Superjail!, Metalocalypse, Rick and Morty, Squidbillies, Robot Chicken
Mr. Pickles is an American animated television series created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart for Adult Swim. The series revolves around the Goodman family, especially their 6-year-old son named Tommy and the family's border collie, the demonic Mr. Pickles. The series was picked up for 10 quarter-hour episodes for its first season, which premiered on the network on September 21, 2014, and ended on November 23, 2014. It was renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 17, 2016, and ended on June 26, 2016.
On July 2, 2016, Adult Swim renewed the series for a third season.
Mr pickles intro
Plot
In the small, old-fashioned world of Old Town, the Goodman family and their innocent 6-year-old son Tommy own a border collie named Mr. Pickles. The two spend their days romping around Old Town, while unbeknownst to Tommy and the family – except for Tommy's grandfather – Mr. Pickles' secret evilness drives him to slip away to kill, mutilate and hump his many victims.
Main
Mr. Pickles – He is the protagonist and the Goodman family's pet Border Collie, the physical embodiment of the devil and who loves to eat pickles – hence his name – which Tommy regularly feeds him. He also enjoys mutilating, killing and engaging in sexual debauchery with those who pose a threat to Tommy or other protagonists. Mr. Pickles is highly intelligent and possesses incredible strength, surgical skills that he uses to mutilate his victims, the ability to steal from an evil scientist a high-tech android, and demonic powers which allow him to control local animals to do his bidding. Despite his seemingly-evil ways, he loves and is extremely protective of the impressionable young Tommy and his family: protecting them from danger, and often killing those who might do them harm, such as murdering a group of pedophiles or turning an unlicensed breast surgeon who gave Tommy breast implants into a multiple-breasted freak. He has a long-standing feud with Henry Gobbleblobber, the only Goodman family member aware of Mr. Pickles' evil nature. While Mr. Pickles does not actually harm Henry, the dog does put the old man in humiliating situations while making him seem crazy. Despite their adversarial nature, Mr. Pickles has saved Henry from being lobotomized while he was committed to an asylum and a cannibalistic serial killer that Henry had befriended, unaware he was an escaped convict and serial killer. Mr. Pickles has also shown to be sexually attracted to Tommy's mother by often groping, touching her private areas, and even playfully dry-humping her. Mr. Pickles' doghouse leads to a hidden, underground lair that's filled with blood, pentagrams, victims – both living slaves and dead, mutilated bodies – and a throne where he usually eats his pickles. Many of series one-time characters usually end up in his lair where they are either killed or kept as prisoners.
Tommy Goodman (voiced by Kaitlyn Robrock) – The Goodman family's physically disabled young son who wears leg-braces and considers Mr. Pickles as his best friend, often feeding him pickles whenever he behaves. Tommy is often protected by Mr. Pickles and is protective of Mr. Pickles as well, such as when he took it upon himself to search for Mr. Pickles after he was kidnapped by mercenaries. Due to his naive personality, Tommy usually gets involved in dangerous situations and Mr. Pickles (at times frustrated) steps in to save him and dispose of the bad people involved. Like most characters on the show, Tommy is unaware of Mr. Pickles' evil nature. At one point in season two, Mr. Pickles spends most of the episode away from Tommy; this results in Tommy getting involved in a series of accidents, causing him to scorn Mr. Pickles and not give him a pickle.
Stanley Goodman (voiced by Jay Johnston) – Tommy's father who works as a telemarketer. Stanley is constantly bullied by his boss; as a result, Stanley hardly has time to spend with his family, especially his son. Nevertheless, Stanley means well and is committed to his family. Though they don't interact much, Mr. Pickles seems to respect him to a degree. He even showed displeasure when it looked as though a doctor was about to bring Stanley harm.
Beverly Goodman (voiced by Brooke Shields) – Tommy's stay-at-home mother who is the traditional dutiful mother and wife. Beverly is oblivious of Mr. Pickles' evil nature and dismisses the dog's sexual behavior, for instance groping and touching her, as simple dog mannerisms. Like her son, Beverly is very naïve and sometimes feels limited by her home life. Despite being the first person to dismiss her father's stories about Mr. Pickles, she is very close to him as he is one of the few people she can talk to. Near the end of the second season, she's shown to be very tired of her domestic duties. Furthermore, becomes angry when reminded that she had other dreams and career aspirations; but was talked out of it due to her mother aka Steve.
