''Regular Show'' (known as ''Regular Show in Space'' during its eighth season) is an American

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', '' South Park'', and ''Family Guy'' are four of ...

created by J. G. Quintel for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 6, 2010, to January 16, 2017, over the course of eight seasons and 261 episodes. The series stars

Mordecai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was promoted to Vizier after Haman was killed. Biblical acc ...

(a bluejay), Rigby (a

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...

), their coworkers – Skips (a

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are av ...

-shaped man), Muscle Man and Hi-Five Ghost – and their boss, Benson (a gumball machine), all of whom work at a local park as groundskeepers. Mordecai and Rigby spend their days slacking off and trying to avoid work to entertain themselves by any means, which leads to

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, extreme and

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

misconduct. Many of ''Regular Show'' characters were loosely based on those developed for Quintel's student films at

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bo ...

: ''The Naïve Man from Lolliland'' and ''2 in the AM PM''.The Naive Man From Lolliland & 2 In The AM PM
(2006). Film done by JG Quintel during his time at the

. The former was one of the winners of the 2005

Nicktoons Film Festival The Nicktoons Film Festival (also known as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival) was an annual event that was created by producer Fred Seibert and produced for its first three years by his Frederator Studios. The festival featured a selectio ...

and received international attention after being broadcast on

Nicktoons Network Nicktoons (formerly Nicktoons Network) is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel is geared towards children aged 7 to 11, and broadcasts reruns of original animated series from sister network Nickel ...

. Quintel pitched ''Regular Show'' for Cartoon Network's

Cartoonstitute ''The Cartoonstitute'' was a planned Cartoon Network project created by Cartoon Network's executive Rob Sorcher that would have been a showcase for animated shorts created without the interference of network executives and focus testing. It was ...

project, in which the network allowed young artists to create pilots with no notes, which would possibly be optioned as shows. The series premiered on September 6, 2010, on Cartoon Network. As of May 2013, the program had been watched by approximately 2 to 2.5 million viewers each week. The series has received acclaim from critics and has developed a following of all ages, although it has garnered controversy for its dark humor, sexual

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

s, violence and mature themes. ''Regular Show'' has been nominated for several awards, including seven

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally d ...

s, six

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s – one of which it won for the episode "Eggscellent" (season 3, episode 18) – and three

British Academy Children's Awards The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Aca ...

. A film based on the series, titled '' Regular Show: The Movie'', premiered in 2015. After eight seasons and 261 episodes, the series concluded on January 16, 2017, with the 33-minute finale " A Regular Epic Final Battle."

Premise

The series revolves around the daily lives of two 23-year-old friends – Mordecai (a blue jay) and Rigby (a raccoon) – who work as groundskeepers at a park, and spend their days trying to avoid work and entertain themselves by any means. This is much to the chagrin of their boss, Benson (a gumball machine), and their coworker Skips (a

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

''Regular Show'' largely grew out of creator J. G. Quintel's life and experiences in college. Quintel attended the California Institute of the Arts, and many of the characters on ''Regular Show'' are based on the characters developed for his student films ''

The Naïve Man from Lolliland James Garland Quintel is an American animator, voice actor, director, writer, producer, and storyboard artist. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Regular Show'' (2010–2017), in which he voiced Mordecai and High Fi ...

'' (2005) and ''

2 in the AM PM James Garland Quintel is an American animator, voice actor, director, writer, producer, and storyboard artist. He is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Regular Show'' (2010–2017), in which he voiced Mordecai and High Fi ...

'' (2006). Both originated as part of the 48-Hour Film Project, in which students put words into a hat, pulled out one word at midnight and spent a weekend developing ideas for a film. Quintel attended college with Thurop Van Orman and Pendleton Ward, who both went on to work at

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operatin ...

with Quintel; Van Orman created '' The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'' and Ward created ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn ( Jeremy Shada) and ...

''. Quintel concurrently worked on ''

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey that goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleba ...

'' and as creative director on ''The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack'' while completing his degree. He was later invited to pitch for Cartoon Network's ''

'', a project to showcase short films created without the interference of network executives and

focus testing A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...

