The first season of the American animated sitcomRegular Show, created by J. G. Quintel, originally aired on Cartoon Network in the United States. Quintel created the series' pilot using characters from his comedy shorts for the canceled anthology series The Cartoonstitute. He developed Regular Show from his own experiences in college. Simultaneously, several of the show's main characters originated from his animated short films The Naïve Man from Lolliland and 2 in the AM PM. The season's production officially began on August 14, 2009, was produced by Cartoon Network Studios, and ran from September 6 to November 22, 2010.
Regular Show's first season was storyboarded and written by Quintel, Sean Szeles, Shion Takeuchi, Mike Roth, Jake Armstrong, Benton Connor, Kat Morris, Paul Scarlata, and Kent Osborne. The story writers were Roth, Matt Price, Bill Oakley and David Sacks who was a story editor.
Development
Concept
Two 23-year-old friends,[1] a blue jay named Mordecai and a raccoon named Rigby, are employed as groundskeepers at a park and spend their days trying to slack off and entertain themselves by any means. This is much to the chagrin of their boss Benson and their coworker Skips, but the delight of Pops. Their other coworkers, Muscle Man (an overweight green man) and Hi-Five Ghost (a ghost with a hand extending from the top of his head), serve as their rivals.
Production
Many of the characters are loosely based on those developed for Quintel's student films at California Institute of the Arts: The Naive Man From Lolliland and 2 in the AM PM. Quintel pitched Regular Show for Cartoon Network's Cartoonstitute project, in which the network allowed artists to create pilots with no notes to be optioned as a show possibly. After The Cartoonstitute was scrapped, and Cartoon Network executives approved the greenlight for Regular Show, production officially began on August 14, 2009.[2] After being green-lit, Quintel recruited several indie comic book artists to compose the show's staff, as their style matched close to what he desired for the series. The season was storyboarded and written by Quintel, Sean Szeles, Shion Takeuchi, Mike Roth, Jake Armstrong, Benton Connor, Kat Morris, Paul Scarlata, and Kent Osborne while being produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Roth serves as the creative director; Janet Dimon is the producer.
The first season of Regular Show was produced between August 2009 to July 2010.[2] It utilizes double entendres and mild language; Quintel stated that, although the network wanted to step up from the more child-oriented fare, some restrictions came along with this switch. The whole season aired in the same time slot on Mondays at 8:15 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
Cast
J. G. Quintel, the creator of the show and voice of Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost, based the show off his student films produced at CalArts
The voice actors include Quintel (as Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost) and William Salyers (as Rigby). Quintel states that the writing crew tries to "come up with dialogue that sounds conversational and not too cartoony so that the characters are more relatable." In addition, Sam Marin voices Pops, Benson, and Muscle Man, Mark Hamill voices Skips, a yeti, and Jeff Bennett voices Hi-Five Ghost in one episode only.
The character of Mordecai embodies Quintel during his college years, specifically at CalArts: "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."[3] The character of Rigby developed randomly when Quintel drew a raccoon hula-hooping on a Post-It. He liked the design and developed the character of Rigby to be a jerk character who is far more irresponsible than his companion.[4]
Reception
The season generally received positive reviews from most critics, gaining a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impression of critical reviews—of 76 percent. Critics enjoyed the risque and adult innuendos and humor, the animation style, and the voice acting.[5]
While Mordecai and Rigby are wrestling with a doll, they accidentally make a hole in the wall. Using a magical keyboard that can do whatever they want, the two decide to convince their boss Benson to give them raises so they can hire someone to fix the hole. After this works, Rigby accidentally uses the keyboard to send his coworker Skips to the Moon. Mordecai, Rigby, Benson, and park owner Pops pile into a golf cart and use the keyboard to travel to the Moon to rescue Skips. There, the group find Skips being chased by a giant monster resembling a mixture of Mordecai, Rigby, and the doll they were wrestling. Rigby distracts the monster and allows Skips to break free from its grip, using the keyboard to return the group back home.
