- Stressed Eric
-
Stressed Eric 
Genre Animation
Dark comedyWritten by Carl Gorham
Michael HattComposer(s) Peter Baikie
Mat Clark
Jason McDermidCountry of origin 
United Kingdom
United States
New ZealandLanguage(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 13 Production Executive producer(s) Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó Editor(s) John Bryant Running time 30 Min Broadcast Original channel BBC Two, MTV, TV2 (New Zealand) Original run 20 April 1998 – 11 October 2000, 11 October 2003 (New Zealand) Chronology Followed by The Brothers Grunt External links Website Stressed Eric is a British/American/New Zealand cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom and the Television New Zealand. The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his family, work, co-workers, etc. The animation for the first season was carried out by American studio Klasky Csupo. It is also the first ever animation series to be re-dubbed into the same language (British English to American English).
Contents
Overview
Eric Feeble is 40 years old, still upset over his divorce two years ago, lives in a middle class London house, and is always being kept under extreme amounts of pressure and stress from all aspects of life, represented by a throbbing vein in his temple. His two children, Claire and Brian, plague him with fear and worries every day. Claire is a frail six-year-old who is allergic to a large range of things such as wheat, ponies, spices etc., while Brian is a ten-year-old with learning problems who has been kept back three straight years in school and has an oral fixation. The family's au pair housekeeper, Maria, is an eighteen-year-old Portuguese woman with a serious drinking problem; despite Eric's frequent attempts to keep her under control and focused, she seems to be passed-out drunk for hours at a time, often sprawled on a floor. His ex-wife, Liz, left him for a Buddhist, but she insists on phoning him up incessantly, which merely adds to his growing stress level. The next-door neighbours, the wealthy, successful and snobbish Perfect family, provide him a constant and painful view of what his life could have been.
Eric's workplace is absolutely no escape from his everyday problems. His boss, Paul Power (known as PP), is loud, rude and demanding; he has demoted Eric from Assistant Manager to a low-level clerk in an office sandwiched between the janitor's closet and the men's washroom. His secretary, Alison, is completely useless, spending all her "working hours" making and taking personal phone calls and shrilling rudely at Eric when he requests her attention.
At the end of almost every episode, as the climax of events cause Eric's stress to reach breaking point, the throbbing vein emerges from his temple and wraps itself around his neck, strangling him.
Characters
Main characters
- Eric Feeble - Stressed out divorced father of two children.
Eric is a kind, well-meaning man who loves his children. Although bitter and sarcastic about many aspects of his life, Eric genuinely tries to make the best out of situation and deeply loves his children, going to great lengths to make them proud. However he normally fails due to no fault of his own, and the rare times he actually does well, something always happens to ruin it.
- Claire Feeble - Daughter of Eric; allergic to just about everything. Despite this she is an intelligent, curious, playful little girl.
Due to her allergies she has to eat special regulation food and is always sneaking ordinary food, which immediately makes her swell up.
- Brian Feeble - Son of Eric; has yet to learn to talk and is always putting things in his mouth.
- Maria Gonzalez - The Feeble family's punk-looking live-in au pair; she is Portuguese and always drunk or hungover. She also uses alcohol as perfume in the episode "Potato".
Major characters
- Liz - Eric's eccentric ex-wife.
- Ray Perfect - Snobbish and "perfect" next-door neighbour of Eric. Shares Eric's workplace but is senior and consistently praised for his fine work.
- Mrs. Perfect - Snobbish wife of Mr. Perfect. Catchphrase: "How art thou, Eric?"
- Heather Perfect - Snobbish daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Perfect.
- Paul Power, a.k.a. P.P - Boss of Eric who is usually very angry. Catchphrase: "Double arseburgers, Eric!"
- Alison - Eric's useless secretary who spends all her time on the telephone gossiping to friends.
In one episode she made an exception to this and after mistakingly saying eric was at a funeral actually bothered to remember to say that ehe was at the dentist. Ironically this got eric in trouble as secretly he was going for a job interview
- Doc - Eric's dementedly relaxed doctor, more interested in chasing women than treating Eric. He is the closest thing Eric has to a best friend.
- Mrs. Wilson - An old lady who slowly tries in vain to post a letter, whereupon it always falls from her hand and into a drain, sometimes with Eric to blame. Catchphrase: "Morning, Mister Eric. Just off to the post..."
