The PJs

The PJs
Genre Situation comedy
Stop motion animation
Created by Eddie Murphy
Larry Wilmore
Steve Tompkins
Developed by Fox Studios
Voices of Eddie Murphy
Loretta Devine
Ja'net Dubois
Kevin Michael Richardson
Jenifer Lewis
Pepe Serna
Michele Morgan
Composer(s) Setup
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 44 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 2224 minutes
Production company(s) Imagine Television
Touchstone Television
Eddie Murphy Productions
Will Vinton Studios
Charged Productions (2000-2001)
Distributor Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network Fox (19992000)
The WB (20002002)
Original release January 10, 1999 (1999-01-10) – January 8, 2002 (2002-01-08)

The PJs is an American stop-motion animated television series, created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects in Detroit.[1] The series starred Eddie Murphy, and was produced by Imagine Entertainment by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, The Murphy Company and Will Vinton Studios in association with Touchstone Television.

The original run of the series debuted on Fox on Sunday, January 10, 1999 following the network's coverage of the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Two days later, the second episode aired in its regular Tuesday night time slot, following King of the Hill.[2]

Summary

43 episodes aired during the show's 3-year run. Each took over 2 months to produce, owing to the laborious stop-motion process. After 2 seasons on Fox, the show moved to The WB in 2000. Its high budget and declining ratings led to its cancellation in 2001; the final 2 episodes weren't aired until 2003. The show aired in syndication for a time on Trio and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and now can be seen on TV One, Fuse and MTV2.

The PJs won 3 Emmy Awards and one Annie Award during its run. Some social activists (including director Spike Lee) accused the show of depicting negative racial stereotypes of life in the projects.[3] Quincy Jones' son QD3, along with George Clinton, produced the theme music for the show.

Characters

Main characters

Other main characters

Portrait of most of the major characters

Recurring characters

Note: Because of a rumored dispute between Eddie Murphy and the Fox network (apparently over unfavorable scheduling of the show), Mark Moseley (an impressionist known as Eddie Murphy's voice double; Moseley can be heard scattered throughout almost PJ's episodes covering re-written Thurgood dialogue that time did not allow Murphy to re-record) and Phil Morris took over the role of Thurgood in several late episodes. Some sources indicate that Murphy was actually busy on a movie role at the time.

Locations

Episodes

DVD releases

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Region 1.

DVD Name Ep# Release Date
The Complete First Season13 May 3, 2011
The Complete Second Season18 July 5, 2011
The Complete Third Season12 October 4, 2011

Soundtrack

Main article: The PJs (soundtrack)

References

  1. TVoneonline.com
  2. Animation World Network (1999-01-13). "P.J.s arrive on Fox | AWN | Animation World Network". AWN. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  3. CNN.com
  4. Episode: "Smokey the Squatter"

External links

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