Baby Blues is an American adult animated sitcom based on the comic strip of the same name by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, and produced by Warner Bros. Television. The first eight episodes of Baby Blues originally aired in the United States on The WB between July 28 and August 24, 2000, before being canceled. The five remaining episodes from the first season eventually aired on Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim in 2002. A second season, consisting of 13 episodes, was produced but never aired.
The animated adaptation of Baby Blues differs from the comic by having it take place when Zoe was still an infant, even though she was the older sister to Hammie in the strip at the time. In addition, it focuses on Darryl and Wanda's relationship with supporting characters created for this series, including the Bittermans, a dysfunctional next-door family with three children; Bizzy, Zoe's babysitter; and Kenny, Darryl's laid-back close friend and co-worker.
Contents
Characters
Main
Darryl MacPherson (Mike O'Malley) is the uptight and responsible father of Zoe and husband to Wanda. He tends to think Wanda's heart-felt ideas are crazy, but later agrees with them if there is an advantage for himself. He wants the best for his baby daughter, but can overly protect her. Despite intending to do the right thing, he has done unexpected selfish things, such as pretending to grieve over going with Carl and their kids to a fun zone, only to watch an attractive dancer at the place singing every time it was a child's birthday. But in the end, he is faithful to his wife and daughter. Darryl often feels that his wife nags him, and often discusses his issues to his friend, Kenny at work. Most commonly, he talks about a problem, and the next day he talks about how happy he is to have solved the problem an easy way, then the next day he talks about how it did not work out. Darryl is quick to express jealousy—particularly of Carl, his next door neighbor.
Wanda MacPherson (Julia Sweeney) is Darryl's wife and Zoe's mother. She is caring, unpredictable, passionate, and impulsive by turns. However, just as Darryl does, she loves Zoe and wants only the best for her. Wanda is a stay at home mom. Her closest friends are her neighbor Melinda and a teenage girl named Bizzy, who serves as Zoe's babysitter from time to time. Wanda generally has a cheerful disposition, but she is quick to let her emotions get the best of her. She usually goes through drastic measures to fix something, against her husband's wishes. Wanda is occasionally melancholy about motherhood, as suggested by the title Baby Blues. She is said to have a "crazy spark" in her that never left. This is seen at one point, when she wants to feel young again and escapes with Bizzy and her friends at night and gets caught by the police. Wanda's unpredictable and impulsive behavior is often a source of extreme stress for Darryl. However, in the end, they always settle their differences and make peace after the arguments and problems are resolved.
Zoe MacPherson (E. G. Daily) is the infant daughter of Darryl and Wanda. As a baby, Zoe's curiosity and emotions are expressed in her vision, which show almost complete understanding when something happens or if somebody talks to her. Although calm and cheerful in the daytime, she is loud and cries nonstop at night, leaving her parents to stay up all night, taking turns rocking her, and carrying her until day time. Zoe appears to have a really close relationship with Rodney, the trouble kid next door who seems to be the only one who could stop her crying and comfort her.
Melinda Bitterman (Arabella Field) is Wanda's friend and neighbor whose family is dysfunctional. Melinda is always seen smoking in her yard as her husband and kids are working on some bizarre, dangerous, or disastrous activity. Any time she sees Wanda, she always greets with the same line, "Hi Wanda, how's the baby?" Seemingly careless, or tired, Melinda seems to desire the happiness and relationship she once had before she became a mother and somewhat envies Wanda's stable life, but is still content with her family. She always talks in a calm voice, even when discussing an insane thing that her family is doing, as if it were normal.
Recurring and minor
Rex (Phil LaMarr) and Josie (Wendy Raquel Robinson) are an African-American couple who are close friends of Darryl and Wanda's. Rex is known for appearing in sweaters similar to what Bill Cosby wore on The Cosby Show, while Josie's favorite pastime is gardening. In the episode "God Forbid", they admit that they are Moonies.
Sylvia (Kath Soucie) and Midge (E. G. Daily) are a lesbian couple who are close friends of Darryl and Wanda's. Sylvia has black hair, while Midge is blonde.
