The Oblongs is an American adult animated sitcom created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale. It was Mohawk Productions' first venture into animation. The series premiered on April 1, 2001, on The WB, and cancelled due to low ratings on May 20, leaving the last five episodes unaired. The remaining episodes were later aired on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim in August 2002, with the series premiering on the network in production order. The series is loosely based on a series of characters introduced in a picture book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children. Three networks had a bidding war to win the rights to turn Angus Oblong's characters into a series: Fox, the WB, and ABC. Warner Bros. won the bidding to turn Oblong's characters into a series; and thus, the series was submitted to the WB. The show was produced by Film Roman, Oblong Productions, Jobsite Productions and Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, and the theme song for the series was composed and performed by They Might Be Giants. This was the only animated series to date to have been produced by Bruce Helford under Mohawk. A total of 13 episodes were produced. All thirteen episodes of The Oblongs were released on DVD on October 4, 2005.

Setting and premise

The series focuses on the antics of a mutant family who live in a poor valley community. As a result of pollution and radiation exposure, they are all either disabled, deformed, or mutated. The pollution is the direct result of the lavish lifestyle of the rich community known as "The Hills", whose residents exploit and harm the valley residents with absolutely no regard for their safety or well-being. Many reviewers and fans see the series as a commentary on social stratification.

Characters

The Oblong family

Recurring characters

Episodes

Broadcast

The show premiered on April 1, 2001, on The WB but failed to find an audience. On May 20, 2001, The WB aired "Disfigured Debbie", the second episode produced, as the season finale, leaving five episodes unaired. Reruns of the first eight episodes, and the five remaining episodes, premiered on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim, from August 4 to October 27, 2002. Reruns of the series continued to air on Adult Swim until December 26, 2015. In Canada, the series aired on Teletoon as part of "Teletoon Unleashed". In Australia, the show premiered on the Nine Network on December 8, 2001, however due to insufficient ratings, it was withdrawn after one episode, but was eventually shown in a late-night/early morning time slot. The series aired from November 5, 2004, to September 29, 2006, on TBS's late-night programming block, Too Funny to Sleep, and aired on the channel again from April 15, 2013, to February 20, 2015.

Home media

The entire series was released on two-disc DVD set in the United States on October 4, 2005.

Awards and nominations

The Oblongs won the Artios award in 2001 for Best Casting for Animated Voiceover – Television Mary V. Buck Susan Edelman.