. Quintel returned to the characters from his films, put them together with newer characters and created a pilot. Quintel wanted to present a visual pitch rather than a verbal one, believing the idea would make little sense otherwise. He storyboarded the idea for the pilot, and

Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, storyboard artist, and designer known for creating the Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and '' Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Cha ...

and

Rob Renzetti Robert John Renzetti is an American animator and author. Renzetti is known for creating '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' and the ''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' series '' Mina and the Count'' for Nickelodeon, directing ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''The Powerpu ...

liked his presentation. ''Regular Show'' was one of two series from the project that were green-lit – the other being ''

Secret Mountain Fort Awesome ''Secret Mountain Fort Awesome'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network that debuted in 2011. The show revolves around a fraternity of five monsters who unleash wild stunts upon the public from t ...

'', based on the Cartoonstitute short '' Uncle Grandpa'', which in turn became its own series later on. The project was eventually scrapped and never premiered on television. The character of Mordecai embodies Quintel during his college years, specifically at CalArts; Quintel said, "That's that time when you're hanging out with your friends and getting into stupid situations, but you're also taking it seriously enough." The character of Rigby was randomly developed when Quintel drew a raccoon hula-hooping. He liked the design and developed the character of Rigby to be far less responsible than his companion. Episodes are produced using storyboarding and hand-drawn animation, and each episode takes roughly nine months to create. Quintel recruited several independent comic book artists to draw the show's animated elements; their style matched closely with Quintel's ideas for the series. The show's soundtrack comprises original music composed by

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

as well as licensed songs. While preparing for the beginning of the show, Quintel looked for young, independent comic artists to comprise the show's storyboard artists; he thought that the style would closely match that of ''Regular Show''. He looked through blogs and convention panels for the "total package," which he said was the ability to write and draw, something that many independent comic book artists possess. In addition, Quintel attended many open shows at CalArts, an eight-hour festival of student animation. The style and sensibility of ''Regular Show'' was difficult to work with in the beginning; the artists struggled to create a natural, sitcom-like sound for the series.

Inspirations

Growing up, Quintel was inspired by ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' and '' Beavis and Butt-Head'', and credits the stylistic elements of Joe Murray's ''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric stee ...

'' and ''Camp Lazlo'' as working their way into his style. Video games ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'', ''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime, with occasional elements of conspi ...

'' and ''

ToeJam & Earl ''ToeJam & Earl'' is an action game developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) console. Released in 1991, it centers on ToeJam and Earl— alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. ...

–'' which Quintel played when he was a child – also inspired the series, as did some

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

programs. Quintel's interest in British television was influenced by his British roommate at CalArts, who introduced him to ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'', ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, written and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in the offices of the ...

'', '' Little Britain'', '' The Office'' and ''

The Mighty Boosh The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which a ...

''; the latter was very influential to Quintel and would later influence the humor in ''Regular Show''.

Production

Writing

The plots of ''Regular Show'' episodes generally begin with a basic problem that the characters must overcome. While the protagonists work on their task, a magical, supernatural or strange element appears and complicates the initially simple problem. The writers decided to follow this narrative structure to take advantage of the animation. The series is rated TV-PG-V. Cartoon Network told Quintel early on that they wanted to "age it up from the TV-Y7 stuff we'd been doing in the past." This direction led the crew to use adult-oriented humor with innuendos and drug and alcohol references. One of the program's storyboard artists, Calvin Wong, said he enjoys the limitations set by writing for the show since the adult-oriented jokes that are approved are satisfying. The plots of the episodes were influenced by Quintel's and the writers' personal experiences, such as performing prank telephone calls or accepting an eating challenge from a restaurant. The show often references 1980s culture, using music and electronic devices from that era because many factors from the decade left a positive influence on Quintel. The show also makes references to modern social trends such as viral internet videos.

Voice cast

The voice acting of the series is relatively low-key, and the intention was to make most of the characters sound natural and conversational. Quintel wanted to make the show listenable and given contrast to most other cartoons, which often are difficult for adults to listen to. The main cast consists of voice acting veterans

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...

