Executive producers Wendy Molyneux & Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Minty Lewis, Loren Bouchard
Producer Caroline Levich (season 2)
Editor Dan Earley
Production companies Double Molyneux Sister Sheux, Wilo Productions, Fox Entertainment, 20th Television (season 1), 20th Television Animation (season 2)
Distributor 20th Television
Nick Offerman as Beef Tobin,
Jenny Slate as Judy Tobin,
Will Forte as Wolf Tobin,
Dulcé Sloan as Honeybee Shaw,
Paul Rust as Ham Tobin,
Aparna Nancherla as Moon Tobin,
Megan Mullally as Alyson Lefebvrere,
Alanis Morissette as Alanis Morissette,
The term “adult animation” is something of a red flag these days. With only a handful of exceptions (Big Mouth and Bojack Horseman come to mind) most are poorly-written, sloppily-drawn exercises in juvenile gross-out comedy and the target “adult audience” are people who laugh uncontrollably at farts and think puns about boners is Shakespearean wit. Trump got elected; obviously there is an audience for this stuff.
But The Great North caught my interest, partly because I’ve lived in the North, and partly because comedies about eccentric characters in remote towns tend to do fairly well. And it starred Nick Offerman, who always adds to anything he is in.
And it doesn’t disappoint. The humor is gentle, but often razor sharp, and the personalities and situations tend to be plausible and often profound.
While Offerman gets star billing, the real center of the show is Judy Tobin (Jenny Slate) who is almost always the viewpoint character and the driving force in moving the plots forward. She is both awkward and shy, and self-aggrandizing and overly cocky, combinations not unheard-of in 16 year olds. She has an imaginary friend, a coalescence of northern lights in the shape of Alanis Morissette, who acts as a kind of Hobbes to her Calvin.
She has three brothers, Ham, married to Honeybee, a black woman from Fresno (who does an admirable job of fitting in despite the obvious cultural differences) Wolf, who is openly gay and in some ways the most normal of the family, and Moon, a weird little ten year old who almost always wears a one-piece pair of brown bear pajamas. It’s not until late in season two that we learn what color his hair is.
The supporting characters in the town of Lone Moose are both unique and odd, and the writers deftly avoid painting them all as sourdoughs and claimjumpers. They would be quite similar if Lone Moose was situated in Maine, or Idaho.
Offerman’s character, Beef, is the patriarch of the family, and has a stilted and sometimes pedantic method of expressing himself that belies a good heart and genuine love for his family. Offerman, as advertised, adds to the show.
Season 1 was 11 episodes, and the show caught on, and now Season 2 is 22 episodes and running until late May. A third season is coming.
I believe part of what makes this show stand out in a forest of crude Simpson knock-offs is that nearly all the writers and directors are women. They aren’t targeting 12 year old boys; they are enjoying the interplay between distinct and unique characters who, with few exceptions, care about one another. It makes for a rich and gentle show, one well worth watching.
Now on Fox and available on Hulu.