The Hard Times of RJ Berger

The Hard Times of RJ Berger
A pencil sketch cartoon drawing of the character RJ Berger
Genre Sitcom
Created by David Katzenberg
Seth Grahame-Smith
Starring Paul Iacono
Jareb Dauplaise
Kara Taitz
Amber Lancaster
Jayson Blair
Caitlin Crosby
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 24 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) David Katzenberg
Seth Grahame Smith
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Wild Brain
Distributor MTV Networks International[1]
Release
Original network MTV
Original release June 6, 2010 (2010-06-06) – May 30, 2011 (2011-05-30)
External links
Website

The Hard Times of RJ Berger is an American television comedy series created by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith for MTV. The show's central character is RJ Berger (Paul Iacono) an unpopular sophomore at the fictional Pinkerton High School in Ohio who has an exceptionally large penis. Berger's two best friends are Miles Jenner (Jareb Dauplaise), whose ambitions for popularity cause him to clash with Berger, and goth girl Lily Miran (Kara Taitz), who has been lusting after Berger for several years. Berger's love interest is Jenny Swanson (Amber Lancaster), a cheerleader who is involved with Max Owens (Jayson Blair), a popular jock and bully. The show is presented as a coming of age story and has been described by Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith as a blend of the television series The Wonder Years and the film Superbad.

The pilot episode premiered on June 6, 2010, and the first season of 12 episodes concluded August 23, 2010. MTV renewed The Hard Times of RJ Berger for a second season, which premiered on March 24, 2011, and concluded on May 30, 2011, but canceled the show that August.[2]

Production

The Hard Times of RJ Berger originated from a short film with a similar premise titled The Tale of RJ, written and directed by David Katzenberg and produced by Seth Grahame-Smith. The Tale of RJ was described by The New York Times as "a short homage to Boogie Nights, about a well-endowed nerd" played by Mark Wahlberg.[3] MTV executives were interested in developing scripted television series around the time Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith made their short film.[3][4] In June 2009, MTV announced multiple series in development, including "Hard Times". It was described as "an irreverent half-hour coming-of-age series" in which unpopular fifteen-year-old RJ Berger becomes infamous when his "anatomical gift" is revealed to his school.[5] Paul Iacono was cast as the title character that May.[6]

Series creators Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith were the showrunners for both seasons, credited as executive producers. Grahame-Smith said "generally, David is concerned with visuals, running the set and designing the coverage, and I’m more concerned with making script changes and giving notes to actors, but those things cross-pollinate. I direct some episodes and David directs some episodes, but we’re both there, every day. Even when we’re not directing an episode, we have a couple directors that we really enjoy working with, on the series, and we’re still involved, still bouncing things off the actors, and we’re definitely making our presence felt, at all times, on set."[7] The series was shot in a single-camera setup; each episode of the first season was shot in three and a half days, while each episode of the second season was shot in four days with two episodes being shot concurrently.[7]

In regards to the content of the series, Grahame-Smith said that "it’s an elevated, comedic world that this kid [RJ Berger] lives in, and he’s surrounded by these absurd characters. He’s surrounded by these archetypes, and he’s the one semi-centered character in the middle of it all. I feel like, the more absurd that you are, the more you have to ground some things in reality. You have to earn that absurdity. Even though our show has one animated segment in every episode, even the live-action is like a cartoon, just with the way people carry on."[7]

Cast and characters

The Hard Times of RJ Berger features five roles that receive star billing in the opening credits; in season two, three members of the recurring cast joined the main cast:

The series' recurring roles include:

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired DVD release date
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 12 June 6, 2010 August 23, 2010 August 23, 2010 N/A N/A
2 12 March 24, 2011 May 30, 2011 July 8, 2011 N/A N/A

Reception

Critical response

The Hard Times of RJ Berger was described—by its creators and critics alike—as a cross between the teen-oriented television comedy-drama The Wonder Years (1988–1993) and the comedy film Superbad (2007).[8] Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that beyond the crass concept, the show is otherwise "a fairly standard high school-outcast tale", adding that fortunately for MTV "the show's derivative nature will be lost on a target audience barely in diapers during the initial run of 'Wonder Years'."[9]

Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "[a]side from a few novel details, MTV's latest is a by-the-book geek sex comedy for the Apatow Generation. In other words, a likely hit."[10] Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "even with its abundance of stereotypical characters", The Hard Times of RJ Berger "is endearing and relatable to its target demo[graphic]" and drew parallels between its characters and those of the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.[11] Willa Paskin of New York magazine thought that the show's premise was faulty, noting that an enormous penis is unlikely to have much effect on your social life in high school.[12]

Ratings

The pilot episode of The Hard Times of RJ Berger premiered on MTV after the 2010 MTV Movie Awards on June 6, 2010. The debut generated 2.6 million viewers, making it MTV's most-watched series launch in the 12–34 age demographic since 2008.[13]

Viewership for the series' second season ranged between just 765,000 and 1.37 million viewers with the series finale having 865,000 viewers.[14]

Media information

The first season of The Hard Times of RJ Berger was released on DVD through Amazon.com August 23, 2010.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Leffler, Rebecca (October 4, 2010). "MTVNI touting 5,000 hours of programming". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 18, 2010. |section= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (August 12, 2011). "MTV Cancels 'The Hard Times of R.J. Berger'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 10, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Itzkoff, Dave (May 20, 2010). "A Standout Student at Ribald High". The New York Times. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
  4. ↑ Martin, Denise (January 14, 2010). "MTV hopes 'Hard Times' will end hard times for its ratings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ "MTV Announces Dynamic Development Slate of Programming Featuring Broad Spectrum of Talent". thefutoncritic.com. June 23, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  6. ↑ French, Dan (May 5, 2009). "Paul Iacono cast in MTV's 'Hard Times'". Digital Spy. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 Radish, Christina (March 24, 2011). "Seth Grahame-Smith Exclusive Interview THE HARD TIMES OF RJ BERGER; Updates on DARK SHADOWS, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER". Collider. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ Walters, David (June 2010). "David Katzenberg is making his own name". Details. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  9. ↑ Lowry, Brian (June 1, 2010). "The Hard Times of RJ Berger. (Series – MTV, Sun. June 6, 11 p.m.)". Variety.
  10. ↑ Lloyd, Robert (June 5, 2010). "Television review: 'The Hard Times of RJ Berger'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  11. ↑ Garron, Barry (June 3, 2010). "The Hard Times of R.J. Berger -- TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  12. ↑ Paskin, Willa (June 3, 2010). "MTV’s New Big Penis Show Doesn’t Understand High-School Popularity". New York magazine. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
  13. ↑ Levine, Stuart (June 7, 2010). "Slight drop in ratings for MTV Movie Awards; Broadcast down 2% from last year". Variety. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  14. ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 12, 2011). "'The Hard Times of RJ Berger' Canceled by MTV". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  15. ↑ Lambert, David (August 18, 2010). "The Hard Times of RJ Berger – Season 1 of the MTV Series Comes to DVD via Amazon's CreateSpace". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved August 26, 2010.

External links

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