, who portrays Skips, and Roger Craig Smith, who plays Thomas. William Salyers plays the voice of Rigby; Janie Haddad portrays Margaret; Quintel's former CalArts classmate Sam Marin voices Benson, Pops and Muscle Man; and Quintel portrays Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost. Members of the production staff have voiced several characters throughout the series, including Minty Lewis, Toby Jones, Andress Salaff and Matt Price. The ''Regular Show'' cast recorded their lines together in group as opposed to individual recording sessions for each actor; this helped make the show's dialogue sound natural. The series regularly used guest voice actors for recurring characters, such as

Steven Blum Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his most well-known roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series ''Cowboy Bebop'', Garazeb Orrelios from the animated series ''St ...

, Courtenay Taylor,

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in '' The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for fou ...

Robin Atkin Downes Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor known for his work in animation and video games. Early life Downes was born in London. He earned an MFA from Temple University in Philadelphia. Career Downes has voiced characters in animated films ...

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in '' Gargoyles'' and Kowalski in the ''Penguins of Madagascar' ...

, Jennifer Hale, David Kaye,

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy in various DC m ...

, Matthew Yang King and Julian Holloway.

Animation

Each episode of ''Regular Show'' took about nine months to complete. Quintel and his 35-member team developed each episode at

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, wh ...

. The script was illustrated in rough hand-drawn images, known as

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, in th ...

s. The storyboards were then animated and mixed with the corresponding dialogue to create the animatic, which was then sent to be approved by the network. The show's assets – backgrounds, character designs, props, etc. – were then assembled to be sent to Saerom Animation in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, where the actual animation production of the episode was performed. When finished, the episode was sent to Sabre Media Studios back in California. Music and sound effects were created, and the final episode is mixed and completed. The process allowed the production team to work concurrently on dozens of episodes at different stages of production. Although most modern animation had switched to hybrid methods such as the Cintiq, ''Regular Show'' was described as "far more low-fi" and was animated traditionally by hand using paper, which was then digitally composited and painted with digital ink and paint. Although Cintiqs were initially optioned to be used for the program, Quintel stated that he felt more comfortable working on paper, considering it to be more organic and more representative of each artist's individual style. Board artist Calvin Wong said, "the tools of the trade as being pencils, pens, white-out and occasionally lightboxes and electric erasers."

Music

''Regular Show'' has no regular theme music; instead, at the beginning of each episode, a blurred sound (provided by Quintel) followed by a ticking clock is heard over the title cards. The main composer of the series is

, one of the founding members of the band

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

. As Quintel was developing the pilot, he considered asking Mothersbaugh to create the music for the show. The episode's animatic was sent to Mothersbaugh, along with a request for him to join the show's staff and crew. ''Regular Show'' also made use of licensed songs – mostly from the 1980s – which began when Quintel and the staff writers started recording the animatics using copyrighted songs for the montage scenes. The network executives watched the animatic and asked the crew if they wanted to use some of the songs for the finished episodes. Quintel said that the songs are chosen for their suitability for the scene, whether they sound good and if their licensing is affordable. Quintel enjoyed using the songs in the episodes, saying he thought adult viewers may remember them and younger viewers might appreciate older music. Songs in the show include "

You're the Best Around "You're the Best" is a song performed by Joe Esposito and written by Bill Conti (music) and Allee Willis (lyrics), which came to prominence as the music to the All-Valley Karate Championships montage in the 1984 movie ''The Karate Kid'' in which t ...

," "

Mississippi Queen "Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching number 21 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1970. The song is included on the group's debut album and se ...

," " Don't You (Forget About Me)" and " A Holly Jolly Christmas." The show also used several non-'80s songs, such as " Pale Blue Eyes" by

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacL ...

in '' Regular Show: The Movie'' and " Heroes" by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

in the series finale. Another notable song used in the show is "Here Comes a Regular" by The Replacements, a band often considered as underground. The show also produced original songs that were used in episodes, which were generally composed by Mothersbaugh and written by one of the staff's storyboard artists. "Summertime Loving, Loving in the Summer (Time)" was written by staff member Sean Szeles and appeared in the episode "This Is My Jam" (season 2, episode 13).