Henry Gobbleblobber (voiced by Frank Collison) – Tommy's grandfather and Mrs. Goodman's father, referred to by everyone as "Grandpa Goodman". He is the only family member aware of Mr. Pickles' evil ways and has borne witness to the dog's several murders and other depraved acts. However, most his family and the town Sheriff dismiss his attempts to expose the dog as just another of one of his "evil Mr. Pickles stories". Henry views Mr. Pickles as a monster though he understands that he and Mr. Pickles both care for Tommy's safety. Henry also suffers harassment from Mr. Pickles, through he briefly got peace from the dog during his brief fear of vacuum cleaners. At the end of Season 1 and the start of Season 2, Henry attempts to expose Mr. Pickles by video taping the inside of Mr. Pickles doghouse to show to the Sheriff before learning he was one of Mr. Pickles many high-tech androids. Henry ends being committed to the Old Town asylum when he attacked the real sheriff, realizing Mr. Pickles can't touch him while learning too late that asylum's director wishes to lobotomize him. Mr. Pickles eventually manages to free Henry from the asylum, ironically saving him. In the season 2 finale, Henry's attempt to find out about a strange coin associated with Mr. Pickles led to him learning that his wife Agnes, who is revealed to be Steve, is still alive and serves by Mr. Pickles' side.
Sheriff (voiced by Will Carsola) – The unnamed sheriff of Old Town. He lives with his mother and sister. He behaves like a young boy and has a doll named Abbigail, whom he often talks to and has tea parties with. He is often called upon by Henry whenever he has evidence of Mr. Pickles being evil, but Mr. Pickles usually manages to place the blame on somebody else or remove the evidence causing the Sheriff to remain skeptical to the old man's claims. Ironically, despite his dubious abilities as a police officer, the Sheriff is often credited with the capture and arrest of individuals Mr. Pickles sets up to take the fall, contributing to the towns view that the Sheriff is a competent law enforcement official. The Sheriff himself seems to view Mr. Pickles as a good natured dog and in season 2 even recruits Mr. Pickles as a police dog to help him track down some escaped serial killers. Mr. Pickles even saves the Sheriff from being killed by one of the escaped killers. This makes him one of the few people outside the Goodman family that actually ends up being protected by Mr. Pickles' evil actions.
Steve (Voiced by Barbara Goodson) – Originally known as Agnes Gobbleblobber, she was Henry's wife and Beverly's mother. For reasons yet to revealed, Agnes faked her death and became Mr. Pickles's gimp Steve. Steve lives in the caves under Mr. Pickles' dog house, acting as its guardian while often taking part in Mr. Pickles' depraved activities. In the Season 2 finale, Henry learns the truth about Steve. Its revealed by their daughter, that Agnes was once a critical homebody. When Beverly took fencing classes and had wanted a career, her mother cut her down saying a woman's job was to stay home and feed her husband. A job she eventually talked Beverly into, but it was hinted her daughter clearly resented it and resented her mother for cutting down her dreams.
Floyd (voiced by Dave Stewart) – A colleague of Stanley Goodman who works as a telemarketer. Morbidly obese to the point that his excessive fat sags, Floyd is almost always seen eating various foods. He got his obesity from traveling to food competitions, which he won. Because of his competition fame, he is surprisingly quite wealthy and lives in a mansion with his beautiful wife. His mansion's interior designs are made mostly out of food. He also has a gym, but doesn't use it since he can't fit through the door. Despite his appetite and appearance, he seems to get along with others, although Stanley finds him awkward to be around. In the second episode of the second season, Floyd has apparently become more obese.
Mr. Bojenkins (voiced by Frank Collison) – A kindly African-American man that drives a wagon pulled by some large pit bulls. He's known to have sex with multiple women and is considered the Sheriff's best friend. Like the other adults, he makes fun of Grandpa's evil Mr. Pickles stories. In a season 2 episode, Mr. Bojenkins took it upon himself to save the Sheriff from a woman who was the daughter of a crime boss who was held captive by Mr. Pickles since Season 1. After rescuing the Sheriff with the aid of the Sheriff's elderly mother, he ended up sleeping with her.
