Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law | |
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Season 1 | |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Release | |
Original network | Cartoon Network (pilot) Adult Swim (season) |
Original release | December 30, 2000(pilot) September 2, 2001 – June 8, 2003 (season) |
Season chronology | |
The first season of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the fourth spin-off of Space Ghost Coast to Coast and the first adult animated production to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios, saw its pilot air on December 30, 2000 on Cartoon Network ahead of receiving a season order of an additional eight episodes, airing from September 2, 2001 to June 8, 2003 on Adult Swim. It introduced the series' main characters and established the general plot of the title character, ex-superhero Harvey Birdman of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio as an attorney working for the law firm Sebben & Sebben alongside other cartoon stars from various 1960s and 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Harvey's clients are also primarily characters taken from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the same era.[1] Many of Birdman's nemeses from his former cartoon series appear as attorneys, often representing the opposing side of a given case. Harvey usually fills the role of a criminal defense attorney, though he will act as a civil litigator or other similar roles when the plot calls for it.
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Gary Cole as Harvey Raymond Randall "Ray" Birdman
- Thomas Michael Allen as Peanut
- Frank Welker as Avenger
- Welker also reprises his role as Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo in "Shaggy Busted".
- Stephen Colbert as Phil Ken Sebben and Myron Reducto
- John Michael Higgins as Judge Mentok the Mind-Taker
Supporting cast
- Steve Landesberg as The Bailiff
- Thom Pinto as Race Bannon
- Neil Ross as Vulturo and Dr. Benton Quest
- Dee Bradley Baker as Jonny Quest and Lizard Man
- Billy West as Dr. Zin
- Maurice LaMarche as Apache Chief, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, Azul Falcone, and Magilla Gorilla
- Phil LaMarr as Black Vulcan
- Matt Peccini as The Bear
- Laraine Newman as Sybil Scussler
- Michael Bell as Zan
- Scott Innes as Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo
- B.J. Ward as Velma Dinkley
- Jeff Bergman as George Jetson and Old Man Bakov
- Michael McKean as Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton
- Tom Kenny as Boo-Boo Bear
- Grey DeLisle as Daphne Blake and Dr. Gale Melody
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Barney Rubble
- Tress MacNeille as Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone
- André Sogliuzzo as Dynomutt
- Peter MacNicol as X the Eliminator
- Nika Futterman as Debbie
- Joe Alaskey as Peter Potamus and Number One
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
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1 | 1 | "Bannon Custody Battle" | J. J. Sedelmaier | December 30, 2000 (Cartoon Network) September 2, 2001 (Adult Swim) | 2001 |
Race Bannon tells Dr. Benton Quest that Race is like a father to the children and wants custody of them. Harvey has to prove Benton Quest is the better father — a difficult task as Benton can't even remember his sons' names. At court, Vulturo represents Race, although his speech impediment confuses the jury. He claims that genetics shouldn't determine fatherhood, and calls a parade of witnesses — villains from the original Jonny Quest series — all of whom say that Bannon is the better father. Dr. Quest, the boys, and Harvey gather that night at Harvey's hangout, a bar called The Birdcage. The next day, Harvey questions Dr. Quest about the boys, but Quest simply goes on talking about his experiments. Harvey eventually reveals that the "Race Bannon" that has been put on the stand is a robot; the stenographer is revealed to be Dr. Zin who was behind the whole thing, in an attempt to get the boys away from Bannon and Quest. Dr. Zin is taken away and Harvey wins the case. The real Race is summoned by videophone; he is on vacation, and had been playing volleyball with many men. Quest is curious as to how Zin was capable of making such a good body duplicate. Race quickly signs off without answering. Other than Harvey, Avenger and Mightor, this episode does not include any of the series recurring characters, and the law firm of Sebben and Sebben is not mentioned. | |||||
2 | 2 | "Very Personal Injury" | Vincent Waller | September 23, 2001 | 10-02 |