Episodes

Most episodes of ''Regular Show'' last 11 minutes; episodes are usually paired together to fill a half-hour program slot. 261 episodes in eight seasons have been completed and broadcast. The first season began on September 6, 2010, with the episode "The Power" and ended on November 22, 2010, with "Mordecai and the Rigbys." The second season began on November 29, 2010, with "Ello Gov'nor" and ended on August 1, 2011, with "Karaoke Video." The third season premiered on September 19, 2011, with the episode "Stick Hockey" and concluded on September 3, 2012, with "Bad Kiss." The fourth season premiered on October 1, 2012, with the half-hour special "Exit 9B" and concluded on August 12, 2013, with "Steak Me Amadeus." The fifth season premiered on September 2, 2013, with the episodes "Laundry Woes" and "Silver Dude" and concluded on August 14, 2014, with "Real Date." The sixth season premiered on October 9, 2014, with "Maxin' and Relaxin'" and ended on June 25, 2015, with "Dumped at the Altar." The seventh season premiered with "Dumptown U.S.A." on June 26, 2015, and ended with the half-hour "Rigby's Graduation Day Special" on June 30, 2016. The eighth and final season, titled ''Regular Show in Space'', started on September 26, 2016, with "One Space Day at a Time" and ended on January 16, 2017, with "A Regular Epic Final Battle."

Crossovers

Mordecai and Rigby had cameo appearances on the '' Uncle Grandpa'' episode "Pizza Eve," along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons. Mordecai, Rigby and Hi-Five Ghost make a small cameo in ''

The Amazing World of Gumball ''The Amazing World of Gumball'' is an animated sitcom created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 12-year-old Gumball Watterson, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and adoptive goldfish brother Darwin, who atten ...

'' episode "The Boredom," along with the titular characters from '' Uncle Grandpa'' and ''

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

''. Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost appear in the '' OK K.O.!: Let's Be Heroes'' special "Crossover Nexus," and a character resembling Mordecai cameos in ''

'' episode "

Ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and tangy flavor. The unmodified term ("ketchup") now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes used egg whites, mushrooms, oysters, grapes, mussels, or walnuts, among ot ...

Reception

Ratings

''Regular Show'' became an instant hit. Its first and second seasons, broadcast on Monday nights, ranked No. 1 in its time slot among all key boy demos across all of television, according to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. The pilot's premiere was watched by 2.097 million viewers. For the following episodes of the first season, viewership increased by over 10% from the time period of the previous year. For instance, the entry was viewed by 1.339 million children aged 2–11, a 65% increase from the previous year. It was also watched by 716,000 children aged 9–14, a 43% increase. The Season 2 premiere, "Ello Gov'nor," marked a decline from the Season 1 premiere's figures. It gained 2.067 million views, but it marked an increase from the Season 1 finale, which had 2.028 million viewers. The Season 3 premiere, "Stick Hockey," saw a bigger decline in viewers, recording 2 million views. As the series continued, though, its ratings grew for a short time; the Season 4 premiere, "Exit 9B," was watched by 3.047 million viewers – a significant increase from previous seasons. However, as the series went on, the ratings would decline, and by the last season, most episodes had under 1 million viewers.

Critical reception

''Regular Show'' received critical acclaim. A reviewer from '' IGN'', R.L. Shaffer, called the show zany, absurd, bizarre and hilarious. He praised the show's writing and said that it included "snappy dialogue, odd characters, and clever storieseach more irrelevant than the last''Regular Show'' never ceases to tickle the funny bone." He finished his review by calling the show "a pretty awesome piece of refreshing off-the-wall comedy" and wrote that it's "humorously animated, brazenly silly and almost always funny." ''DVD Talks Neil Lumbrad described the show as "offbeat sense of humor with a lot of randomness that makes its title both peculiar and hilarious" and compared it to the original ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' shorts and other cartoons – including ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic T ...

'', ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a h ...

'' and ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired f ...

'' – that Cartoon Network has produced. He wrote that the network has found "animated gold with ''Regular Show'', which is too offbeat and unique to be called regular" and that it is a "comedic animated gem worthy of being discovered for years to come." Lumbrad ended his review by recommending the show and calling it "one truly awesome cartoon with a lot of good humor to enjoy." '' The A.V. Clubs critic, Alasdair Wilkins, said that compared to another of Cartoon Network's animated comedies, ''

'', he does not consider the series to be funny, and described it as "more pleasingly weird." He said that the episodes' plots can occasionally be too complex to explore completely in the show's 11 minutes and that the usual story setup can make some stories feel structurally the same as others. Wilkins said he considers the show at its best when it focuses on the jokes, the character moments and inventive ways to use animation. Kevin McFarland, also of ''The A.V. Club'', said he considers the series a thrill to watch; he complimented the animation style, characters and use of motifs.