Linda – Also known as "Crazy Linda" is an unattractive and deranged woman who is Beverly's best friend. She known for trying to sell people, especially the Goodmans, products that are either old or broken. She was once married to Henry but that was because he was drunk, thanks to Mr. Pickles. She is often seen digging in trash to search for something to sell to people. She also has a daughter name Linda Jr.
Linda Jr – Is the daughter of Crazy Linda. She looks similar to her mother but is cleaner. She has a thumb growing out of her navel but doesn't let it bother her. She's sweet and kind and helps Tommy learn to be himself and how being different shouldn't let him stop him from doing anything he wants to do. Linda indicates that she doesn't know the identity of her father.
Boss – Stanley's boss who uses his position to bully Stanley to do undesirable and humiliating things.
Bullies – Two boys that make fun and tease Tommy for his condition while getting into suggestive poses that implies a homosexual attraction between them.
Secondary
Mayor – The Mayor of Old Town appears in the season 2 episode the Mental Asylum. Mr. Pickles accidentally kills the Mayor when he is with a prostitute, during one of Mr. Pickles' senseless acts of murder. Mr. Pickles later poses as the Mayor by using the Mayor's skin as a suit in order to free Grandpa Goodman from the asylum. Mr. Pickles makes the Mayor appear crazy at a town hall meeting by humping a female dog, allowing himself to be committed, which allows Mr. Pickles to get inside in order to free Grandpa.
The Mayor's Wife (voiced by Kaitlyn Robrock) – The Mayor's wife is a pompous woman who likes to flaunt her husband's status in front of others like Beverly Goodman. She is unaware of her husband's unfaithfulness and was unable to tell Mr. Pickles was posing as her husband. She is horrified and publicly disgraced when the Mayor – actually Mr. Pickles – humps her pet dog during a town meeting.
Warden – The evil warden runs the mental asylum Grandpa is wrongfully taken to. He is known to laugh maniacally in between sentences and deeply desires to lobotomize his patients. He issues a proposal to the Mayor to make lobotomies legal. Mr. Pickles, posing as the Mayor, approves his proposal before he is caught having sex with a dog and is promptly sent to the asylum. The Warden then prepares him for a lobotomy, but Mr. Pickles bursts from his body at the last minute and kidnaps the Warden. The Warden is then taken to Mr. Pickles' lair where he is given a lobotomy by one of the asylum patients (now transformed into a frog after identifying as one). The Warden is seen in the next episode living as a prisoner in Mr. Pickles' lair, alive but clearly different from his lobotomy.
Ron Bolton – A successful lawyer Grandpa hires in Grandpa's Night to help him claim infidelity to divorce Linda by hiring several undercover seducers, all of which Mr. Pickles disposes of by either killing or imprisoning them. As a last resort, Ron hires a hitman to kill Linda. Mr. Pickles kills the hitman and frames Ron for the murders of the hitman and the seducers.
Baby Man – An adult baby who appears in the first episode when Grandpa is taken to one of Mr. Pickles' fetish parties where the dog proceeds to kill and dismember the party-goers (excluding the Baby Man). Mr. Pickles later fuses him with the body parts of the other fetishists (both dead and alive). Despite this, the Baby Man's playful attitude still remains and appears from time to time in Mr. Pickles' lair.
Doc Walton – A cross-eyed plastic surgeon who offers numerous cosmetic procedures (advertised as "jobs") from within inside his horse-driven wagon. Tommy confuses his "jobs" as employment and is given a breast enlargement as a result. Doc Walton is later kidnapped by Mr. Pickles and taken to his lair where he is given a set of six large breasts. He is seen in the background of the second season inside Mr. Pickles' lair.