Apache Chief, the Native American former Super Friend who has the power to grow to large sizes, saves the city from a large meteor. Afterwards, he heads into Javalux for a cup of coffee; as he searches for some cash, he accidentally spills the hot coffee on his lap. He goes to see Harvey, shrinking in fear when Harvey offers him a hot drink. Apache Chief explains to Harvey what happened, and how he has now lost his ability to enlarge. They go to court to sue the Javalux company, the other attorney being the paranoid Reducto. Harvey brings to the witness stand some more obscure super heroes. First he speaks with Black Vulcan, later on with Zan of the Wonder Twins. At the Birdcage, Reducto suggest settling, but Birdman says it's not about the money, and how Apache Chief just wants to be recognized. He says that if Apache Chief felt appreciated, the case would likely go away. This causes Reducto to adopt his "scheming face" and begin scheming. Back at court, Reducto calls the manager of the Javalux shop, a woman named Sybil Shussler. Under questioning, she says that what's happened to Apache Chief was wrong. She speaks out about Apache Chief's heroism and benefit to society, while becoming increasingly Indian-looking in dress every time the camera comes back to her. Suddenly, Apache Chief grows to fill the courtroom. Mightor dismisses the case. In the end, Apache Chief and a group of other minor heroes (as well as Jesse Jackson) have decided to form the "Multi-Culture Pals". Apache Chief has also gained the love of Sybil Shussler, who kisses him, causing him to grow a foot, blushing. Everyone laughs. This episode marks the first appearance of the Bear; also, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, and Reducto. Notes:
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3 | 3 | "Shaggy Busted" | Vincent Waller | July 7, 2002 | 10-03 |
The Mystery Machine, playing music reminiscent of the early Doobie Brothers, is pulled over for erratic driving. The driver, Shaggy Rogers, claims that they heard there was a monster around the old abandoned cotton mill and he was going to meet up with the rest of the gang, to try and catch it. The officer thinks it quite obvious he and Scooby are under the influence, but when he asks them to step out, they speed off. Back at Sebben & Sebben, Harvey is having trouble keeping track of his files, and starts interviewing for a clerk. He is impressed by a young man named Peanut who dresses much like himself. Despite his annoyingly laid-back persona, he decides to hire him. Fred Jones comes in to hire Harvey, who mistakes him for a gang member, his ascot being his colors. Fred brings Harvey to the jail to see Scooby and Shaggy, but they still act as though they're high. The rest of the gang tries to assure him that they're not high, just stupid. The case goes to court, and Spyro acts out the traffic stop theater style as Peanut hits on Daphne; he is so cool as to be practically unintelligible. The arresting officer claims to have found drug paraphernalia, but Harvey manages to show this as circumstantial. Velma goes on the stand, and tells Harvey that they're just always hungry and they laugh when nervous. This supports an earlier defense claim that clips of old Scooby-Doo cartoons shown by the prosecution have been taken out of context to show Shaggy and Scooby as total stoners. On the second day of the trial, Fred and Velma burst into the court with the monster in custody. They unmask him to be Old Man Bakov, and he tells of his nefarious plans. Everybody laughs heartily, including Bakov. | |||||
4 | 4 | "Death by Chocolate" | Ben Jones | July 14, 2002 | 10-04 |
In Jellystone Park, Yogi and Boo Boo are awakened by ATF agents who (accidentally) fire a tear gas canister into the bears' cave. Phil Ken Sebben (in his first appearance) orders Harvey to defend Boo Boo, who is accused of being a terrorist known as the Unabooboo (a takeoff of the Unabomber). At the Birdcage, Reducto tells Harvey that there is no government, that everything is owned by a handful of corporations and soon there would be one world currency. Harvey laughs this off, and then pays his bar tab in euros. Back in Trial, the prosecution of the case provides several pieces of evidence, the most crucial of which is a typed manifesto produced on an electric typewriter with a misaligned 'T' key. Harvey argues that this could not have been written by Boo Boo as there is no electricity in their cave. Harvey further proves that Boo Boo could not have written it after bringing Yogi Bear as a witness, testifying that both he and Boo Boo were illiterate. The next day, Boo Boo is found not guilty. He and Harvey embrace, and then spend the night together in his cave. While Boo Boo is out horseback riding, Harvey discovers an electric typewriter in the cave, hooked up to a generator. Testing the typewriter, Harvey begins to panic and slowly types out "BASKE" before finishing the final 'T'. To his relief, the 'T' key on the typewriter is aligned. He continues to press the 'T' key to confirm. However, on the final 'T' he adjusts the carriage to make it misaligned without realizing. Panicking, Harvey runs home; Boo Boo breaks in and says that he wants to thank him for his work with a cookie bouquet. Fearing for his life, Harvey kills him with an energy blast. Phil comes in to comfort Harvey, then Yogi comes in and swears revenge... and then all of them, including Boo Boo (possibly indicating that Yogi's laughter has revived him), laugh together. Notes:
