''Men in Black: The Series'' (also known as ''MIB: The Series'', ''MIB: The Animated Series'', and ''Men in Black: The Animated Series'') is an American animated

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that originally aired on Kids' WB from October 11, 1997, to June 30, 2001. The show features characters from the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

film ''

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi-government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses t ...

'', which was based on the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series '' The Men in Black'' by

Lowell Cunningham Lowell Cunningham (born c. 1958/1959) is an American comic book author. He is best known for creating the comic book '' The Men in Black'', which later became the basis for a media franchise. Early life Lowell Cunningham was raised in Franklin, T ...

, originally published by Marvel / Malibu Comics. The series was produced by Adelaide Productions, a division of Columbia TriStar Television, and Amblin Entertainment as a half-hour series originally airing on Saturday mornings, and later moving to weekdays during its final run.

Plot

The show is set in an alternate timeline to the ''

'' film universe. The most significant differences in the series are that Agent K did not retire, and Agent J is still regarded as a rookie. Agent L on the other hand is depicted as a senior staff of the organization, a radical change from the first film. Some episodes do incorporate aspects of the film franchise. While the series offers internal continuity and extended plot arcs, it is primarily presented in standalone episodes. Some recurring themes include the exploration of K's origins, as well as J encountering individuals from his life prior to joining MIB. Unlike the film series, the MIB headquarters is located at what looks like a disused area under LaGuardia airport instead of 504 Battery Drive in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Episodes

Characters

Characters design

The aesthetics of the characters were designed by comic book artist

Miguelanxo Prado Miguelanxo Prado () is a Galician people, Galician comic book creator. He was born in A Coruña, Spain in 1958. Biography Prado studied architecture, wrote novels and painted before his career in comics. He worked for several magazines and wro ...

Voice cast

Main

Ed O'Ross Ed O'Ross (born Edward Orss; July 5, 1949) is an American actor. Some of his prominent roles are as Itchy in ''Dick Tracy'', Colonel Perry in '' Universal Soldier'', Lt. Touchdown in '' Full Metal Jacket'', ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rosta ...

* Gregg Berger * Keith Diamond *

Jennifer Lien Jennifer Anne Lien (born August 24, 1974) is an American former actress known for playing the alien Kes on the television series '' Star Trek: Voyager.'' Early life Lien was born August 24, 1974, in Illinois, the youngest of three children, a ...

* Jennifer Martin * Charles Napier *

Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leonar ...

David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to: Sports * Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor * David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier * David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer Oth ...

Additional voices

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on ''Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on ''Aaahh!!! Real Monst ...

* Carlos Alazraqui * Thomas Deeken *

Sherman Howard Sherman Howard (born June 11, 1949) is an American actor. He is best known for his performance as the zombie Bub in George A. Romero's ''Day of the Dead'' (1985) and Lex Luthor on ''Superboy'' (1990–92). He also voiced Derek Powers (a.k.a. Blig ...

* Kath Soucie * Billy West

Home media

In the United States, six episodes from the first half of the first season were issued on three two-episode VHS volumes, all made available on March 16, 1999. The United Kingdom received a similar release on August 19, 2002, however, all six episodes were released on one bumper VHS instead of three two-episode volumes. The release also included a bonus seventh episode, which was actually episode one, billed as the "pilot episode". It was then announced that the remainder of the show's first season, episodes 8–13, would be exclusively released in the region, being made available on VHS on January 24, 2003. On July 12, 2004, the first three episodes of the first season were issued on DVD in the United Kingdom by joint-venture business UCA. Further releases were planned, but sales were not strong enough to warrant any other DVD releases from UCA. The entire first season was issued on DVD for the first time on July 4, 2007, in Australia, via

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...

. The set contained two discs, one containing seven episodes and the other containing the remaining six. On July 16, 2007, the set was made available in the United Kingdom, however, was this time split up into two separate volumes instead of a whole box set. On May 11, 2012, the entire first season was released on DVD for the first time in the United States, being made available as an exclusive product for

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

stores in the country. Thus far, no plans have been announced to issue any further seasons of the show on DVD as of 2021. The series is available on the streaming service Crackle, alternating between the first two seasons and the last two.

Awards

Daytime Emmy Awards *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

– ''Outstanding Sound Editing – Special Class'' – Roshaun Hawley,

Paca Thomas Paca Thomas is the owner of pacaworks.com, a multi-media production company. He can also be heard weekly as Bernie Taupin's sidekick/producer on Bernie Taupin's American Roots Radio on SiriusXM's The Loft. He is the son of Philadelphia DJ George T ...

, Dan Cubert and Marc S. Perlman (won)

Video games

A video game based on the series, titled '' Men in Black: The Series'', was released for the

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

in 1999. A sequel, titled '' Men in Black 2: The Series'' and also based on the show, was released for the Game Boy Color in 2000. A different version of '' Men in Black: The Series'' was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2001. Another game based on the series, titled '' Men in Black: The Series – Crashdown'', was released for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

later in 2001.

References

External links

Official Website (via Internet Archive)
* {{Telemundo Kids 1990s American animated television series 1990s American black cartoons 1990s American comic science fiction television series 1990s American workplace comedy television series 1997 American television series debuts 2000s American animated television series 2000s American black cartoons 2000s American comic science fiction television series 2000s American workplace comedy television series 2001 American television series endings Alternative sequel television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series Animated television series about extraterrestrial life Animated television series set in New York City Animated television shows based on films Animated television series based on Marvel Comics English-language television shows Kids' WB original shows Men in Black (franchise) Television series about the Central Intelligence Agency Television series about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Television series based on adaptations Television series by Adelaide Productions Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows adapted into video games The WB original programming