Bigfoot (voiced by Sean Conroy) – A former mobster named Vito Pizzarelli who was one of the mob's most feared hitmen before he was caught by the police. They forced Vito to rat out the entire Gabagoolie criminal organization and he was then transformed into the legendary figure known as Bigfoot by the witness protection program. Tommy and Mr. Pickles encounters Bigfoot in the woods and he agrees to help bake a new Fathers Day pie after he ate the previous one. Mr. Pickles also helps Bigfoot by killing the Gabagoolie who wished to exact their revenge when they discovered his identity after he was caught in the grocery store picking up ingredients. Bigfoot reappears in season two, now married to a doe(dubbed his "dear wife") who gave birth to his son, Dear Boy, a deer-human hybrid. Bigfoot gets Tommy to look after his son while he spends some alone time with his wife. Unfortunately, his wife is killed by some hunters. Bigfoot claims that in his past he would have sought revenge, but his fatherhood has now change him. Bigfoot mourns the loss of his wife at a camp fire where he is confronted by the hunter who killed his wife. Mr. Pickles saves him by killing the hunter, and Bigfoot then asks him to look after his Dear Boy again while he spends time with his new lover, an owl.
The Cannibal – A convicted serial killer and cannibal who is the main antagonist in the episode Serial Killers. He is considered too strange for "normal" serial killers and is prone to making cannibal-themed puns while licking his lips. He escaped police custody when he broke out of his cuffs inside the police car before eating Rape-and-Kill Ronny. The bus then crashed and released the remaining criminals during the road collision in the series opening. The Cannibal befriends Grandpa with the intent of feeding on him and soon gets invited to have dinner with his family. The Sheriff mistakes the Cannibal for a gum thief when he misconstrues his puns and joins the dinner in preparation to arrest him while the Cannibal plans to kill everyone. However, Mr. Pickles replaces his shiv with a stolen packet of gum and the Cannibal is then arrested for stealing gum alongside the actual gum thief who was mistaken for the cannibal. The Cannibal once again escapes custody, but is ritually killed by Mr. Pickles who removes his heart before playing with it.
Superhero Guy – An ex-superhero whose superhero career was destroyed when his true identity (Phil Robertson) was revealed by a baby pulling his mask off. This resulted in people calling him to do mundane tasks which led him to becoming addicted to shövenpucker: the act of shoving super sour candy balls up his anus to get high. When the candy was banned, Superhero Guy started buying them from back alley dealers and stealing steel to sell after he became bankrupt to feed his addiction. After Superhero Guy stole Tommy's leg braces, Tommy and his side-kick (named "Side-kick Boy" (voiced by Tom Kenny) attempt to help him by luring the now-elderly Superhero Guy into a rehab center using a piece of steel. Superhero Guy then stole the key to his secret base in hopes of selling the steel robot suit, but ended up using the suit to steal cars and a bridge to sell as metal. When Superhero Guy goes to the recycling plant, Mr. Pickles forces him into a large compacter, but refrains from killing him when he notices Tommy's braces are inside too. Superhero Guy then escapes, but ends up having his body fused into a vehicle that Mr. Pickles rides in the night.
Dear Boy – Bigfoot's son who resembles a talking deer with a human-like head. Dear Boy is put under Tommy's protection when he wants to prove that he can be responsible, but Dear Boy's uncontrollable nature causes them to have a run-in with a couple of hunters. Dear Boy then has his foot caught in a bear trap and begs Tommy to euthanize him with a gun. However, his father soon rescues him just after his mother is killed. Due to him being part human, Dear Boy is immune to Mr. Pickles' mind-controlling powers.
Jon Gabagooli – The boss of the Gabagooli criminal family. He attempted to kill Vito Pizzarelli (now "Bigfoot") when he was sighted at a grocery store. After Mr. Pickles killed the other Gabagoolies, Jon was imprisoned Mr. Pickles' lair and was made to help break into the grocery store to steal jumbo pickles. Jon managed to escape in season two, but was arrested by the Sheriff when he was caught trying to steal a car. Jon's daughter, Lisa Gabagoolie, frees him from jail by seducing the Sheriff and stealing his keys. Under the false belief that the Sheriff had sex with her, Jon attempts to kill him until Mr. Bojenkins and the sheriff's mother come to the rescue. Jon and his daughter escape town in a car where they're confronted by what appears to be Mr. Pickles. Jon runs him over out of revenge, but discovers that it was actually a cardboard cut-out before the real Mr. Pickles rips his face off and shoots him in the mouth. As for Lisa, she flees with Mr. Pickles pursuing her, leaving her fate unknown.
