Speaker 1: Alan Gregory was supposed to be Fox's next big animated comedy,
Speaker 1: but instead it became one of the network's quickest failures.
Speaker 1: Created by Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogul and Jared Paul, the
Speaker 1: series premiered in twenty eleven, with Hill providing the voice
Speaker 1: of its title character, a wealthy, pretentious seven year old
Speaker 1: who considered himself an intellectual adult trapped in a child's body.
Speaker 1: The premise was built around Allan's forced transition from homeschooling
Speaker 1: to public elementary school after his family's finances changed. This
Speaker 1: is TV Casualty, Alan Gregory. The show surrounded Allan with
Speaker 1: an intentionally dysfunctional family. His father, Richard, was an arrogant
Speaker 1: and demanding man, while Richard's partner, Jeremy, was considerably more
Speaker 1: laid back. Alan also lived with his adopted sister, Julie,
Speaker 1: whom he frequently treated with shocking disrespect. At school, he
Speaker 1: attempted to manipulate classmates and teachers while pursuing an inappropriate
Speaker 1: fascination with the elderly principal, Judith Gottlieb. The comedy depended
Speaker 1: heavily on Allan's selfishness, arrogance, and complete lack of awareness
Speaker 1: about how unpleasant he was to everyone around him. Fox
Speaker 1: positioned Alan Gregory as part of its successful Sunday Night
Speaker 1: animation lineup, but audiences did not respond. The series debuted
Speaker 1: to soft ratings, attracting about four point seven seven million
Speaker 1: viewers and a two point four rating among adults eighteen
Speaker 1: to forty nine, placing it last in its time slot.
Speaker 1: Viewership subsequently declined, turning the show into one of Fox's
Speaker 1: lowest rated scripted programs. The critical response was even harsher.
Speaker 1: Critics generally disliked the characters and the humor, with the
Speaker 1: series earning only a twelve percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Speaker 1: Rather than finding Allan's obnoxious personality funny, many reviewers found
Speaker 1: him simply unpleasant, making it difficult for the audience to
Speaker 1: become invested in his problems or root for him. Despite
Speaker 1: having recognizable talent behind it, Alan Gregory never found an audience.
Speaker 1: Fox eventually cant the series after its first season, which
Speaker 1: consisted of only seven episodes. The final episode aired in
Speaker 1: December twenty eleven, bringing an unusually short run to an
Speaker 1: animated sitcom that had arrived with considerable promotional attention Jonahill
Speaker 1: would continue working with Fox after the cancelation, but Alan
Speaker 1: Gregory quickly disappeared from the television landscape. Its failure was
Speaker 1: not caused by a lack of recognizable names or an
Speaker 1: unusual premise. Rather, thesential character's deliberately obnoxious personality made the
Speaker 1: show a difficult cell, especially when viewers were given little
Speaker 1: reason to care about him. What was intended as an
Speaker 1: edgy animated comedy became a short lived footnote in Fox's
Speaker 1: long history of experimental adult cartoons.