Gary the Rat

Gary the Rat
Created by Mark Cullen
Robb Cullen
Starring Kelsey Grammer
Billy Gardell
Spencer Garrett
Rob Paulsen
Rick Gomez
Vance DeGeneres
Susan Savage
Robb Cullen
Composer(s) Mark Mothersbaugh
Josh Mancell
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive producer(s) Mark Cullen
Robb Cullen
Kelsey Grammer
Arnold Rifkin
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) Grammnet Productions
Cheyenne Enterprises
Spike Animation Studios
Release
Original network Spike
Original release June 26 – December 11, 2003 (2003-12-11)

Gary the Rat is an American adult television program animated series created by the Cullen Brothers for Spike (previously known as TNN) and animated by Spike Animation Studios. It was produced by Grammnet Productions and distributed by Cheyenne Enterprises. It began as a Web cartoon in 2000 for Mediatrip.com.[1][2] The series aired on Spike in 2003, lasting for one season. It is rated TV-MA in the United States.

The series was created by now re-structured studio BLITZ, formerly known as eStudio.

Premise

Gary "The Rat" Andrews is a defense attorney who awakens one morning to find that he has somehow transformed into a giant bipedal rat. Gary struggles to deal with his transformation and hold on to his high status.

Grammer said of the character, "Gary the Rat has been compromising every scruple to the point that he compromises his humanity."[3]

Voice actors

List of episodes

Episode # Title
1"Manratten"
Gary Andrews, a successful Wall Street attorney, wakes up one morning to discover that he has turned into a 6 ft. rat. He must now learn to live his life as a giant rat in a modern world.
2"Inherit the Cheese"
Gary is given the biggest case of his career defending the Southern Tobacco Company against the State of New York. He wins by using the argument that the tobacco company shouldn't be persecuted just because it is different.
3"Spring of Love"
Gary has to find a date for the Spring Ball. He tries various methods without any luck, until he finally finds the right woman – who dumps him at the ball for not being Jewish.
4"Rat Day Afternoon"
Gary is forced to mentor Mr. Harrison's son, Scott, a tattooed and pierced slacker who works in the company mailroom. Scott decides to holdup a bank in order to get his father's approval over being gay and drags Gary along with him.
5"Mergers and Acquisitions"
Terry McMillian, a con artist and suck up, joins the firm as their newest mergers and acquisitions lawyer and promptly gets Gary fired. Gary gets his revenge by taking advantage of Terry's past as a sexual deviant and sets him up for a big fall.
6"Old Flame"
Gary's ex-girlfriend returns as the opposing counsel on a big case and tries to seduce him in order to get Gary to settle. Gary eventually realizes what she is up to and proceeds to win the case.
7"The Reunion"
Gary is forced to attend his high school reunion and must deal with seeing his arch rival again.
8"Sleeps with the Fishes"
Mr. Harrison coerces Gary to represent Anthony "the Heel" Stilletto, the head of one of the major NY crime families. Mr. Stilletto later forces Gary to marry Angel, the hideously ugly daughter of his godfather, but luckily for Gary Mr. Stilletto's Godfather kills Angel during the ceremony with a statue of Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea.
9"Strange Bedfellows"
Gary decides to run against Truman Pinksdale in the presidential election for their building association. Gary pulls out all the stops – bribery, sexual favors, digging up dirt on his opponent, etc. – but ultimately loses the election due to the fact that he is a 6 ft. rat.
10"This is Not a Pipe"
In a sendup of Philadelphia, Gary defends a lawyer who's fired for having a disease. In this case it's leprosy, and Gary must balance his inherent lack of compassion for the weak with the desire to win his client's case.
11"Catch Me if You Can"
Gary's long-lost cousin Jerry Andrews pays him a visit and turns out to be the ultimate con artist. Gary must deal with the wake of Jerry's crimes, including two bumbling FBI agents hot on his trail.
12"Future Ex-Wife"
When Harrison's wife decides to leave him, Gary agrees to represent her in court, much to his boss' chagrin.
13"A Good Execution"

Johnny Bugz botches another murder attempt on Gary, killing innocent people instead. Oblivious to the fact that he was the target, Gary reluctantly agrees to take Johnny's case pro bono and defend him on the murder charges.

This episode marks the finale of the series as Gary the Rat along with any other characters all die in an explosion at the end.

Critical reception

Kevin McDonough of United Media gave the show a negative review, praising the voice actors but calling the show itself "virtually laugh-free."[4] Phil Gallo of Daily Variety thought that the first episode was "too serious" and that Grammer's character was derivative of Frasier Crane.[5] Giving it one star out of four, Dean Johnson of The Boston Herald criticized the first episode as unfunny, and questioned whether the show would fit Spike's demographic.[6]

A more favorable review came from Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who thought that Grammer was "well-cast" and that it was the "least crude" of the three cartoons airing on Spike at the time (Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" and Stripperella).[3] Matthew Williams of Toon Zone gave a mixed review, saying that some elements of episodes were drawn out for too long, but that Grammer "saves the show from mediocrity" and that he considered some of the jokes funny.[7]

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=am8fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TX8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6357,1854677&dq=gary-the-rat&hl=en
  2. ↑ http://variety.com/2000/digital/news/mediatrip-shows-rat-stuff-1117785388/
  3. 1 2 http://old.post-gazette.com/tv/20030620owen0622p2.asp
  4. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nb1bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YFINAAAAIBAJ&pg=5673,4236583&dq=gary-the-rat&hl=en
  5. ↑ Gary the Rat. (Television Review).(Television Program Review) – Daily Variety | HighBeam Research
  6. ↑ Bomb AND bombshell; Lawyer-bashing `Gary the Rat' a trial for viewers.(Arts and Lifestyle) – The Boston Herald | HighBeam Research
  7. ↑ http://www.toonzone.net/2003/06/tz-reviews-the-strip-bare-of-quality/2/#.UQ9TZej86BR

Release

The complete series has not been released on DVD or Bluray. However, all episodes are available on the iTunes Music Store and Amazon Video.

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