Mission Hill: The Complete Series
The Voice Cast
Wallace Langham .... Andy French
Scott Menville .... Kevin French/C-Dog
Brian Posehn .... Jim Kuback
Vicki Lewis .... Posey Tyler/Natalie Leibowitz-Hernandez
Nick Jameson .... Gus Duncz/Mr. French/Stogie/Ron/Weirdo Beardo/Howard Bang/Various
Tom Kenny .... Wally Langford/Fechstein/Sasha/Griffo/Mr. Cresto/Nice Freak/Various
Herbert Siguenza .... Carlos Hernandez-Leibowitz
Jane Wiedlin .... Gwen
Tress MacNeille .... Mrs. French/Mrs. Mundorf/Dr. Yvonne Farley/Dakota/Shelly/Receptionist/Various
Lisa Kushell .... Stacy/Miss Colleen Peck/Chola Girl/Tina
Bill Oakley .... George Bang
Josh Weinstein .... Toby Mundorf
Back in the late '90s there was yet another prime time animation boom underway. Two long-time members of The Simpsons creative team - Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein - went off to the WB Network to create their own little animated universe from scratch. They developed Mission Hill as an answer to something that The Simpsons Universe was sorely lacking in - cast members that aged from high school students to their mid-30s. I find it odd that The Simpsons Universe is practically devoid of characters from probably the most key demographic of all, which might be one of the reasons that the show doesn't resonate as much with me anymore.
Oakley & Weinstein - friends since high school - created the fictional little burg of Mission Hill, a suburb of Cosmopolis. Sorta like Anaheim is to Los Angeles I'd say. Mission Hill is chock full of your everyday characters, high school stereotypes, cliched yuppies, etc. etc. It was a universe all to it's own, but one that closely resembled our very own.
The Main Cast
Andy French is your typical slacker character, except he has subdued dreams of making a living as a cartoonist someday. Andy's parents decide to move further away from Mission Hill, so they con Andy into letting his geeky brother Kevin live with him in his loft apartment. The family alcoholic / retarded dog, Stogie, is also part of the deal. Currently rooming with Andy is his old friend Jim Kuback & new-age hippie, Posey.
Also living in the same apartment building are Gus Duncz & Wally Langford, an elderly gay couple the likes of which you've never seen before. As well, there are new parents Natalie Leibowitz-Hernandez & Carlos Hernandez-Leibowitz, she an environmentalist, he a starving artist. Kevin makes new friends with a couple of nerds at his high school - quiet Asian George Bang & husky lummox Toby Mundorf.
The Episodes
Episode 1 - Pilot (or The Douchebag Aspect) - Aired September 21, 1999
Every episode has a legit title & a dirty title, just to amuse the producers basically. The Pilot episode does a great job of introducing the main cast of characters, including the first male / male open-mouth kiss in prime time history by way of Gus & Wally's makeout in the elevator. Basically the first episode tells us a lot, but still leaves an aura of mystery surrounding many of the cast & their motivations, desires, etc. There is no overload of information & you sit back & want more. 4 outta 5
Episode 2 - Andy Joins the PTA (or The Great Sexpectations) - Aired May 26, 2002
Andy, being the only parent-type relation around Kevin, is forced to attend the Parent / Teacher Conferences where he falls for one of Kevin's teachers & subsequently joins the PTA to impress her. The B-story involves Kevin, George & Toby playing an online game & getting totally wrapped up in it, to the point where it affects Andy's romantic ideas in a truly hilarious fashion that snowballs into completely destroying any chance Andy had. 4 outta 5
Episode 3 - Kevin's Problem (or Porno for Pyro) - Aired October 8, 1999
After Andy taunts Kevin with the high value of pornography, Kevin fills in for his friend George at the Bang Family Food Store or whatever the hell it's called. Anyways, through some wacky hijinks, Kevin ends up setting the Food Store on fire as a result of trying to burn pornography that he was checking out. B-storyline has to do with Jim coming back from Japan with one of their wacky pop culture merchandise explosions, & slowly getting it over in America, much to Andy's dismay. Excellent episode. 5 outta 5
Episode 4 - Andy vs. the Real World (or The Big-Ass Viacom Lawsuit)
Through some sorta happy accident, Kevin finds a box in Andy's closet marked "PRIVATE DO NOT OPEN." After a quick call to his parents for permission to open Andy's super-secret box, Kevin finds that it's full of videotapes chronicling Andy's run on MTV's The Real World: Mission Hill. Truly brilliant take on the cliched aspects of The Real World with Andy eventually growing a huge ego. 4.5 outta 5
Episode 5 - Andy & Kevin Make a Friend (or One Bang for Two Brothers) - Aired June 25, 2000
The brilliance of the dirty titles is highlighted with this one, thanks to the introduction of George Bang's super hot sister Stacy. It's a basic case of sibling rivalry between Andy & Kevin, vying for the attention of Stacy, but for two completely different reasons. There's a George Lucas-inspired fight scene at the end, but it's nothing you haven't seen before. 3.5 outta 5
Episode 6 - Andy Gets a Promotion (or How to Get Head in Business Without Really Trying)
After life beats down Andy once more, he finally accepts a promotion from his psychotic, coked-up boss, Ron, at the Waterbed World that he works at, effectively giving up on his cartooning dreams. After being seduced to the dark side by strippers & heavy drinking, eventually Andy grows to see the error of his ways, & ends up going back to his old position, next to his ol' standby, the lovely Gwen. 3.5 outta 5