Awards and nominations

Related media

Comic books

In January 2013,

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Ho ...

announced that it would develop a comic book series based on the show and that KC Green would be writing the script and Allison Strejlav would be in charge of the illustrations. The first issue was officially released on May 15, 2013. A series of original graphic novels began publication in 2014, as well. The first, titled ''Hydration'', was written by Rachel Connor and illustrated by Tessa Stone. It was followed by ''Noir Means Noir, Buddy'' (2015), ''A Clash of Consoles'' (2016), ''Wrasslesplosion'' (2017), ''The Meatening'' (2018) and ''Comic Conned'' (2018).

Video games

On November 9, 2011, a game called "Nightmare-Athon" was released in App Store for iOS. On January 24, 2013, a game called "Ride 'Em Rigby" was released in iOS. On April 8, 2013, J. G. Quintel announced on his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

page that an official ''Regular Show'' video game was in development at the time, titled '' Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land''. It was developed by

WayForward Technologies WayForward Technologies, Inc. is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in Valencia, California. Founded in March 1990 by technology entrepreneur Voldi Way, WayForward started by developing games for consoles such as t ...

and published by

D3 Publisher is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded on February 5, 1992. The company is known for the '' Simple'' series of budget-priced video games. Their games have been released for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nint ...

for

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

. The video game was released on October 29, 2013. Mordecai and Rigby became playable characters in a video game called '' Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers'', which was released for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on November 8, 2016, and the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

on October 31, 2017.

Other merchandise

Jazwares has produced an assortment of two-, six-, seven- and 10-inch licensed action figures and plush toys for the series. "Collectable Figures" have also been released, along with other themed merchandise, such as "80's Bobbleheads," "Pullback Custom Cruisers" and "Wrestling Buddies." There have been many graphic T-shirts officially licensed through clothing retailers

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...

, We Love Fine and Threadless.

Looney Labs Looney Labs, Inc. is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, United States. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney, and is best known for creating the Fluxx line of card games. The company has three U.S. p ...

also released a ''Regular Show''–themed version of the card game ''

Fluxx ''Fluxx'' is a card game, played with a specially designed deck published by Looney Labs. It is different from most other card games, in that the rules and the conditions for winning are altered throughout the game, via cards played by the players ...

'' on July 25, 2014.

Film

At the Cartoon Network 2015/2016 upfront, it was announced they were making ''Regular Show: The Movie''. After accidentally creating a "Timenado," slacker groundskeepers Mordecai and Rigby go back in time and battle an evil volleyball coach in order to save the universe – and their friendship. It first screened at

The Downtown Independent The Downtown Independent is a one screen theater and cinema located at 251 S. Main Street in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With near ...

in Los Angeles on August 14, 2015. It was released to digital download on September 1, 2015, as well as on DVD by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

on October 13, 2015, and had its television premiere in November 2015. The movie also screened at select Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas across the United States, and it had select showtimes at the SVA Theatre of New York and the Cinema Montrereal CANADA during October 2015.

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Region 1

Region 4

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* * * {{Portal bar, Cartoon Network, Animation, Cartoon, Television, United States 2010 American television series debuts 2010s American animated television series 2010s American science fiction television series 2010s American sitcoms 2010s American surreal comedy television series 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2017 American television series endings American animated sitcoms American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated drama television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated space adventure television series Animated television series about birds Boom! Studios titles Cartoon Network original programming Television series by Cartoon Network Studios English-language television shows Television series about raccoons Television series created by J. G. Quintel Television shows adapted into comics Television shows adapted into video games

Premise

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Writing

Voice cast

Animation

Music

Episodes

Crossovers

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Critical reception

Awards and nominations

Related media

Comic books

Video games

Other merchandise

Film

Home media

Region 1

Region 4

Explanatory notes

See also

References

External links