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Sit Down, Shut Up (2009 TV series)

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Sit Down, Shut Up
Sit Down, Shut Up Logo
Created byMitchell Hurwitz
StarringWill Arnett
Jason Bateman
Kristin Chenoweth
Will Forte
Tom Kenny
Nick Kroll
Cheri Oteri
Kenan Thompson
Henry Winkler
ComposerDavid Schwartz
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersMitchell Hurwitz
Josh Weinstein
Eric Tannenbaum
Kim Tannenbaum
Julie Meldal-Johnsen
ProducersJ. Michael Mendel
Claudia Katz
Running time22–23 minutes
Production companiesTantamount Studios
ITV Studios
20th Century Fox Television
Sony Pictures Television
Original release
NetworkFox (2009)
Comedy Central (returns May 4, 2010)
ReleaseApril 19 –
November 21, 2009
Related
Based on the Australian television series of the same name

Sit Down, Shut Up is an American animated television series created by Mitchell Hurwitz for the Fox network. The series focuses on a group of high school teachers in a small town in Florida "who don't care about teaching".[1] The series premiered on Sunday April 19, 2009 in the Animation Domination block on Fox, but after four episodes aired, Fox removed the show from the block due to low ratings.[2] The remaining 9 episodes aired on Sundays midnight from October to December 2009. According to Futon Critic, this post-Wanda Sykes Show weekly time slot has been home to Sit Down, Shut Up since September 2009 through to April 2010.[3]

Based on the Australian live-action sitcom of the same name, creator Mitchell Hurwitz came up with the Sit Down, Shut Up idea already in 2000.[4] He wrote a script for a pilot episode, but "kept it in a drawer" until he pitched the show to different networks in 2008 when he needed money.[5] Hurwitz said that "it was just a wacky show, and nobody wanted it", but eventually Fox picked it up as a primetime animation.[1]

Sit Down, Shut Up met mixed reviews from critics. Orlando Sentinel called the series a "disaster", and Newsday called it "raw, vulgar and blithely offensive, with so many triple and quadruple entendres for so many sexual acts".[6] Hollywood Reporter criticized the series' use of fourth wall breaks, and said that it was "painful to watch how hard the show tries to be funny".[7] IGN gave it a more positive review, saying "it should continue to be a very entertaining show",[8] and TV Squad said that it "definitely grows on you".[9]

The last episode aired on November 21, 2009 and the series is now officially cancelled.[10] Teen Cartoon has picked up repeats of the series, starting to play ads saying "series premier coming soon" May 4, 2010.[11][12] The series was nominated an Artios Award for its casting in 2009.[13]

Production

Creation

Mitchell Hurwitz, creator of Arrested Development, came up with the Sit Down, Shut Up idea after watching the original Australian version created by Brendan Reed and Tim McLoughlan.[4][14] He noted its similarities to the British version of The Office.[4] He wrote a script in 2000, but "kept it in the drawer for a long time".[5] Originally, he had planned the series to be live-action like its Australian counterpart. He pitched the show to different networks, but most of them thought the characters were "too broad and way too self-centered and oblivious".[5] He changed the mode to animation to "avoid some work".[4][5] Originally titled Class Dismissed,[15] the series was picked up by Fox in May 2008.[16]

Sit Down, Shut Up was produced by Tantamount Studios and Granada International Media in association with Sony Pictures Television and 20th Century Fox Television.[14]

Writing

Hurwitz wrote the first script and decided to take a more "supervisory role".[17] Josh Weinstein, a former writer for The Simpsons, was the showrunner, and Bill Oakley, another Simpsons writer, was originally on board, but ended his involvement with the show due to a contract dispute between the staff and Sony.[18] Sony refused to offer a contract which operated under the complete terms of the Writers Guild of America. Eventually a compromise was reached and production resumed in June 2008.[18]

Writers for the show include Josh Weinstein, Rich Rinaldi, Aisha Muharrar, Alex Herschlag, Laura Gutin, Dan Fybel, Aaron Ehasz, Michael Colton and John Aboud.[18]

Animation

The original (top), and final character designs (bottom).

The show uses real images as backgrounds for the animated characters.[5] Hurwitz said that he "wanted to set the show in the real world, and the writing staff is made up of people that come from live action and from animation, so it expresses that mix well".[5] He called it "just an aesthetic thing"; he saw Mo Willems' book Knuffle Bunny in a bookstore, and then contacted Willems.[5] Willems designed the characters and they "started to do this technique".[5] The images used for the school were taken at a school next door to the Rough Draft Studios, the series' animation studio.[5] Hurwitz chose Rough Draft Studios as the series' animation studio because Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had a "great experience" with the studio when working on Futurama.[5]

In March 2009, creator Hurwitz and the cast were present at WonderCon to promote the show.[1] Hurwitz told the audience that they had just received "the first pieces of the show back" from the animation studio in South Korea, and showed the first clip of the show for the audience.[1]

Casting

Will Arnett (pictured), along with Jason Bateman and Henry Winkler, had previously starred in Mitchell Hurwitz' show Arrested Development.