Vegan Leader (voiced by Rob Zombie) – The leader of a quasi-religious group of Vegans. He resembles a priest with a large beard that is constantly stroked by a pair of beautiful women. His body is covered in tattoos of vegan slogans and vegetables, and his genitals have been completely removed. Beverly is invited to his headquarters and greatly upsets him with her misunderstanding of veganism (she believes one can both eat animal products and be vegan at the same time). He attempts to convert her to veganism by showing her a fake slaughterhouse video and locking her in a cage like an animal. Fearing that Beverly's influence will corrupt the other vegans, he decides to perform an ancient vegan ceremony from "hundreds and hundreds of months ago". He tied Beverly to a large V while blindfolded so that they can beat the ignorance out of her with hammers. Beverly is saved when a non-vegan pizza she delivered earlier arrives which causes the other vegans to give in. Mr. Pickles then arrives and kills the other vegans before they can taste the pizza and then kills the leader by impaling his skull with a giant carrot.
The series was created by Will Carsola and Dave Stewart – of Funny or Die Presents notability – and executive-produced by Will Carsola, Dave Stewart, and Michael J. Rizzo. The series was one of several shows pitched to Adult Swim, according to the creators, who also operate under the name "Day by Day". Stewart recalled promoting it as a "one-line sentence", while Carsola remembered that it derived from a "write-off" session, where the two present ideas to each other in the form of scribbles for their amusement. Carsola explained that ideas in this process are released from the pressure "of them being good", occasionally finding "one that sticks". They later explained at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International that the idea was based on Lassie, but has become "more of its own thing since then".
Stewart's own female pet dog served as inspiration for the animators on the character of Mr. Pickles. Animation director Mike L. Mayfield recorded Stewart's dog playing around on video, with animators using the resulting footage as a basis for the character's movements; the series is animated using Adobe Flash. Its setting is roughly based on Richmond, Virginia, where the creators started out in entertainment before moving to Los Angeles. The creators are given creative freedom by the network, with Stewart explaining the notes received by them as "minimal", much to their surprise. The creators observed some inconsistencies as to what is considered unacceptable, but try not to question it and compromise instead.
Elaborating on its 11-minute running time, Carsola described it as a 22-minute show "squished" into a quarter-hour. Among the voices for the characters include Brooke Shields, Frank Collison, Jay Johnston and Carsola and Stewart themselves. Shields' role in the series came after looking at the creator's work for Funny or Die and obtaining the script for Mr. Pickles. According to Carsola, the two were dubious over her interest in the series, but after being cast she provided lines in a recording booth in New York City while the creators supervised over Skype.
Season 3 (2016)
On July 2, 2016, Adult Swim renewed the series for a third season. According with Adult Swim, the third season would resolve the cliffhanger presented at the end of "Season 2 Finale".
Broadcast and reception
The series was picked up for ten quarter-hour episodes for its first season, premiering on the network on September 21, 2014 following the ninth-season premiere of Squidbillies. In July 2013, the pilot episode was released online as part of a presentation of in-development shows for the network, partnered with KFC; viewers could vote for their favorite pilot, with the winner being broadcast on August 26, 2013. The series lost to Übermansion, a Stoopid Buddy Stoodios production, although the presentation as a whole won an Internet Advertising Campaign Award in 2014 for "Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign". The pilot was later published on the network's website on January 23, 2014, and on YouTube on March 10 of the same year, becoming viral with over 700,000 views after roughly a month later. A second season was mentioned at the 2014 Comic-Con.
Reception for Mr. Pickles has been polarized. Writing for Strange Kids Club, Mat Spitkovsky stated the series' extreme content matter left him at a loss for words as well as confused. Afterwards, he found it lacking in "class, creativity and goddammit, originality" in the vein of Superjail!, although its "brazen approach at crass offense ... all in good fun" was "kind of cool." Aaron Simpson of Cold Hard Flash called the series an amalgamation of Lassie and Superjail!, while observing some social commentary "to ensure this is more than just a multi-episodic sketch." Mike Hale of The New York Times labeled it "the less tasteful but more mainstream" counterpart to Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories, another addition to the network. He wrote that the show was "more grisly than funny," but predicted it to have a cult following and that Shields' voice would add "surreal-pop-culture cachet".