Episode 7 - Kevin vs. the SAT (or Nocturnal Admissions) - Aired July 2, 2000
A Kevin-heavy episode that revolves around his search for a long-rumoured code that dictates the answers of the SAT. Kevin-heavy equals me being more annoyed than entertained. Entertaining B-story with Posey opening a massage parlour in her room, but due to a misprint in her ad, all her clients think she gives the ol' rub 'n tug. 3 outta 5
Episode 8 - Unemployment Part 1 (or Brother's Big Boner)
Thanks to Ron's illegal activities when it comes to running Waterbed World, Andy is out of a job when the store is shutdown by the government. The timing is terrible though, because he just purchased a super-fun player piano / organ thingie with the last $400 he had. Which leads to some serious finance issues with him & Kevin, until Kevin finds a way for Andy to collect Unemployment. 4 outta 5
Episode 9 - Unemployment Part 2 (or Theory of the Lesiure Ass) - Aired July 14, 2002
Andy pretty much embraces his unemployment to a digusting level, to the point where it offends Gus at his cafe, as well as everyone else as human beings. We finally find out what Jim does for a living, as he ends up hooking Andy with a job at the advertising firm he works at downtown. Interesting note on the commentary track is that Oakley & Weinstein were going to have Andy switch jobs every 8 episodes, slowly moving up the ladder until the 10th season when he finally achieves his cartooning dream. At least they were optimistic about their show's longevity. 5 outta 5
Episode 10 - Kevin Finds Love (or Hot for Weirdie) - Aired July 21, 2002
Jennifer Jason Leigh guest stars as a super-geek / uber-weird girl at Kevin's high school, that Kevin gets interested in pretty much just because Andy teaches him about dating levels. Oh, & because Kevin wants her influential doctor father's recommendation so he can get into Yale. Surprisingly for a Kevin-heavy episode, I wasn't annoyed at all & I credit that to the series finally getting to the point where you could love Kevin's character. Also, surprisingly entertaining B-story with Andy, Jim & Posey opening a facade of a club to get back at the 54-esque club that they couldn't get into because they weren't "cool" enough. 5 outta 5
Episode 11 - Stories of Hope & Forgiveness (or Day of the Jackass) - Aired July 28, 2002
Personally, I can't believe this episode ever aired after 9/11, though I doubt that it actually aired on a network other than some Cartoon channel. Basically a horribly catastrophic event occurs the day of the Grammys, an event so huge that celebrities the world over are calling for peace & understanding. So while the whole world is having a terrible day, Andy meets a superhot celebrity & ends up with an invite to go to the Grammys with her that night, which pretty much guarantees that the rest of his day is going to be hellish. It doesn't age well, especially when you have a Dennis Rodman reference as a high point. 4.5 outta 5
Episode 12 - Happy Birthday, Kevin (or Happy Birthday, Douchebag)
Kevin celebrates his first birthday in Mission Hill & the reality of not living at home finally hits him. Andy gives him a horrible party, then a nicer one, but it's still nothing like how Kevin was spoiled by his parents. Kind of a touching story with Kevin finally taking that last step into growing into a wiser character. 4 outta 5
Episode 13 - Plan 9 from Mission Hill (or I Married a Gay Man from Outer Space)
Truly an awesome episode, one that should appeal to the movie snobs that populate the IntarWeb. It tells the story of how Wally & Gus met one another, many years ago when Wally was a movie director & not just a projectionist at a local revival theater. The spark that starts the whole story off is due to Kevin's burgeoning love for the quality films that the theater shows, & that the movie that Wally made with Gus decades earlier is going to be playing there. A fitting end for a quality show. 5 outta 5
Shows Average: 4.2 outta 5
The Package
For a show that only had a 13-episode run, it's fairly inexcusable that there wasn't a commentary track for each individual episode. Only four of the eps get the commentary treatment, & while sometimes entertaining, they're not the most entertaining of speakers. Ah well, at least they did four. I believe there are two flagrant audio track screw-ups on two seperate episodes (Ep. 5 with the vocal track being quieter than the score track, & Ep. 8 where there's a burst of superloud nonsensical music), & the Extras portion of the discs are pretty lacking as well. 2 outta 5
The Verdict
This show had tremendous potential & I believe it was far ahead of it's time, or just past it's time. With ambitious plans of at least 10 seasons, you'd have to find a network that was willing to stick with the product 'til it finally caught the attention & imagination of a mainstream audience. Sadly, I think it was above too many people's heads, including those at the WB. Luckily the show's rewatchability makes up for the sorry state of the DVD box set "experience" that underwhelms you with this series. I hate that the packaging affects the final score so much, but the episodes are what you really want, so take that into account. 3.1 outta 5
For more information on what you probably missed out on the first time around, check out the super-old Mission Hill website. You can tell how old the website is when it says that Tom Kenny "is probably best known as a cast member on HBO's hilarity-fest, "Mr. Show," when shortly after Mission Hill was no more, he was the voice of some SpongeBob guy.