Big City Greens

Big City Greens is an American animated comedy adventure television series created by The Houghton Brothers that premiered on Disney Channel on June 18, 2018. The series features the voices of Chris Houghton, Marieve Herington, Bob Joles, Artemis Pebdani, Zeno Robinson, and Wendi McLendon-Covey.

Premise

After losing his farm in the country town of Smalton, Bill Green and his two children Cricket and Tilly move in with his mother Alice Green (Gramma), who lives on a small farm in the middle of a city known as "Big City".

By the second half of season three, Bill moves his family back to Smalton after regaining his farm with Cricket's friend Remy coming along for the ride. At the end of season three, Cricket, Tilly, and Bill balance between going back and forth from Big City to Smalton while Nancy manages the farm in Smalton.

Episodes

Characters

Main

• Cricket Ernest Green (voiced by Chris Houghton) is a 10-year-old troublemaking and mischievous country boy who is always barefoot. His middle name is named after his late paternal grandfather. He is fascinated by every discovery he makes in Big City. He got a job at Big Coffee in "Critterball Crisis" until it closed in "Chipwrecked". Later, he worked as a delivery boy at the Gloria + Green Café in the early episodes of Season 3, until his family moved back to Smalton in "The Move".
• Tilly Green (voiced by Marieve Herington) is Cricket's older sister, with an eccentric and imaginative nature. She is frequently accompanied by Saxon, a homemade doll Tilly created out of an old sack. Although she is very cheerful and incredibly kind, she has moments of selfishness, like her younger brother; this was shown in the episode "Mama Bird" when she was angry and jealous because the birds didn't show any affection towards her and instead favored Cricket.
• Bill Green (voiced by Bob Joles as an adult, Andre Robinson as a child) is Cricket and Tilly's father and Gramma Alice's son. A skilled farmer, Bill is overprotective and cautious, having lost part of a finger because of a hay baler accident.
• Alice Delores Green, often referred to as Gramma Alice (voiced by Artemis Pebdani) is Bill's mother and Cricket and Tilly's paternal grandmother, who owns the Green family farm in Big City. She frequently exhibits cantankerous and combative behavior to hide her love and affection for her family.
• Remy Remington (voiced by Zeno Robinson) is Cricket's best friend, whom he meets shortly after moving to Big City. He comes from a rich family – being optimistic and fun-loving, but he also struggles with his self-confidence. He later tags along with the Greens in their move back to Smalton.
• Nancy Green (née Mulligan) (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey as an adult, Candace Kozak as a child) is Cricket and Tilly's mother and Bill's ex-wife. A former biker with a rebellious streak, she was briefly incarcerated for trying to free cows from a factory before being released after the family moved to Big City. While they are divorced, she and Bill remain good friends, and she is a frequent presence in the children's lives; she even moves with the family when they buy their farm in Smalton back.