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5 | 5 | "Shoyu Weenie" | Ben Jones | July 21, 2002 | 34-6105 |
Shoyu Weenie, an overworked Japanese rock band, learns that their number one hit has been plagiarized by an American band called The Neptunes. They hire Harvey; Peanut translates for them, as he speaks Japanese. Reducto finds himself falling for a testifying musicologist named Gale Melody, mainly because of her "tiny, tiny feet." Harvey and Mentok are also attracted to her, which causes some disruption in the courtroom. Peanut settles the case by showing a karaoke film of both songs; Mentok declares that they're the same song and finds for the plaintiffs. Just as Harvey and friends are celebrating their victory, however, they find out that the song has been stolen again, this time by a German band. Notes:
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6 | 6 | "The Dabba Don" | Robert Alvarez | July 28, 2002 | 34-6106 |
In an episode chock-full of Mafia film references, Fred Flintstone is a Mafia Don, and the clueless Harvey defends him. Judge Mightor, formerly on the Mafia payroll, suffers two attempts on his life and disappears. Judge Mentok finishes the case. Harvey, using clips from the original Flintstones show, successfully argues that Fred is delusional, having been hit on the head with a bowling ball so many times that he frequently adopts other personas. It turns out that he is right, as Barney Rubble is the real mob boss. Notes:
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7 8 | 7 8 | "Deadomutt"(Parts 1 and 2) | Robert Alvarez | May 25, 2003 June 1, 2003 | 34-6107 34-6108 |
Birdman believes he's in line to become a lead partner at Sebben & Sebben. Instead, Harvey learns that the position is going to the firm's newest hire Azul Falcone, a bon vivant who charms everyone he comes across except a jealous Harvey. Soon, Harvey becomes the office doormat, eventually being forced to take on some of Falcone's case load. Then, he learns that Azul is an incompetent lawyer, and that Dynomutt does all his work. He gets his résumé and heads to the office copier, intending to work at a new firm. Phil looks for Harvey, only to find him covered in ink and crying beside the opened copy machine, Dynomutt's remains strewn about its inner workings. He is taken into custody. Harvey is on trial for murdering Azul Falcone's assistant, Dynomutt. Falcone represents him, because no one else will take the case. Despite Falcone's bad representation, the jury finds Birdman innocent. Mentok overrides the jury and convicts Birdman, sentencing him to death. Harvey is in jail for three and a half years, forgetting he can fly, forgetting and re-learning how to read, keeping a pet moth, and marrying Magilla Gorilla. At the end of that time, just before his execution, the gang surprises him with a birthday party. Dynomutt is still alive; the whole thing was a practical joke dreamed up by Falcone. | |||||
9 | 9 | "X, The Exterminator" | Michael Ouweleen & Erik Richter | June 8, 2003 | 34-6109 |
As a young man, X (nicknamed the Eliminator) was commissioned by the evil organization F.E.A.R. to obtain the Crest on Birdman's helmet. After 26 years, he's acquired a paunch and an obsession for Birdman, but no Crest. A commercial featuring Harvey inspires him to renew his quest. Meanwhile, Harvey is defending Phil, who's hit someone on his way to work "every day this week" and is being sued. Harvey's distracted by X's attacks and the fact that every time he tries to go to the bathroom something happens to prevent him from finishing. Even resorting to walking on the ledge of the outside of the building to avoid X, who was waiting outside his office. In the end, with Avenger's help, Harvey defeats X, wins his case, and finishes his business in the bathroom. Notes:
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Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 100% based on 10 critic reviews and 50 audience reviews. The website's critical consensus reads that "Harvey Birdman objects to fawning over animation icons of yesteryear and submits a motion to skewer pop culture nostalgia with a thoroughly modern, improvisational sense of humor -- Sustained!"[2] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 10 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]
Michael S. Drucker of IGN lauded the season for its "general storyline in each episode of a cartoon character being defended by [Harvey] Birdman [as] a way to create some of the weirdest and funniest cartoon humor in the past few years", noting the show as "hardcore with its humor" and the writing as "simply brilliant", complimenting the "great voice work" of Gary Cole and Stephen Colbert for the respective "slight touch of arrogance" and "excited effort" they put into playing their characters, concluding to call the series "an acquired taste [full of] amazingly fast and silly randomness that runs the gamut from brilliant to incredibly stupid [that] packs it in when it comes to dirty jokes and offensive humor, [while] remain[ing] the most solid (if rarely produced) Adult Swim show out there", ranking the season an overall "8/10" on their review chart.[4]
Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club complimented "Shaggy Busted" as "illustrat[ing] the show’s basic premise very cleanly", complimenting the "easy, obvious joke [of the Mystery Machine gang being mistaken for drug users] as play[ing] a little better when the prosecutor brings up questionable clips from old Scooby-Doo episodes that show the characters running through smoky rooms and pausing mid-blink so it looks like their eyelids are drooping", lauding the "very faithful parody [of] Jagged Edge" in "Death by Chocolate" as well as the continuous "semi-regular references throughout the rest of the show [of] Harvey and Boo-Boo['s] relationship" from the episode, and of the characterisation of X in "X, The Exterminator", as "a very fun villain [and] one of the few characters that still treats [[Harvey Birdman|Harvey [Birdman]]] like the superhero he used to be".[5] The Thorn of The Critical Eye lauded the season as "absolutely hilarious!", with its "meager baker’s dozen minus four episodes [setting] up the series quite well, establishing the main characters and tone within the first three episodes", praising "Shaggy Busted" for "riff[ing] off the Scooby gang to such perfection", complimenting the introduction of Peanut for "add[ing] to the nonsensical aspect of the show [as] the ultimate random element", praising the exploration of copyright infringement in "Shoyu Weenie", expressing "ador[ation of] the concept of Fred Flintstone as a mob boss in "The Dabba Don", and describing "X, The Exterminator" as "By far my favourite episode of the lot", while lauding the vocal performances of "Gary Cole as the voice of Birdman [for its] appropriately superheroic vocal – but also uncertainty and cluelessness. He’s brilliant. Stephen Colbert brings ebullience and zaniness to two key characters, Phil Ken Seben and Myron Reducto, and John Michael Higgins is pure genius as Mentok the Mindtaker", concluding to call the series "a terrific discovery".[6] Jake Uitti of Under the Radar similarly lauded Colbert's performance as "a scream", while describing the "groundbreaking" nature of "The Dabba Don" as "in many ways, sum[ming] up the genius of the Harvey Birdman series [which] could go anywhere with the snap of a finger and wherever it went was sublime",[7] an episode Randall Cyrenne of Animated Views called the "funniest episode in the [season], probably because the whole case against Fred [as a mob boss based on The Godfather and The Sopranos] is made so darn believable, bolstered with actual Flintstones footage", concluding to "suffice it to say that the world of The Flintstones (and Hanna-Barbera in general) has rarely been used to such comedic effect".[8]
Home media release
DVD name | Release date | Ep # | Additional information |
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Volume One | April 12, 2005 | 13 | This two-disc box set contains the first thirteen episodes of the show ("Bannon Custody Battle" through "High Speed Buggy Chase") in production order, along with commentaries on selected episodes, deleted scenes, and other special features. A Region 2 version is to be released on November 3. The colour of the DVD box art is purple. |
The DVD is in the shape of a law book, and brown in colour. In April 2005, Adult Swim had a "Do Our Work For Us" contest for Harvey Birdman Season 1 on DVD.[9] The objective of the contest was to ask viewers to make their own fan-made promo commercial for the upcoming DVD. The series is also available on Max.[10]
References
- ↑ Uitti, Jake (December 18, 2020). ""Harvey Birdman" Co-Creator Erik Richter on Cartoon Network, Atlanta, Adult Swim, and More TiVo Channel?". Under the Radar. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ↑ "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
- ↑ "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ↑ Drucker, Michael S. (April 18, 2005). "Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Volume 1". IGN. Retrieved May 19, 2012.
- ↑ Barsanti, Sam (October 11, 2018). "10 episodes of Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law to watch before the new special". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ↑ Thorn, The (September 7, 2013). "Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law: Season One". The Critical Eye. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
- ↑ Uitti, Jake (December 18, 2020). "10 Best Original Adult Swim Characters and First Season Episodes". Under the Radar. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ↑ Cyrenne, Randall (April 17, 2005). "Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law: Volume One". Animated Views. Retrieved April 17, 2005.
- ↑ Byrne, Craig (April 19, 2005). "Harvey Birdman Volume 1 & Space Ghost Vol. 3 – Review". KryptonSite. Retrieved April 19, 2005.
- ↑ Griffin, David (May 27, 2020). "HBO Max: All the TV Shows, Movies and Originals You Can Stream Now". IGN. Retrieved June 4, 2020.