''Bless the Harts'' is an American animated sitcom created by Emily Spivey for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Debuting on September 29, 2019, the series is executive produced by Spivey,

Andy Bobrow Andy Bobrow is an American television writer and producer known for his work on '' Community''. He was previously a writer for ''Malcolm in the Middle'', head writer for '' The Last Man on Earth'', ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Bless the Harts'' a ...

, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Seth Cohen. The series is a joint production between Fox Entertainment and

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

. The animation production is handled by

Titmouse, Inc. Titmouse, Inc. is an American animation studio that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, music videos, title sequences, commercials, and short films. The studio opened in 2000, and has offices in Los Angeles, New ...

, with overseas animation services by Yearim and Digital eMation in Seoul, South Korea. The show's title is based on the

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

phrase " Bless your heart". Spivey and Bobrow served as co-showrunners for the series' run. In April 2021, Fox cancelled the series after two seasons. The series concluded on June 20, 2021.

Premise

''Bless the Harts'' follows a working-class family living in North Carolina. The main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

, waitress Jenny Hart, struggles to make ends meet, and lives with her artistically talented daughter Violet Hart and mother Betty Hart. Her boyfriend Wayne has dated Jenny since her daughter Violet was a toddler, and acts as a father figure in Violet’s life. Jenny works at “The Last Supper”, a religious themed restaurant, with her best friend since high school, Brenda. The show's creator Emily Spivey has stated that it is based on her life growing up in High Point, North Carolina and is set in the state's Triad region. The name of the show's fictional town, Greenpoint, is a portmanteau of Greensboro and High Point; a map in the episode "The Last Supper" shows Greenpoint in northeast Forsyth County in the region. ''Bless the Harts'' loosely shares a universe with the Fox series '' King of the Hill'', which ran from 1997 to 2010. Spivey cites ''King of the Hill'' as her major influence for creating ''Bless the Harts''. The fictional superstore Mega Lo Mart, first introduced in ''King of the Hill'', makes several appearances in ''Bless the Harts''.

Cast

Main

* Kristen Wiig as Jenny Hart, a single mother who struggles to make money for her family by working as a waitress at the Last Supper. She ran out on her wedding to local wealthy legend Don Reynolds, but not before she got pregnant with his daughter. Wiig also voices Greenpoint newscaster Maykay Bueller. *

Maya Rudolph Maya Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and later played supporting roles in the films '' 50 First Dates'' ...

as Betty Hart, Jenny's widowed mother. In "Jenny Unfiltered" and "Betty's Birthday", her age is revealed to be 53. Even though her husband Ed is dead, he is mentioned multiple times in the series. Rudolph also voices Norma, Greenpoint's mail lady and Dr. Chakrabarti (season 1), Wayne's neighbor. * Jillian Bell as Violet Hart, Jenny's daughter who loves art. Although sarcastic and cynical, she cares deeply about her family. She is either 13 years old (according to her voice actress) or a preteen (according to Betty). Reynolds is her biological father. Bell also voices Cherish, a mom with two teenage sons, as well as various background characters. * Ike Barinholtz as Wayne Edwards, Jenny's boyfriend. Wayne's main goal is to win Violet's approval, though he has fears that he will never live up to Jenny's wealthy ex-boyfriend. Wayne is generally well-meaning, and his inner thought monologues reveal that he actually has serious and reflective concerns about being a good parental figure, but his outward attempts at expressing this usually fail awkwardly. Barinholtz also voices various background characters. * Kumail Nanjiani as Jesus Christ, who appears as a figment of Jenny's imagination. Although, in "Toni with an I", Violet also sees him. * Fortune Feimster as Brenda Clemmons (season 2; recurring season 1), Jenny's co-worker and best friend, and Bobbie-Nell, Jenny's elderly neighbor who picks fights with Wayne.

