Tonight FOX’s Animation Domination lineup returns for a new season, and joining regulars The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy is the new series Bless the Harts, from creator Emily Spivey (Up All Night, SNL). The series has a bit of a King of the Hill vibe to it, but with female characters at the forefront. Jenny Hart (Kristen Wiig, SNL) is a single mother living in Greenpoint, NC, where she works at a diner called The Last Supper (where Jesus himself appears to be a regular) in order to try to support her family, but she is constantly struggling to pay the bills. Living with her are creative, artistic teenager Violet (Jillian Bell, Workaholics, Brittany Runs a Marathon) who is writing her own comic book, and lottery-addicted mother Betty (Maya Rudolph, The Good Place, SNL), who is constantly at odds with her daughter. Jenny has been dating nice guy Wayne (Ike Barinholtz, The Mindy Project) for the past ten years, but the two still haven’t moved in with one another. Wayne has been like a father to Violet, and would do anything for her, always looking for some sign of her approval.
While I wasn’t blown away by tonight’s premiere, I thought the show did have some really fun moments, and a lot of potential, plus an amazing comedic voice cast. I still remember how I initially thought the series premiere of Bob’s Burgers was awful, and then it quickly became my favorite of the FOX animation lineup so, I’m definitely going to give this one a few episodes to see where it goes. I think it’s worth checking out tonight, along with the rest of the hilarious animated lineup.
In tonight’s premiere, “Hug N’ Bugs”, Jenny discovers a secret of Betty’s that may help her pay overdue bills; Wayne is hurt when he discovers that Jenny’s daughter Violet is featuring her biological father in her comics; Wayne tries to build Violet the tree house of her dreams.
At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got a chance to talk about the series with the showrunner and two of the stars. You can watch my interview video from the press room here.
Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Godfather of Harlem, The Rookie, Fear the Walking Dead, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge — Adventure Awaits, and Succession.
For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including the season premieres of God Friended Me, NCIS: Los Angeles & The Rookie/em>, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 9/29/19 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.
