Skyler Page was fired from Cartoon Network Studios due to cases of sexual harassment. A Cartoon Network spokesperson confirmed that the series would continue despite his absence. Spencer Rothbell later became head of story and the voice of Clarence. Nelson Boles, who was previously the series creative director, served as series showrunner for the remainder of the first season. Stephen  P. Neary, one of the storyboard artists for the series, took over as showrunner for the second season and onward after Boles left the series early in the second season. LGBT representation. In September 2014, Spencer Rothbell, a writer, head of storywriting, and voice actor of multiple characters for "Clarence", said that they had to change a scene in the episode "Neighborhood Grill", which showed two gay characters after pushback from Cartoon Network executives. According to Rothbell, the original scene showed the two characters kissing on the lips, noting that "originally the guy had flowers and they kissed on the  mouth." Later he lamented that the scene in the episode is "better than nothing," adding that "maybe one day the main character can be gay and it won't be a big deal." Despite this step back, there were some moves forward. On December 4, 2014, EJ Randell and Sue Randell were introduced as Jeff's mothers in the episode "Jeff Wins" of "Clarence". Cancellation. On April 4, 2017, Spencer Rothbell confirmed that the series' third season would be its last as Cartoon Network did not renew the series for a fourth season, which ended on June 24, 2018. Broadcast  and reception. "Clarence" was originally previewed at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. Cartoon Network had commissioned twelve quarter-hour episodes, with the pilot episode airing after the "Hall of Game Awards" show on February 17, 2014. The pilot was nominated for an "Outstanding Short-format Animated Program" at the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2013. The first episode, broadcast April 14, 2014, was met with an estimated 2.3 million viewers, outperforming shows in its same demographic in the time slot by double and triple-digit percentages. Meanwhile, preliminary data identified it as the most watched series  premiere for the network that year. From September 7 to September 30, 2020, reruns of the series aired on Boomerang. In Canada, "Clarence" premiered on Cartoon Network on April 14 and on Teletoon on September 4, but it was later moved exclusively to Cartoon Network. The series premiered on October 6 on Cartoon Network in Australia and New Zealand and on November 3 on Cartoon Network in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In India, the series debuted on June 1, 2015 on Cartoon Network. The last 13 episodes of the series aired first in Germany before airing in the United  States. In a three-star review, Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media alerted parents of "a similar brand of absurdity and crudeness" as "Adventure Time"—though less severe—but praised the cast as "oddly likable". Nancy Basile of About.com applauded the dialogue for its lengthiness, and considered the relationships between the characters to be dynamic and genuine, with some comedy thrown in. Whitney Matheson of "USA Today" found "Clarence" to blend optimism and surreal humor in "just the right amount", and encouraged children and parents alike to watch its premiere. In "Animation Magazine", Mercedes Milligan described it as "a breath of  fresh suburban air" and a celebration of childhood. Nivea Serrao of "TV Guide" contrasted the show with most fantasy animated series. Brian Lowry of "Variety" called it "so quirky and idiosyncratic as to feel fresh", although it sometimes tread in "well-worn territory", but found the character designs unattractive. The series gained considerable press after featuring a gay couple in the episode "Neighborhood Grill", with coverage in various tabloid and entertainment news sites, and in LGBT-oriented sites as well. The scene involves two male characters greeting each other with kisses on the cheek while at a restaurant. Rothbell originally  had the couple kiss on the lips after receiving flowers from the other, but this went unapproved by the network. He added that the scene was a "minor throwaway moment", albeit "better than nothing", and anticipated that "one day the main character can be gay and it won't be a big deal". Joe Morgan of "Gay Star News" called the buildup to the scene "an old joke", a notion shared by Dan Tracer of "Queerty", although he praised their portrayal "just as normal people". In 2017, the Kenya Film Classification Board banned "Clarence", together with the cartoon series "The  Loud House", "The Legend of Korra", "Hey Arnold!", "Steven Universe" and "Adventure Time", from being broadcast in Kenya. According to the Board, the reason was that these series were "glorifying homosexual behavior".