The cast includes former Arrested Development stars Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler as Larry Littlejunk, Ennis Hofftard and Willard Deutschebog, respectively.[19] Arnett noted that Ennis is one of the "dumber" characters he has played.[20] Kristin Chenoweth is the voice of Miracle Grohe, a spiritual hippie and the science teacher. Comedienne Maria Bamford was originally cast as Miracle, but was later replaced by Chenoweth.[21] The executives still allowed Bamford to do some "side voices" on the show.[22] Will Forte voices Stuart Proszakian, the assistant principal.[5] In late April 2008, Variety reported that Regina King would have an unspecified role.[17] She was replaced by Kenan Thompson, who took over the role as Sue Sezno, the acting principal.[23] Thompson thinks he was the last cast member picked, and said that "they had another lady doing the voice" before he was hired.[23] Cheri Oteri was picked as the voice of Helen Klench, a "totally unresourceful" librarian, and Nick Kroll was picked as the voice of Andrew LeGustambos, the drama teacher whose surname translates "he likes both", referring to his bisexuality.[24] According to Kroll, Andrew is, alongside Helen, a loser amongst losers.[25] Kroll voices him to talk like a "modern day Snagglepuss".[25] Tom Kenny voices Muhammad Sabeeh "Happy" Fa-ach Nuabar, the secretive custodian that speaks only in Arabic, which is overdubbed by an English translation. In later episodes, however, he speaks fractured English and no longer has a translator. Singer Alanis Morissette guest starred as herself in the episode "Helen and Sue's High School Reunion".[26][27]

Reception

Critical response

Sit Down, Shut Up has received mixed reviews and currently has a 42/100 rating on Metacritic.[6] One of the positive reviews has come from the Chicago Sun-Times, who said that the cast ensemble was tough to beat and had lots of potential, but they also said "This embarrassment of riches isn't necessarily an embarrassment, but it's not the slam dunk it should be, either."[28] Variety says "Despite a pedigree that includes Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz and many of that program’s stars, Sit Down seldom rises above sniggering double entendre. Seemingly preoccupied with impressing teenage boys, the show, based on the Australian series created by Brendan Reed and Tim McLoughlin, should possess scant appeal outside that demo".[14] One of the most negative reviews came from Glenn Garvin of The Miami Herald who said "Hurwitz is only the first of many talents wasted to the point of criminality in this animated adaptation of a flopped Australian sitcom." and "Staleness, however, ranks as a virtue in Sit Down, Shut Up, for the show's token stabs at topicality are truly appalling."[29]

Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club gave the pilot episode a mixed review and graded it a B. She said she was "staying optimistic that the characters are going to get fleshed out in upcoming episodes, because this is obviously going to be a character-based ensemble comedy. The plot of the pilot [...] was basically just a vehicle to introduce the various eccentricities of the staff as they all tried to show Principal Sezno they weren't expendable. It was also a platform for the Arrested Development-like meta humor that's apparently going to pervade the show".[30] Jonah Krakow of IGN was more positive about the episode, noting the "familiar aspects" of "deft wordplay, biting sarcasm and inappropriate humor" from Arrested Development. He concluded, saying: "As long as the talented cast can continue to play to their strengths and the scripts can humorously tackle dicey subject matter, this should continue to be a very entertaining show."[8] Kona Gallaghar of TV Squad watched the episode twice and was more impressed the second time. She said that "the show definitely grows on you".[9] However, after watching the second episode, she stated: "The main problem I have right now with Sit Down, Shut Up, is that even that simple plot-point is too deep for it. Maybe I'm expecting too much from an animated series, but is it wrong to want the characters to feel at least as real as their backgrounds?".[31]

Ratings

Order Episode Timeslot Rating/share Rating/share
(18-49) 		Viewers
(millions)
1 "Pilot" 8:30 2.7/8[32] 2.3/6[32] 5.21[32]
2 "Miracle's Are Real" 8:30 2.1/7[33] 1.9/5[33] 4.20[33]
3 "World's Greatest Teacher" 7:00 1.0/4[34] 0.8/3[34] 2.09[34]
4 "Back in Time" 7:00 0.6/3[35] 0.7/3[35] 1.59[35]