Recurring

• Gloria Sato (voiced by Anna Akana) is the former Japanese-American barista at Big Coffee, who becomes friends and co-workers with Cricket. She dreams of one day saving up enough money to leave Big City and move to Paris. After "Chipocalypse Now" (due to Big Coffee closing), Gloria gets evicted from her apartment and moves in with the Greens. In the Season 2 finale, "Gloria's Cafe" she and the Greens open the Gloria + Green Café.
• Officer Keys (voiced by Andy Daly as an adult, Jason Maybaum as a child) is a muscular Big City police officer with an overly cheery and oblivious personality. He can get serious at times when policing people.
• Kiki Kitashima (voiced by Monica Ray from Season 1-"Little Buddy", Stephanie Sheh as of "Pen Pals"), Westley "Weezie" Eastman (voiced by Lamar Woods), and Benny (voiced by Luke Lowe) are a trio of children that frequently play with Cricket, Tilly, and Remy.
• Brett Eze (voiced by Colton Dunn) is the Greens' easygoing next-door neighbor who works at an animal shelter.
• Chip Whistler (voiced by Paul Scheer) is the main antagonist of the series, the Green family's rival, and manager of the Wholesome Foods supermarket, a parody of Whole Foods Market. A running gag is that his attempts to defeat the Greens get his front tooth chipped (except for "Friend Con", in which all his other teeth fell out instead), though his front tooth would somehow be repaired by his next appearance.
• Rashida Remington (voiced by Lorraine Toussaint) is Remy's well-to-do mother who works as a lawyer.
• Russell Remington (voiced by Colton Dunn) is Remy's father and Rashida's husband. He is a lawyer and former football player for the Big City Bengals.
• Ms. Miriam Cho (voiced by Anna Akana) is the former owner of Big Coffee and Gloria and Cricket's boss. She only communicates via grunting (though other characters seem to understand what she's saying) until "Chipwrecked", where after Chip Whistler bribes Ms. Cho into retirement which results in Big Coffee closing, she shouts, "Peace out, my dudes!"; she has not been seen since.
• Andromeda (voiced by Nicole Byer) is Tilly's best friend. She is a conspiracy theorist with a strong belief in aliens, supernatural phenomena, and government cover-ups.
• Alucard Grigorian (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is an old Armenian man who is the neighbor of Brett and the Greens and has personal issues with Gramma.
• Gabriella Espinosa (voiced by Jenna Ortega in most appearances, Nikki Castillo in "Long Goodbye") is Cricket's girlfriend and female counterpart. She's as troublemaking and rambunctious as Cricket is as well as sharing his interests.
• Gregly (voiced by Tim Robinson) is Cricket's grumpy friend who has a habit of screaming everything he says.
• Maria Media (voiced by Raven-Symoné) is a local news reporter in Big City.
• Sue Lanemoto, often referred to as Community Sue (voiced by Betsy Sodaro as an adult, Monica Ray as a child) is the director of the Big City Community Center. She constantly shouts during conversations and regularly encourages others to adopt more health-conscious behaviors.
• Gwendolyn Zapp (voiced by Cheri Oteri) is the CEO of the BigTech technology company. She is an eccentric and slightly mad inventor, creating high-tech products that tend to go haywire.
• Good Ol' Joe (voiced by Darin De Paul) is Bill's best friend in Smalton, who shares his interests.
• Patti (voiced by Brooke Dillman) is the owner of Patti's Diner in Smalton.
• Hector (voiced by Harvey Guillén) is Cricket's old friend from the Smalton Scrapyard.
• Lupita (voiced by Rylee Alazraqui) is Hector's little boisterous sister.
• Sunday (voiced by Ali Stroker) is Hector's peace-loving girlfriend.
• Nick Mulligan (voiced by Billy West) is Nancy's estranged ne'er-do-well father and Cricket and Tilly's maternal grandfather. He previously appeared in flashbacks in the episodes "Greens' Acres" and "Rat Tail" before appearing in Season 4 to meet and spend time with his grandkids and the rest of the family.

