''The Heart, She Holler'' is an American

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

television series created by

Vernon Chatman Vernon Chatman (born October 31, 1972) is an American television producer, writer, voice actor, stand-up comedian, musician and a member of PFFR, an art collective based in Brooklyn, New York City. He created the television series ''Wonder Showz ...

and

John Lee John Lee may refer to: Academia * John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society * John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal * John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English ...

for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

's nighttime programming block

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

. The series premiered on November 6, 2011 and ended on December 11, 2014, with a total of 28 episodes over the course of 3 seasons.

Plot

The series, described as "

Southern Gothic Southern Gothic is an artistic subgenre of fiction, country music, film and television that are heavily influenced by Gothic elements and the American South. Common themes of Southern Gothic include storytelling of deeply flawed, disturbing or ...

drama" and "an inside-out blend of

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

and

politically incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

surrealist comedy", is about the long-hidden and isolated son of the Heartshe dynasty (

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

) returning to run the town and being locked in conflict with sisters Hurshe (

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on ''F ...

and

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and ''The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

) and Hambrosia (

Heather Lawless Heather Lawless is an American actress, comedian, and voice actress. Early life Lawless was born in Georgia, and raised in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Georgia. Career She began her career as ...

Characters

The Heartshe family

* Hurlan Heartshe (

) – Secret son of Hoss Heartshe, hidden away "since the minute he was born" in a cave, where he lived for 40 years without any human contact, nor ever seeing the light of day, until he is brought out to run the town of Heartshe Holler. Of his character, Oswalt said "I thought of

Kaspar Hauser Kaspar Hauser (30 April 1812 – 17 December 1833) was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death from a stab wound to his left breast, sparked much debate an ...

. That was my model – lethally nonjudgmental of the world to himself, that he trusts everything's going to be awesome." In season 3, Hurlan is killed by the townspeople. * Hurshe Heartshe (

– season 1;

– season 2–3) – Psychotic, vindictive, oversexed sister to Hurlan and Hambrosia. Endlessly plotting to take over the town from Hurlan. It is established in Season 2 that Hurshe was actually married, but her husband is in jail; they had a son and a daughter but she did not bother naming them and keeps them in a secret compartment under her bed, echoing the childhood of their uncle Hurlan. * Hambrosia Heartshe (

) – Hurlan's other sister, who possesses telekinetic and mind-reading powers. She is also trying to take over the town and/or kill her sister. Very religious and married to the town sheriff, she was "born without lady parts", although she carries on an affair with severed ectoplasmic hands. * Sheriff (

Joseph Sikora Joseph Sikora (born June 27, 1976) is an American actor best known for his starring role as Tommy Egan on the Starz series ''Power'' and its subsequent spin-offs and sequels, '' Power Book II: Ghost'' and '' Power Book IV: Force'', in which he ...

– season 1–2;

Scott Adsit Robert Scott Adsit (born November 26, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Adsit joined the mainstage cast of Chicago's The Second City in 1994 after attending Columbia College Chicago. He app ...

– season 3) – The corrupt, generally incompetent

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

of Heartshe Holler, he is married to Hambrosia and in love with her sister Hurshe after seeing her hang herself. * "Boss" Hoss Heartshe (

Jonathan Hadary Jonathan Hadary (born October 11, 1948) is an American actor. Early life and education Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Hadary arrived at Tufts University already an accomplished actor. He was cast in many shows at ...

) – The leader, founder, and owner of the Town of Heartshe Holler who died at the beginning of the series after working tirelessly on his extensive video

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

in which he leaves Hurlan his fortune and full control of the Holler. He appears in every episode through this video will, which he uses to teach and guide Hurlan. He is resurrected in the last episode of the first season when his corpse and living will are posthumously sentenced to "re-death" in the electric chair, but is deceased again in the following seasons which take place in an alternate reality. * "Meemaw"

Virginia Dare Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587, in Roanoke Colony, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a New World English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known be ...

( Judith Anna Roberts) The matriarch of Heartshe Holler, and the bearer of the curse of Heartshe, being unable to diethough Boss Hoss reveals at the end of Season 1 that the ''real'' secret curse is that she ''can'' die, through unspecified means, and if she does it will result in the destruction of Heartshe Holler. It is explained in Season 2 that most if not all of the bizarre incidents which occur in the Holler are due to Meemaw's psychic control, which she uses to play twisted games with the inhabitants of the town for her own amusement. For example, Hurshe's affair with her own sister's husband was largely encouraged by Meemaw's psychic influence. Hambrosia may have inherited her psychic powers from Meemaw, but it is unclear which of them is stronger. In the Season 2 finale, Meemaw's real name is first given as "Virginia Dare", and in Season 3 it is confirmed that she is the ''actual'' Virginia Dare, "the first white person born on this continent". Her birth so offended the gods of the

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

that she was cursed.

Townsfolk

* "Doc" (

Kevin Breznahan Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

) – The town's doctor, formerly an

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

. He's also quite a skilled

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, and for sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

. * The Reverend (

Leo Fitzpatrick Leonardo Aurellio Randy Fitzpatrick is an American actor and co-director of the Marlborough Chelsea gallery. He is best known as Telly in ''Kids'' (1995) and Johnny Weeks in ''The Wire'' (2002–2004). Career He was discovered at age 14 by d ...

) – The immoral and cowardly religious leader of the town. Formerly a criminal named "Psycho Mike" * Cutter (Michael Laurence) – A sleazy handyman who was Boss Hoss's right-hand man and enforcer. He did the dirty work of reining in anyone who challenged Hoss's control of the town. In his video will, Hoss says that over the years he came to think of Cutter as the son he never had – only to then bluntly denounce that Cutter is not of course his son, and therefore he doesn't need to give him any inheritance, leaving Cutter emotionally devastated. Cutter also occasionally has flashbacks about all of the victims he killed. * Jacket (

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

) – an overweight redneck who always wears shirts bearing the Confederate flag. He runs the bar section of the town's combined bar/convenience store, along with his wife Direne. Jacket and Direne first appear in Season 2. By Season 3, he stars in his own local access TV talk show, ''Wake Up White People''. * Direne ( Jennifer Regan) Jacket's wife, who runs the front convenience store section of the town's combined bar/convenience store.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2011)

Season 2 (2013)

Season 3 (2014)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heart She Holler 2010s American surreal comedy television series 2011 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings Adult Swim original programming English-language television shows Gothic television shows Southern United States in fiction Television series about dysfunctional families Television series by PFFR Television series by Williams Street Television shows set in the United States