Recurring

* Emily Spivey as Louise, Jenny's boss, whose catchphrase whenever she enters is "Doot-dih-dih-doo", and various background characters. * Drew Tarver as Randy, the town oddball and village idiot whose religion is

Satanism Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few hi ...

, Charles Lee, a city councilman, and various background characters. * Jeremy Rowley as Jimmy Lee, a city councilman, various background characters, Uncle Tommy, Wayne's child uncle, and Mayor Webb, the mayor of Greenpoint. Rowley provided the voice of Mayor Webb in season 1 and "The Last Supper". After, the role was recast to Jon Hamm, who took over in "Dead Mall". * Oscar Montoya as David Brito, Violet's best friend. *

as Bud, the owner of a strip club, and various background characters. * Gary Anthony Williams as Leonard, Wayne's co-worker and friend. Leonard does not have any lines in season 2 and only makes cameo appearances. * Rich Blomquist as Daniel, Louise's unfaithful, uncaring and rude husband (Daniel passes away in "Big Pimpin'"), and various background characters. * Christy Stratton as Dawn, a stripper and one of Jenny's friends, and various background characters. *

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...

as Crystalynn, Betty's arch-nemesis. * Jon Hamm as Mayor Webb (starting with "Dead Mall"; see above) *

David Herman David Herman (born February 20, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on ''MADtv'' from 1995 to 1997, and played Michael Bolton in ''Office Space''. He has done voice-over work in hundreds of episodes of ''B ...

as Peter, Wayne's dim-witted co-worker, Benny, a cook at the Last Supper, and various background characters. *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Mr. Stikeleather, and various background characters. * Grey DeLisle as MeeMaw Edwards (season 1), Ashleigh, and Mayor Webb's mother. * Phil LaMarr as Reverend Ace, RJ Deerdeckers, Rayford, and various background characters. * Holly Hunter as Marjune Gamble, a rich woman who is a member of the Ladies of Greenpoint. *

Janine Brito Janine Brito is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Prominent within the San Francisco stand-up comedy scene, she is recognized nationally as a writer and on-air correspondent for the television program '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bel ...

as a waitress at the Great Sydney Steakhouse. * Ken Jeong as Doug, one of Wayne's co-workers. *

Michelle Buteau Michelle Buteau (born July 24, 1977) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, television host, and podcast host. Early life Buteau was born in New Jersey to a Haitian father of partial Lebanese descent and a Jamaican mother of half-French desc ...

as Vanessa, Linda, Detective Bassett, and various background characters. * JP Karliak as various background characters. * Kenan Thompson as Travis, Wayne's childhood friend.

Guest

* John Solomon as Tracheo Steve * Jee Young Han as Binh Ly * Stephen Root as Rick Ocean * Jorma Taccone as Craig *

Chris Parnell Thomas Christopher Parnell (; born February 5, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1998 to 2006 and played the role of Dr. Leo Spaceman on ''30 Rock''. In animation, he voices Cyril Figgis ...

as Ian David Cole * Susan Yeagley as Mary Jill and Dr. Pam * Kristen Schaal as Stacey * Natasha Lyonne as Debbie Donatello * Ana Gasteyer as Sam * Christopher Meloni as Detective Voccola * Sal Vulcano as Bear Vulcano * Fred Tatasciore as Henri Tomber * Michael Hitchcock as Mr. Bigsby and a senator * Daisuke Suzuki as Hiroki Kakatani * Paula Pell as Ruth and Lenore * Chris Diamantopoulos as Minister Mikey * Drew Droege as Julian * Jack McBrayer as Deputy Tug and Parker * Sarah Baker as Pastor Joanne * Harry Hamlin as Rod * Tim Meadows as Sheriff Taylor * Rachael MacFarlane as a dispatcher * Swoosie Kurtz as Mee-Maw Edwards (season 2) * Madhur Jaffrey as Dr. Charkabarti (season 2) * Erin Andrews as herself * Joe Buck as himself * Fred Armisen as Leslie

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2019–20)

Season 2 (2020–21)