Notable guest stars

• Waiter (voiced by Jim Rash) appears in "Fill Bill".
• Fish (voiced by Busta Rhymes) appears in "Fill Bill".
• Pepper Merchant (voiced by Griffin McElroy) appears in "Feud Fight".
• Louis (voiced by Jon Hamm) appears in "Big Deal".
• Jyle (voiced by Wallace Shawn) appears in "Night Bill".
• Dr. Enamel (voiced by Eric Jacobson as Fozzie Bear) appears in "Hurty Tooth".
• Wyatt (voiced by Alex Hirsch) appears in "Park Pandemonium".
• Donny Tinselton (voiced by Thomas Middleditch) appears in "Cricket's Kapowie".
• Hair Stylist (voiced by Jonathan Van Ness) appears in "Cricket's Kapowie".
• Santa Claus (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) appears in "Green Christmas".
• Mr. Whistler (voiced by Ed Begley Jr.) appears in "Reckoning Ball" and "Chipwrecked".
• Grampa Green (voiced by Tim Blake Nelson) appears in "Garage Tales".
• Phoenix (voiced by Jameela Jamil) appears in "Animal Farm" and "Homeward Hound".
• Cogburn (voiced by Alfred Molina) appears in "Animal Farm" and "Homeward Hound".
• Other Bill Green (voiced by Jim O'Heir) appears in "Animal Farm".
• Gina (voiced by Riki Lindhome) appears in "Desserted".
• Canteloupe Sinclair (voiced by Melissa Fumero) appears in "Dolled Up".
• Tom Hanks (voiced by himself) speaks offscreen at the end of "Cheap Show".
• Mimi O'Malley (voiced by Lucy Lawless) appears in "Cricket's Tickets".
• Gertie (voiced by Sandy Martin) appears in "Super Gramma!".
• Librarian (voiced by Linda Hamilton) appears in "Quiet Please".
• Chairwoman (voiced by Mary Holland) appears in "Chipwrecked".
• Mayor Hansock (voiced by Andy Richter) appears in "Chipocalypse Now" and "Spaghetti Theory".
• Ronald Featherman (voiced by David Wain) appears in "Winter Greens".
• Kevin (voiced by Booboo Stewart) appears in "Winter Greens".
• Kara Karaoke (voiced by Macy Gray) appears in "Okay Karaoke".
• Viper Fang (voiced by Joe Manganiello) appears in "Spaghetti Theory" and "Takened".
• Rick (voiced by David Harbour) appears in "The Van".
• Community Dan (voiced by Rob Riggle) appears in "Bat Girl".
• Janice (voiced by Lennon Parham) appears in "Papaganda".
• Dirk (voiced by Ken Marino) appears in "No Service".
• Mr. Fluffenfold (voiced by Patton Oswalt) appears in "DependaBill".
• Doug Perkins (voiced by Tom Gammill) appears in "DependaBill" and "Long Goodbye".
• Ms. Torres (voiced by Rosie Perez) appears in "The Delivernator".
• Frilled Lizard (voiced by Wiz Khalifa) appears in "Rembo".
• Wayne (voiced by Tony Cavalero) appears in "Pie Hard", "Frilly Tilly", and "Bunny Farm".
• Tina (voiced by Sydney Park) appears in "Pizza Deliverance".
• Mr. Extras (voiced by Alfonso Ribeiro) appears in "Virtually Christmas".
• Merv Stampington (voiced by Danny DeVito) appears in "Long Goodbye".
• Truckee's Mascot (voiced by Justin McElroy) appears in "Truck Stopped".
• Bonnie Spark (voiced by Amy Sedaris) appears in "Jingled".
• Rick Razzle (voiced by Michael Bolton) appears in "Jingled".
• Serenity Spruce (voiced by Jenny Yokobori) appears in "Junk Junkie".

Production

On March 8, 2016, Disney XD greenlit the series under the title of Country Club. The series is created by the brothers Chris and Shane Houghton, who originally worked on Nickelodeon's Harvey Beaks. Chris Houghton also worked as a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls with Rob Renzetti. The series was later renamed to Big City Greens on July 21, 2017. The show's animation is done entirely in traditional pen and paper as opposed to digital ink. The theme song was written and performed by The Mowgli's, and on July 28, 2017, a sneak peek of it was revealed at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con and was uploaded to Disney XD's YouTube channel on the same day. On May 17, 2018, it was reported that Disney Channel had ordered a second season of Big City Greens ahead of the series' debut. On October 7, 2019, it was announced that the second season would premiere on November 4, 2019, however, it got pushed back to November 16, 2019. On January 13, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season. On January 21, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 23, 2023. On June 11, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season.

During production for the first season, an episode titled "Hands-On History" was in development. The episode was directed by Monica Ray, from a story by Carson Montgomery, also being written and storyboarded by Caldwell Tanner and Cheyenne Curtis. It featured Mark Hamill in the role of Dr. Ponderstein, a sinister curator who ran a museum. The plot focused on Cricket and Remy at odds with one another, over Ponderstein's method of educating children. The episode was shelved when the Houghton Brothers found Remy's behavior in the episode unlikeable - they could not find a way to make the story work so early in the show's run. On cancelling the episode, co-creator Chris Houghton stated, "[W]e killed that episode for the best of reasons: it just didn’t work. We broke and re-broke the story a ton of times. Reboarded it again and again. Sometimes the best course of action is to take your creation out behind the shed, ya know?" The episode's production number, 110, would be given to "Parade Day" and "DIY Guys" instead.