In the midst of a children's birthday party, the park groundskeepers are instructed by Benson to help prepare. In order to prove to Benson that they're not slackers, Mordecai and Rigby agree to set up the chairs but end up distracted when they find a set of arcade games while trying to find more chairs. When Rigby discovers an arcade game called "Destroyer of Worlds", he accidentally releases the 8-bit antagonist of the game, which begins destroying and wreaking havoc on the park. With help from Skips, the two create a giant arcade graphics robot designed to fight the Destroyer of Worlds. In order to save Mordecai, Rigby uses his excessive button mashing to destroy the Destroyer of Worlds, saving the park.
Mordecai and Rigby learn that a band named Fist Pump will be playing live at a concert venue named Slammers. Being Rigby's favorite band, Rigby attempts to persuade Mordecai to join him at the concert. Initially reluctant, Mordecai agrees to go after he learns that his crush Margaret will be in attendance. The two manage to convince Benson to give them overtime to pay for tickets, but after learning that only V.I.P. tickets are available, the two seek help from a giant coffee bean and its translator in order to stay awake while completing more chores. After successfully gaining the tickets, the giant coffee bean betrays the duo and steals them, instigating a grueling chase to Slammers. After regaining their tickets, Mordecai learns that Margaret has a boyfriend as he and Rigby fall asleep and stay asleep through the entire concert. Song: "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy Guest voice: S. Scott Bullock as the Giant Coffee Bean
Rigby steals instructions from "Death Kwon Do" on how to perform a powerful punching move to beat Mordecai at a game where he always gets punched. However, it backfires when Mordecai discovers his secret and uses a block move to counter the powerful punch. Song: "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito
Developing a craving for cake, Mordecai and Rigby plan to throw a surprise birthday party for Skips so they can eat some at it, but realize their accident ruins Skips' ritual to stay immortal. Guest voices: Robin Atkin Downes as Gary and David Kaye as the Guardians of Eternal Youth
Mordecai and Rigby get trapped in a meat locker while searching for some new hot dogs after the latter ignorantly wastes a pack that Benson purchased. They meet a group of anthropomorphic hot dogs who agree to help them, but soon reveal intentions of eating them instead to avenge their kind. Guest voice: Tim Curry as the leader of the anthropomorphic hot dogs, a visual gag on Curry's roles as Dr Frank-N-Furter.
Mordecai and Rigby mistakenly eat Benson's grilled cheese sandwich and are sent out to get him another one. They compete to see who can lie better, which quickly gets them into bigger trouble with two astronauts that they try to impress. Song: "Lies" by The Thompson Twins Guest voices: Scott MacDonald as Major Williams, James Sie as Jimmy and B. J. Ward as Doctor Asinovskovich
Mordecai buys a new cologne to attract Margaret, but it instead attracts a group of delinquent unicorns and has to find a way to get rid of them which will not be as easy as it seems when Rigby takes their side to hang out.
Mordecai and Rigby are sent back to 1982 after attempting to prank call the "Master Prank Caller" and need help to get back to their proper time. Guest voice: Tim Curry, who provides some of the Master Prank Caller's lines.
The park is under audit and Rigby's accountant brother Don, who is taller-in-size but younger-in-age, is called to help rescue it from financial ruin. Don proves to be very popular with the crew, much to Rigby's annoyance. His refusal to take in Don's "sugar" (a strong-hearted hug) drives him away and allows the audit to occur on schedule, forcing Rigby to reconcile his differences to his brother. Guest voice: Julian Dean as Don
When Rigby's body forces itself out of his consciousness after he overeats junk food, Mordecai and Skips try to return him to normal before the change becomes permanent. Still, a bodybuilder also wants Rigby's body too. Guest voice: Jeff Bennett as the bodybuilder
After Mordecai and Rigby accidentally pass themselves off as a real band, their future selves appear to help them out. However, they discover that it is a hoax, resulting in them ending the band and, it turn, causing their future selves to disappear. Song: "Party Tonight" by Sean Szeles, sung by Mordecai Guest voice: Paul F. Tompkins as the voice on Pops' "How To Be A Musician – with Sir Geoffrey" instructional records
Home media
Warner Home Video released multiple DVDs, consisting of region 1 formats. Slack Pack, Party Pack, Fright Pack, Mordecai & Margaret Pack and Rigby Pack were created for Region 1 markets containing episodes from the first season.
Full season release
The Complete First & Second Seasons was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 16. 2013.
