Glenn Martin, DDS

Glenn Martin, DDS is a stop-motion adult animated sitcom that premiered on Nick at Nite on August 17, 2009. The series was produced by Tornante Animation[2] and Cuppa Coffee Studios, in association with Rogers Communications. Glenn Martin, DDS was Nick at Nite's fourth original series (after Hi Honey, I'm Home!, Fatherhood and Hi-Jinks).

This article is about the stop-motion-animated television series. For the aviation pioneer, see Glenn L. Martin.
Glenn Martin, DDS
Genre
Created by
Directed by
Voices of
Composers
Country of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Michael D. Eisner
  • Steven A. Cohen
  • Noel Bright
Producers
  • Adam Pava
  • Alex Berger
Cinematography
Running timeApprox. 25 minutes (excluding commercials)
Production companies
Release
Original networkNick at Nite
Original releaseAugust 17, 2009 (2009-08-17) –
November 7, 2011 (2011-11-07)

One of the show's creators besides Michael Eisner, was Eric Fogel, who had success creating the MTV claymation series Celebrity Deathmatch.

The show premiered in Canada on October 3, 2009, on Citytv,[3][lower-alpha 1] and March 18, 2010, on Sky One in the UK and Ireland. Season two premiered on June 11, 2010. The show ended on November 7, 2011.

Overview

After accidentally burning down his house in Freeland, Pennsylvania, loving father and dentist Glenn Martin, DDS takes his family — his beautiful wife Jackie, their hormone-addled 13-year-old son Conor, their power suit-wearing 11-year-old daughter Courtney, Courtney's overachieving assistant Wendy, and Canine, the family's dog with an oversized anus (which Glenn in the opening sequence calls a Heart) — on a cross-country road trip in order to strengthen their family bond together.

Cast and characters
  • Kevin Nealon as Dr. Glenn Campbell Martin, an optimistic travelling dentist who dreams of becoming closer with his family. He is a Doctor of Dental Surgery.
  • Catherine O'Hara as Jackie Robinson Martin, Glenn's wife and the mother of Conor and Courtney. She is often stressed with the problems involved in raising a family in an RV.
  • Peter Oldring as Conor Martin, the thirteen-year-old son of the Martins. He also tends to be the subject of pratfalls due to his clumsiness. He also has a crush on Wendy, but always gets rejected.
  • Jackie Clarke as Courtney Martin, the eleven-year-old daughter of the Martins, who acts like an adult business woman. She is competitive, outspoken and boastful.
  • Judy Greer as Wendy Park (real name Bon Wa-Fo) is Courtney's assistant and employee. She was born in North Korea. Her age is unclear; Glenn has referred to her as a tweenager, but she later claims to be thirteen years old.
  • Canine, the Martins' Rottweiler who has an oversized Anus.

Development

Former Paramount and Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who put up his own money to produce the pilot episode, pitched it to Nick at Nite rather than ABC. Eisner was quoted as saying the decision was based on Nick at Nite's record of nurturing shows.[4]

The show has a 1970s sensibility including the design of the Winnebago which Glenn drives.[5] It was reportedly inspired by the 1971 ABC made-for-TV movie In Search of America, which starred Jeff Bridges as a college dropout who drove a Winnebago across the country with his family.[4]

Laugh track

Unusual for a modern animated sitcom, the show featured a laugh track in early episodes intended to mimic 1970s sitcoms. This was later removed at the request of the series' creators, with Eric Fogel citing the show having "too much internal thinking". Part of the criticism was leveled at the overuse of laugh tracks (which were permanently removed a month after the show's premiere). Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote: "Glenn Martin, DDS is pretty much laugh–free (though it does have a laugh track)".[6]

The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Ignore the stilted jokes [and] the limp characterization. [...] Just understand this: Martin is an animated show with a laugh track. Imagination comes in handy, though, in trying to figure out how someone approved this concept, labored on this and then let it free into the world."[7]

Awards and nominations

In December 2009, the show was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production.

In November 2010, the show won two Gemini Awards for Best Animated Series and Best Direction for an Animated Series (Cuppa Coffee/Ken Cunningham for "The Tooth Will Set You Free").

Episodes
Main article: List of Glenn Martin, DDS episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
120August 17, 2009 (2009-08-17)May 21, 2010 (2010-05-21)
220June 11, 2010 (2010-06-11)August 28, 2011 (2011-08-28) (UK)
November 7, 2011 (2011-11-07) (US)

Critical reception

Glenn Martin, DDS received mixed to negative reviews from critics, garnering a 48/100 [8] from Metacritic based on 9 reviews after the series premiere. Variety wrote: "Despite the contributions of Eric Fogel (MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch), Glenn Martin isn't as bad as visiting the dentist, but isn't much better than sitting in the waiting room. Positioned as a spoof of classic sitcoms, Glenn Martin gets off to a bad start by incorporating a laugh track, which only highlights some of the deficiencies in the writing."[9]

The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Still, except for the dog's hindquarters, I like the look of it. (Eric Fogel of MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch oversees the animation.) Press materials indicate that the Martins will be visiting Las Vegas, Yellowstone, the Mall of America and Hollywood in future adventures, and as a fan of the form, I'm interested to see what the animators make of them."[10]

New York Daily News writer David Hinkley gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "satire with biting wit".[1]

The Boston Globe called it "cute, giggle-worthy, and only a smidgen dangerous".[11]

The Detroit News wrote that the show is "full of enough end-of-the week laughs to help you giggle yourself into the weekend".[12]

Website Shakefire.com rated the show an "A−".[13]

Controversy

In November 2009, Maura Buete, a Florida mother, was outraged that the series contained sexual references despite airing in an 8 p.m. weekday slot, immediately following the children's show SpongeBob SquarePants.[2] In response to several complaints from parents, Nickelodeon (whose spokesman David Bittler had stated complaints were minimal[2]) moved the show to Friday nights at 10:30 p.m.

References
  1. Hinckley, David (August 16, 2009). "Nick at Nite's new animated series 'Glenn Martin, DDS,' with Kevin Nealon, is satire with biting wit". nydailynews.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  2. Kennedy Wynne, Sharon (November 9, 2009). "Television: R-rated 'Nick at Nite' Furious parents react to new family hour animated sitcom". St. Petersburg Times. republished at The Berkshire Eagle. Associated Press. Retrieved April 9, 2019 – via berkshireeagle.com.
  3. "TV Review - Glenn Martin, DDS 1.1 - Gloryosky". Gloryosky.ca. 4 October 2009.
  4. Ball, Ryan (July 28, 2008). "Nick Picks Up Eisner's Glenn Martin". animationmagazone.net. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
  5. Umstead, R. Thomas (August 10, 2009). "Nick Plans A Family Nite". Multichannel.com. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. Hale, Mike (2009-08-17). "On a Family Road Trip Togetherness Has Limits". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  7. "Glenn Martin, DDS – TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 2009-08-14. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  8. "Glenn Martin, DDS". metacritic.com.
  9. "Glenn Martin, DDS". Variety. August 16, 2009.
  10. Lloyd, Robert (August 17, 2009). "'Glenn Martin, DDS' on Nick at Nite". Los Angeles Times.
  11. Weiss, Joanna (August 17, 2009). "Painless fun with an animated dentist". The Boston Globe.
  12. "[Unknown title]". Detroit News – via detnews.com.
  13. "Reviews". Shakefire.com.

Notes
  1. Refer to the article of List of programs broadcast by Citytv for details.
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