Release

When announced, the series was scheduled to premiere in 2018 on Disney XD; however, on March 26, 2018, it was reported that the series would debut on Disney Channel in mid-2018. On May 17, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the series would premiere on Disney Channel as part of Disney Channel's GO! Summer on June 18, 2018. The series premiere was made available for streaming via the DisneyNow app and the Disney Channel YouTube channel as of June 8, 2018. Additional new episodes premiered on This Week Mornings at 10:00 AM throughout the summer. In addition, Big City Greens shorts began airing on Disney Channel and Disney Channel's YouTube channel on June 4, 2018.

Reception

Critical response

Bekah Burbank of LaughingPlace.com praised the characters of the series, writing, "While the mischief and antics are super silly and completely ridiculous, the characters themselves are quite fun. Just like it is with every family, the quirkiness is what you come to love most about the people you spend time with. The Green family might not be perfect, but they’re positive, supportive, and optimistic no matter the situation. Everyone could benefit from spending a little time with this wacky family." Dave Trumbore of Collider asserted, "The animated series does a solid job of delivering fish-out-of-water laughs alongside some good, old-fashioned heart, making for a refreshing story that has one foot in the country and one in the city."

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave Big City Greens a grade of four out of five stars and complimented the presence of positive messages and role models, writing, "Big City Greens is a quirky but heartwarming animated series about a family that moves from the country to the city and doesn't quite fit in. Despite mining familiar stereotypes of rural dwellers the show has strong family-centric themes and silly, lighthearted laughs." Jaclyn Appelgate of Comic Book Resources ranked Big City Greens 5th in their "Best Currently Airing Kids' Cartoons" list, saying, "Both children and parents alike are entertained by the hilarious comedy and the lighthearted emphasis on family. Although the plot is simple in nature, being about a country family who goes to live in the big city, it's one of those shows viewers can rely on after a long day. Many fans even consider it a PG version of The Simpsons, which would explain why adults enjoy watching it as well."

Ratings

Accolades

Film

Along with a fourth season, a musical film was announced to be in development, with the series' main cast returning. Series director Anna O'Brian will helm the film, with Michael Coughling producing. The film is titled Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation. It premiered on June 6, 2024, on Disney Channel, followed by its release on Disney+ the next day. The events of the film take place during the fourth season of Big City Greens.

Spin-off

Meredith Roberts, EVP of Disney Television Animation, revealed that a spin-off series was being developed, though she did not specify what it would entail.

In other media

Video game

A multiplayer game titled Big City Battle!, where players compete against each other in order to earn a place as a member of the Green family, was released on the DisneyNOW app.

NHL broadcasts

On March 14, 2023, ESPN presented a youth-oriented, Big City Greens-themed telecast of a National Hockey League game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers—the NHL Big City Greens Classic —on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney+ and ESPN+. The broadcast leveraged the NHL Edge player and puck tracking system, combined with technology from Beyond Sports, to present a real-time 3D animated recreation of the game; the teams' players were represented by avatars on an outdoor rink, with Vincent Trocheck and Evgeny Kuznetsov being portrayed by avatars of Cricket and Tilly respectively (with their voice actors also using live facial motion capture), and the goalies portrayed by Grandma Alice and Bill Green. Gloria and Remy also joined the game during the last few minutes. Commentators Kevin Weekes and Drew Carter were featured via motion captured avatars, developed by the animation studio Silver Spoon (which had previously worked with CBS Sports and Nickelodeon on similar motion captured avatars for segments of youth-oriented NFL broadcasts). The broadcast on Disney Channel drew approximately 140,000 viewers, while the Disney XD simulcast had roughly 30,000, for a total of 176,000 viewers. In November 2023, it was reported that the simulcast would return in 2024, later specified as a March 9 game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins. The Disney Channel broadcast drew 125,000 viewers.

References

External links

• Quotations related to Big City Greens at Wikiquote
• Official website
• Production website
• Big City Greens at IMDb