Mrs. Johnson (Alice Hirson) is an elderly lady, and another one of Darryl and Wanda's neighbors. She has an unseen son named Howard, a "man-child" who still loves to read comics in his treehouse.
Officer Murphy (Jon Cryer) is an obese police officer who speaks with a stereotypical Irish accent.
Dr. Gruber (Steven Weber) is the MacPhersons' big-nosed, big-eared family doctor who likes to make jokes. He appeared in two episodes straight, "Ugly Zoe" and "Wanda Proof".
Hugh (Jim Cummings) and Maggie Wizowski (Elizabeth Perkins) are Wanda's parents who appeared in two episodes, "Rodney Moves In" and "A Baby Blues Christmas Special", along with Darryl's parents. Darryl criticized his father-in-law for telling lousy stories.
Pauline (Linda Lavin) and "Mac" MacPherson are Darryl's mother and silent father.
Bunny (Kath Soucie) is a close friend of Wanda's, and the only character from the comic strip, besides the MacPherson/Wizowski family, to appear in this series. However, unlike in the strip, where she has a son named Bogart, she has a baby boy with long blond hair named Haget. Butch, her husband from the original comic strip, never appears in the series.
Production
Warner Bros. Animation produced eight of the season one episodes, with overseas animation done by Varga Studio in Hungary for five of them (including the pilot, which was also animated at the former TVC London Varga owned), and Sunwoo Entertainment in Korea for the three others. Rough Draft Studios in Los Angeles did five episodes, which include "Bizzy Moves In", "Rodney Has Two Daddies", "Hurtin' Inside", "Ugly Zoe", and "Wanda Moves Up".
The Baby Blues animated series took nearly five years to develop and produce, and what was initially the pilot, "A Baby Blues Christmas Special", was supposed to air in December 1998, but it was postponed more than once, while other episodes were being ordered and completed. The Christmas episode finally aired on Adult Swim on February 24, 2002.
Opening sequence
The opening theme song was a shorter version of "It's All Been Done" by Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies, from their 1998 album Stunt. The title sequence was designed by Renegade Animation, who would later be known for Cartoon Network's Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and shows the characters at the Warner Bros. studio lot.
Episodes
Season 2
In September 2000, Warner Bros. announced that The WB had renewed Baby Blues for a second season. Although a second season, consisting of 13 episodes, was produced, it has never aired. Kirkman stated that the second season was nearly complete, and only needed a few final edits (such as replacing the temp music), before it was ready for release. Despite this, however, Kirkman also states that the season was written off as a loss by The WB as an accounting practice, and "will probably never see the light of day".
Broadcast
The WB typically aired two episodes each week, thus enabling eight different episodes to be shown in the five-week run, but abandoned plans to air additional episodes that had been completed. Previously unaired episodes from the first season later aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim, and later on sister channel TBS, and on Teletoon at Night in Canada.
Reception
When Baby Blues aired on The WB, it got moderate to low ratings, resulting in its cancellation in August 2000. The series also received mixed to negative reviews from professional critics. Particularly, on its premiere night, South Coast Today wrote that "'Baby Blues' is hardly perfect. Its teen characters are right out of the MTV/WB playbook; the notion of a nutty family next door is as old as the sitcom hills. But as a slightly silly, slightly sweet summer series that's not afraid to show it has a heart, it more than exceeds even this cranky critic's expectations." David Bianculli of New York Daily News was negative toward Baby Blues, giving it 1 1/2 stars, and called it "depressingly flat". Also in the article, he wrote "Timing and originality, even in comedy, may not be everything – but they count for a lot, and WB's new 'Baby Blues' series doesn't get high marks in either category. First, 'Baby Blues', which premieres with a double header tonight at 8, is an animated prime-time comedy, arriving the summer after a season in which there were too many dull entries in that particular genre. That's bad timing. 'Baby Blues' could overcome that by being funnier than the rest. Unfortunately, it's not. Second, 'Baby Blues', based on the syndicated comic strip by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott, is a sitcom in two dimensions. That is, it's an animated show in which human beings engage in everyday activities – working, goofing off, sleeping, fighting and so on. At its best, this particular category of animated comedy gives you 'The Simpsons'. At its worst, it gives you 'Clerks'."