Production

Development

On September 25, 2018,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

gave the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of thirteen episodes. The series was created by Emily Spivey, who was also expected to executive produce alongside Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Seth Cohen. Production companies involved with the series were slated to include

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

and Lord Miller Productions, but with the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the Fox Corporation was added as a production company (also copyright holder) later on. The series debuted on September 29, 2019, and was renewed for a second season on October 18, 2019. On November 27, 2019, writer, showrunner, and executive producer

confirmed that 3 of the episodes in season 1 would air in season 2 as holdovers. On April 22, 2020, the show joined the rest of Fox's

Animation Domination Animation Domination (also called AniDom, Fox AD, and AD) is an American animated programming block which has aired in two iterations on the Fox broadcast network, featuring a lineup solely made up of prime-time animation and adult animation carr ...

lineup in a partnership with Caffeine for the ''AniDom Beyond Show'', a recap series hosted by Andy Richter. The hour-long program featured interviews with guests and live interactivity with fans online, with recaps for the episodes that aired through April and May. While there was no ''Bless the Harts'' episode, on May 18, 2020, showrunner

joined the series with other writers from the Fox

lineup. The second season premiered on September 27, 2020. The second season was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted many other television productions, but left animated production largely unaffected. The series had a panel at the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con, which was marketed as "Comic-Con@Home", to promote the season, with Kristen Wiig,

, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz, Fortune Feimster,

, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller. On April 1, 2021, it was announced that the second season will be the show's last.

Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, and Ike Barinholtz were cast in series regular roles. On January 11, 2019,

and Drew Tarver were cast in recurring roles. On July 25, 2020, during the San Diego Comic-Con@Home, the series' panel announced that Ken Jeong, Kristen Schaal, and Natasha Lyonne joined the cast in guest starring roles for the second season.

Release

Because of

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

's deal with Fox, the series was also syndicated to Canada, airing new episodes the same day and time as the United States. The show is also available to stream on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

, and able to purchase on YouTube and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. In India, the series is simulcasted on

Disney+ Hotstar The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

because of

output deal with

Star India Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, reac ...

. On April 28, 2020, the Finland

channel had announced that they had picked up the series for syndication from

. The show debuted in Finland on May 9, 2020, in Finland and is available to stream on Ruutu free with commercials. Season 2 premiered on November 7, 2020. ''Bless the Harts'' debuted on the Brazil Fox Premium channel on July 21, 2020. The Dutch version of Comedy Central acquired both seasons. The show is available to stream on Disney+ via the

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

content hub in selected territories.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 82% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With an exceptional cast and a big heart to boot, ''Bless the Harts'' particular worldview won't be for everyone, but it fits quite nicely into Fox's Animation Domination line-up". On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Bubbleblabber gave the first season a 6 out of 10, stating "this first season most definitely has more misses than hits in its line up which three more episodes likely wouldn’t have helped at this point. With this extra time to work on these and future episodes while taking in reception from this season, I think the next will really benefit in the long term. Plus, it gets the rare honor of being a new Fox animated show that actually GOT a second season, which has not happened since '' Bob's Burgers'' got its first renewal at the start of the decade. Fox is thinking outside the box to keep its adult animation thriving, which hopefully means more chances for exploration in future seasons. I’ll tell you what, these Harts are quite blessed to be given the chance to be Fox’s next enduring animated series." The Parents Television Council, a frequent critic of Fox Broadcasting Company animated comedies like ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', gave the first episode a negative review.

Ratings

Overall

Season 1

Season 2

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bless the Harts 2019 American television series debuts 2021 American television series endings 2010s American sitcoms 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American satirical television series 2020s American sitcoms 2020s American adult animated television series 2020s American satirical television series American animated sitcoms American adult animated comedy television series Animated television series about dysfunctional families Animated television series about teenagers English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Portrayals of Jesus on television Television series by Fox Television Animation Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Fox Entertainment Television shows set in North Carolina Television series created by Emily Spivey