Fox has never been known for an abundance of great original series, but it's always surpassed other networks in the realm of animation. The newest animated series to join the line-up, Sit Down, Shut Up, is no exception.
The show comes from the unparalleled Mitch Hurwitz, creator of the gone-too-soon Arrested Development. Lucky for Arrested fans still in mourning, Sit Down, Shut Up resembles the former project in many ways, including the cast and some of the writers. It's a mini-reunion of sorts, as Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler all leaped at the opportunity to work together with Hurwitz once again.
The three actors make up part of an outstanding ensemble cast that also includes Kenan Thompson, Cheri Oteri and Will Forte of Saturday Night Live fame. Together they serve as the voices for the animated faculty at Knob Haven High School, where the teachers want to be even less than the students do.
Arnett and Bateman's characters are remarkably similar to the roles they played in Arrested, with Arnett as Ennis Hofftard, a vain, dimwitted English teacher who just never quite gets it, and Bateman as Larry Littlejunk, a downtrodden P.E. teacher who is far more intelligent than everyone around him.
Casting of the SNL trio is also well-suited to the talent: Thompson plays Sue Sezno, the power-tripping acting principal (and really, who can do feisty black lady better than Kenan?). Forte comes in as Sezno's irritatingly peppy assistant principal (or "ass. principal," as he refers to himself) Stuart Proszakian. Oteri gives voice to the ironically loud-mouthed librarian Helen Klench.
The rest of the characters are just as well-cast and hilarious, rounding out Knob Haven team. Winkler is depressed German teacher Willard Deutschebog, and Broadway's Kristin Chenoweth plays Miracle Grohe, a science teacher who doesn't believe in science.
There's also openly bisexual drama teacher Andrew LeGustambos (voiced by Nick Kroll) and "Happy" (Tom Kenny), the custodian of indeterminate Middle-Eastern origin whose lines are hilariously dubbed into English.
The strong cast meshes perfectly with the dry, subtle humor Arrested fans have come to epexct from Hurwitz and his writers. The difference with Sit Down, Shut Up is that the animation makes the humor at times too subtle. Without the advantage of seeing the actors play off of one another, some jokes are impossible to get even after repeated viewings.
That's not to say that all the jokes are like that - the writing serves all humor styles, not just the achingly subtle, did-they-really-say-what-I-think-they-said variety that requires heavy use of the rewind button. There's also broad humor, as evidenced by the puns in most of the characters' names, and fourth-wall breaking in the form of vague references to network execs and censors.
In the pilot episode, which premieres this Sunday, Sue Sezno takes over at Knob Haven as acting principal after the real guy suffered an injury during the school's stage adaptation of Edward Scissorhands. Sue's first battle comes when drugs are found in a student's locker. Suspecting steroid use, Littlejunk convinces Proszakian that the pills are vitamins to test the effects of the pills. Meanwhile, the threat of a firing makes all the teachers nervous.
For anyone still crying over the cancellation of Arrested Development or those who just like higher-end humor, Sit Down, Shut Up is not a must-download; it's a must-watch.