Cancellation

After two episodes had aired, the series' original 8:30 timeslot was moved to 7:00 due to low ratings.[2] After the fourth episode aired, the fifth and final episode of what was to be the initial run of Sit Down, Shut Up, was pulled from the Sunday Animation Domination lineup due to what was speculated as a coupling of risky content and continued low ratings.[2] The remaining 9 episodes began airing on September 12, 2009 on Saturday nights at midnight on a loop until April 2010, when repeats of Brothers took over the time slot.[3]

Syndication

Comedy Central picked up ABC's The Goode Family in October 2009, and also showed interest in picking up repeats of Sit Down, Shut Up at the time.[11]

Recently, Comedy Central has identified that they will begin airing Sit Down, Shut Up at 10:00PM Tuesday, May 4th.[36]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Murphy, Matt (2009-03-03). "WC: Sit Down, Shut Up". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  2. ^ a b c Goldman, Eric (2009-05-12). "Plug pulled on Sit Down, Shut Up". IGN. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  3. ^ a b "Fox to "Sit Down" in late night this fall". The Futon Critic. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  4. ^ a b c d "Sit Down, Shut Up TV Interview - WC 09: Mitch Hurwitz". IGN. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Basile, Nancy. "Sit Down, Shut Up - Q&A with Will Forte & Mitchell Hurwitz". About.com. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  6. ^ a b "Sit Down, Shut Up". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  7. ^ Carlson, Daniel (2009-04-19). "Sit Down, Shut Up - TV Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  8. ^ a b Krakow, Jonah (2009-04-17). "Sit Down, Shut Up: "Pilot" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  9. ^ a b Gallaghar, Kona (2009-04-19). "Sit Down, Shut Up: Pilot". TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  10. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (2009-05-17). "Is my favorite show cancelled?". TV Guide. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  11. ^ a b Schneider, Michael (2009-10-27). "Laffnet's 'Goode' deal". Variety. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  12. ^ Hughes, Jason. "Comedy Central Picks Up 'Goode Family,' 'Sit Down, Shut Up' Repeats". Aol. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  13. ^ "2009 Artios Award Nominees and Winners". Casting Society of America. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  14. ^ a b c Lowry, Brian (2009-04-15). "Sit Down, Shut Up". Variety. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  15. ^ Carter, Bill (2008-05-15). "Fox Will Bring Back 'Idol,' and Add Sci-Fi". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2008-05-11). "Fox greenlights J.J. Abrams' 'Fringe'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ a b Michael Schneider (2008-04-27). "'Simpsons' duo draw 'Up' new show". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ a b c Michael Schneider (2008-07-16). "Bill Oakley exits 'Sit Down, Shut Up'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
  19. ^ "Meet the Faculty and staff of Knob Haven High on the series premiere of "Sit Down, Shut Up" Sunday, April 19, on FOX". Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  20. ^ "Will Arnett and Amy Poehler Compete For Laughs". Parade. 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  21. ^ Snierson, Dave (2008-12-03). "Kristin Chenoweth joins animated comedy from 'Arrested Development' creator". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  22. ^ Ross, John. "Maria Bamford Interview". Sacramento Comedy. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  23. ^ a b Ryan, Mike (2009-05-07). "Kenan Thompson talks 'Sit Down, Shut Up', 'SNL' and more". Starpulse. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  24. ^ Furlong, Maggie (2009-04-16). "Hot Video: 'Sit Down, Shut Up' interview with Cheri Oteri & Nick Kroll". Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  25. ^ a b Jensen, Michael (2009-01-15). "Fox's animated "Sit Down, Shut Up" includes bisexual male character". After Elton. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  26. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (2009-04-04). "Q&A with Josh Weinstein of Sit Down, Shut Up". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  27. ^ "Sit Down, Shut Up: Helen and Sue's High School Reunion". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  28. ^ Wiser, Paige (2009-04-19). "Class acts earn average grades". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  29. ^ Garvin, Glenn (2009-04-19). "We're thinking it's more like tune in, zone out". The Miami Herald. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  30. ^ Koski, Genevieve (2009-04-19). "Sit Down, Shut Up: "Pilot"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  31. ^ Gallaghar, Kona (2009-04-27). "Sit Down, Shut Up: Miracle's Are Real". TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  32. ^ a b c Gorman, Bill (2009-04-20). "Housewives Keys ABC Win; Sit Down, Shut Up Premieres Mixed". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2009-12-29.
  33. ^ a b c Gorman, Bill (2009-04-27). "ABC wins; Sit Down, Shut Up drags down Fox". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  34. ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-05-06). "Desperate Housewives win delayed Sunday ratings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  35. ^ a b c Gorman, Bill (2009-05-11). "ABC Wins, But Desperate Housewives Hits Series Low". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  36. ^ http://www.comedycentral.com/press/index.jhtml?comingup=true

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