Voice cast
- Mark Heap as Eric Feeble (UK) & (NZ)
- Morwenna Banks as Claire Feeble and Heather Perfect
- Rebecca Front as Liz Feeble
- Gordon Kennedy
- Doon Mackichan as Maria Gonzalez and Alison Scabie
- Geoffrey McGivern as Caleb and Paul Power
- Paul Shearer as Doc
- Alison Steadman Mrs Perfect
A US adaptation replaced Mark Heap's voice with that of Hank Azaria.
TV history
The show was first broadcast on BBC2 in April, 1998 and ran for two series. [1]
Stressed Eric was bought by NBC and adapted for American audiences. The BBC described it as "the first British animated sitcom to make it on to prime time US TV." Some episodes were shown in August, 1998, but they were received poorly despite concessions such as replacing the lead character's voice with famous American voice actor Hank Azaria and changing the storyline to an American in London. Reviewers compared it unfavorably to The Simpsons and South Park. [2]
Stressed Eric continued when Hibbert Ralph produced the second season, but however, Klasky Csupo did not participate due to budgeting constraints.
List of episodes
Series 1
- Nativity - April 20, 1998
- Sex - April 27, 1998
- Pony - May 11, 1998
- Hospital - May 18, 1998
- Potato - June 1, 1998
- Tidy - June 8, 1998
Series 2
- Cricket - August 31, 2000
- Bursting - September 6, 2000
- Team - September 13, 2000
- Tent - September 20, 2000
- Crush - September 27, 2000
- Au Pair - October 4, 2000
- Drool - October 11, 2000
DVD Release
The Complete Stressed Eric Collection was released on DVD in the UK on May 2, 2011, with the following Special Features:
- The Story of Stressed Eric
- Drawing the Characters with Stig Bergqvist
- Audio Commentaries
- Animatic of Nativity Episode
- BBC Trails
- Storyboard Excerpt from Pony Episode
References
- ^ "Stressed Eric" (1998), at IMDB
- ^ US piles stress on Eric, BBC News, August 13, 1998
External links
- Official Stressed Eric Site
- Official Absolutely Productions Site
- Stressed Eric at the Internet Movie Database
- Stressed Eric at TV.com
- Jump The Shark - Stressed Eric (at archive.org)
Prime time animated television series in the United States ABC The Bugs Bunny Show (1960–1962) • Capitol Critters (1992) • Clerks: The Animated Series (2000) • The Critic (1994) • The Flintstones (1960–1966) • The Goode Family (2009) • The Jetsons (1962–1963) • Jonny Quest (1964–1965) • Matty's Funday Funnies (1959-1961) • Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil (1962) • Peanuts television specials (1965-present) • Top Cat (1961–1962)CBS The Alvin Show (1961-1962) • CBS Cartoon Theater (1956) • Creature Comforts (2007) • Family Dog (1993) • Fish Police (1992) • Garfield television specials (1982-1991) • The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show (1956-1957) • This Is America, Charlie Brown (1988–1990) • Wacky Races (1967-1970) • Where's Huddles? (1970)Fox Allen Gregory (2011-present) • American Dad! (2005–present) • Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1993) • Bob's Burgers (2011-present) • The Cleveland Show (2009–present) • The Critic (1995) • Family Guy (1999–2002; 2005–present) • Futurama (1999-2003) • King of the Hill (1997–2009) • Napoleon Dynamite (2012-) • The PJs (1999–2000) • The Simpsons (1989–present) • Sit Down, Shut Up (2009) • X-Men_(TV_series) (1994-1995)NBC The Bullwinkle Show (1961-1963) • The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo (1964-1965) • Father of the Pride (2004) • God, the Devil and Bob (2000) • Jokebook (1982) • The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957-1960) • Sammy (2000) • Stressed Eric (1998)UPN WB Baby Blues (2000) • Freakazoid! (1996) • Invasion America (1998) • Mission Hill • (1999–2000) • The Oblongs (2001) • Pinky and the Brain (1995–1996, 1997) • The PJs (2000–2001)First-run syndication The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958-1962) • Tiny Toon Adventures (Prime Toons) (1990-1991) • Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (1972-1974)Categories:- Animated sitcoms
- NBC network shows
- Television shows set in London
- BBC television programmes
- 1998 television series debuts
- 2000 television series endings
- 1990s American animated television series
- 2000s American animated television series
- Black comedy television programs
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