| Stressed Eric | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Animation Comedy |
| Written by | Carl Gorham Michael Hatt |
| Composer(s) | Peter Baikie Mat Clark Jason McDermid |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Editor(s) | John Bryant |
| Running time | 30 Min |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Two |
| Original run | 4 April 1998 – 11 October 2000 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Stressed Eric is a British/American cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom (UK). The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his family, work, co-workers, etc. The animation for the first season was carried out by American studio Klasky Csupo.
Contents |
Overview
Eric Feeble is 40 years old, still upset over his divorce two years ago, lives in a middle class London house, and is always being kept under extreme amounts of pressure and stress from all aspects of life, represented by a throbbing vein in his temple. His two children, Claire and Brian, plague him with fear and worries every day. Claire is a frail six-year-old who is allergic to a large range of things such as wheat, ponies, spices etc., while Brian is a nine-year old with learning problems who has been kept back three straight years in school. The family's au pair housekeeper, Maria, is an eighteen-year-old Portuguese woman with a serious drinking problem. Despite Eric's frequent attempts to keep her under control and focused, she seems to be passed-out drunk for hours at a time, often sprawled on a floor. His ex-wife, Liz, left him for a Buddhist, but she insists on phoning him up incessantly, which merely adds to his growing stress level. The next-door neighbours, the wealthy, successful and snobbish Perfect family, provide him a constant and painful view of what his life could have been.
Eric's workplace is absolutely no escape from his everyday problems. His boss, Paul Power (known as PP), is loud, rude and demanding; he has demoted Eric from Assistant Manager to a low-level clerk in an office sandwiched between the janitor's closet and the men's washroom. His secretary, Alison, is completely useless, spending all her "working hours" making and taking personal phone calls and shrilling rudely at Eric when he requests her attention. At the end of almost every episode, the throbbing vein emerges from Eric's temple and wraps itself around his neck, strangling him.
Characters
Main characters
- Eric Feeble - Stressed out divorced father of two children.
- Claire Feeble - Daughter of Eric; allergic to just about everything.
- Brian Feeble - Son of Eric; has yet to learn to talk and is always putting things in his mouth.
- Maria Gonzalez - The Feeble family's punk-looking live-in au pair; she is Portuguese and always drunk or hungover. She also drinks her own urine at some point.
Major characters
- Liz - Eric's eccentric ex-wife.
- Ray Perfect - Snobbish and "perfect" next-door neighbour of Eric. Shares Eric's workplace but is senior and consistently praised for his fine work.
- Mrs. Perfect - Snobbish wife of Mr. Perfect. Catchphrase: "How art thou, Eric?"
- Heather Perfect - Snobbish daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Perfect.
- Paul Power, a.k.a. P.P - Boss of Eric who is usually very angry. Catchphrase: "Double arseburgers, Eric!"
- Alison - Eric's useless secretary who spends all her time on the telephone gossiping to friends.
- Doc - Eric's dementedly relaxed doctor, more interested in chasing women than treating Eric. He is the closest thing Eric has to a best friend.
- Mrs. Wilson - An old lady who slowly tries in vain to post a letter, whereupon it always falls from her hand and into a drain, sometimes with Eric to blame. Catchphrase: "Morning, Mister Eric. Just off to the post..."
Voice cast
- English production voice first, Japanese second
- Mark Heap as Eric Feeble (UK) Jouji Yanami
- Morwenna Banks Yumi Kakazu
- Rebecca Front Wasabi Mizuta
- Gordon Kennedy Tomokazu Seki
- Doon Mackichan Miyu Irino
- Geoffrey McGivern Yasunori Matsumoto
- Paul Shearer Wataru Takagi
- Alison Steadman Eri Sendai
A US adaptation replaced Mark Heap's voice with that of Hank Azaria.... Kaneta Kimotsuki
TV history
The show was first broadcast on BBC2 in April, 1998 and ran for two series. [1]
Stressed Eric was bought by NBC and adapted for American audiences. The BBC described it as "the first British animated sitcom to make it on to prime time US TV." Some episodes were shown in August, 1998, but they were received poorly despite concessions such as replacing the lead character's voice with famous American voice actor Hank Azaria and changing the storyline to an American in London. Reviewers compared it unfavorably to The Simpsons and South Park. [2]
Shin-ei Doga(Japan)=2009.12.15 07:00 AM,08:00PM~2010.12.25 06:00 AM
List of episodes
Series 1
- Nativity - April 20, 1998
- Sex - April 27, 1998
- Pony - May 11, 1998
- Hospital - May 18, 1998
- Potato - June 1, 1998
- Tidy - June 8, 1998
Series 2
- Cricket - August 31, 1999
- Bursting - September 6, 1999
- Team - September 13, 1999
- Tent - September 20, 1999
- Crush - September 27, 1999
- Au pair - October 4, 1999
- Drool - October 11, 1999
References
- ^ "Stressed Eric" (1998), at IMDB
- ^ US piles stress on Eric, BBC News, August 13, 1998
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
