The PJs

Last updated

The PJs
The PJs title card.png
Genre
Created by
Voices of
Theme music composer
Composer Marc Bonilla
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes43 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Cinematography
  • Tim McGilvrey (season 1)
  • Eric Adkins (seasons 2–3)
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Fox
ReleaseJanuary 10, 1999 (1999-01-10) 
September 5, 2000 (2000-09-05)
Network The WB
ReleaseOctober 8, 2000 (2000-10-08) 
May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)

The PJs is an American adult stop motion-animated black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins for Fox. It portrays life in an urban public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and it was produced by Imagine Television by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, The Murphy Company and Will Vinton Studios in association with Touchstone Television (seasons 1–2), marking the show as Disney's first adult animated series; and Warner Bros. Television (season 3). [1] The original run of the series debuted on Fox on January 10, 1999. Two days later, the second episode aired in its regular Tuesday night time slot, following King of the Hill . The series was moved to The WB for its third season and the series ended on May 20, 2001. [2] The title is an abbreviation for "the projects", referring to the show's public housing highrise. [3]

Contents

Summary

"Once upon a time in the projects!"

-George Clinton

43 episodes aired during the show's run of 2 years and 4 months. Each took over 2 months to produce, owing to the laborious stop-motion process.

While co-creator Eddie Murphy is credited as the voice of Thurgood Stubbs on every episode, actor Phil Morris says that in some episodes, he provided the voice of Thurgood; according to Morris, Murphy did not want to show up on some days to record the voice of Thurgood Stubbs, so the producers hired Morris to record Thurgood's lines, where he worked in a separate booth from the other actors, allowing the producers to replace Morris' recordings with Murphy's voice in case Murphy decided he wanted to record his dialogue. [4]

After two seasons on Fox, the show moved to The WB in 2000. Its high budget and declining ratings led to its cancellation in 2001; the final 2 episodes weren't aired until 2003. The show aired in syndication for a time on Trio, Fuse, MTV2, and Adult Swim. As of 2020, the series is no longer syndicated by other television networks, but is occasionally shown on the ad-supported video on demand service Pluto TV, specifically on the service's Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud! Network and the entire series is available for viewing on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.

The PJs won 3 Emmy Awards and one Annie Award during its run. Quincy Jones' son QD3, along with George Clinton, produced the theme music for the show.

Characters

Portrait of most of the major characters PJs portrait.jpg
Portrait of most of the major characters

Locations

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast releasedNetwork
1 14January 10, 1999 (1999-01-10)December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17) Fox
2 17May 30, 2000 (2000-05-30)September 5, 2000 (2000-09-05)
3 12 (2 unaired)October 8, 2000 (2000-10-08)May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20) The WB

Home media

Lionsgate Home Entertainment (under license from Disney) has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Region 1.

DVD NameEp#Release Date
The Complete First Season13May 3, 2011
The Complete Second Season18July 5, 2011
The Complete Third Season12October 4, 2011

Syndication

The series has aired reruns on Adult Swim, Fuse, MTV2, and TV One. Episodes are available on demand for streaming on several apps and websites in the United States including on the LOL! Network and Plex. [6] [7]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the show's first season holds an approval rating of 50% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. [8]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
1999
51st Primetime Emmy Awards Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program Steve Tompkins, Larry Wilmore, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Tony Krantz, Eddie Murphy, Will Vinton & Tom Turpin, executive producers; Bill Freiberger & David Flebotte, supervising producers; Mary Sandell, David Bleiman Ichioka, Michael Price & J. Michael Mendel, producers; Al Jean & Mike Reiss, consulting producers; Les Firestein, consulting producer/writer; Donald R. Beck, co-producer; Mark Gustafson, supervising director (for "He's Gotta Have It")Nominated [9]

Soundtrack

Raphael Saadiq & Q-Tip's "Get Involved", which predates Saadiq's first solo album.

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References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 466–467. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Animation World Network (January 13, 1999). "P.J.s arrive on Fox | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 623–624. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  4. "Phil Morris". tv.avclub.com. November 29, 2011. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  5. Episode: "Smokey the Squatter"
  6. "Eddie Murphy's The PJs on LOL Network". Tivo Blog. March 6, 2021.
  7. "The PJs - Where to watch episodes online - Plex". January 10, 1999.
  8. "The PJS Season 1 | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes .
  9. "Outstanding Short Format Animated Program Nominees / Winners 1999".