From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Goode Family
The main characters of the show (L–R) Gerald, Helen, Bliss, Che, Ubuntu
Genre	Animation/Comedy
Created by	Mike Judge John Altschuler David Krinsky
Starring	Mike Judge David Herman Nancy Carell Linda Cardellini Brian Doyle-Murray Dee Bradley Baker
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Mike Judge John Altschuler David Krinsky Tom Lassally Michael Rotenberg
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Media Rights Capital Ternion Pictures Judgemental Films 3 Arts Entertainment Film Roman
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (2009) Comedy Central (2010)
Original run	May 27, 2009 – August 7, 2009
Status	Finished

The Goode Family is an American animated sitcom that originally aired on ABC and Comedy Central. The show was created by Mike Judge.

The series follows the life of an environmentally responsible, albeit obsessive, family.

On August 8, 2009, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been cancelled due to low ratings.^[1][2]

Reruns of 'The Goode Family' aired Monday nights at 10pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It was to be evaluated for new episodes^[3], but was pulled off the Comedy Central schedule after only 4 weeks.^[4]

Premise

The Goode family struggles with the modern social and environmental responsibilities of being liberals, and the paradoxes that arise for a working-class family when trying to be politically correct all of the time about everything. Situations in the premiere episode included shopping at a natural foods store without having brought reusable bags, how to refer to ethnic groups, analyzing conservative beliefs they typically despise and raising modern teenagers. The pilot satirized both stereotypical "liberal" and "conservative" mindsets, including the ongoing derangement of the family's vegan dog (who has taken to eating neighborhood pets).

Characters

The Goodes

• Gerald Goode (voiced by Mike Judge) – An administrator at a community college. He comes from a "long line of over-educated academic liberals". He rides a bicycle for transportation, and his trademark clothing is a cycling uniform. He is very fastidious and easily disgusted, both by animals and people. His voice is similar to that of David Van Driessen, the hippie teacher from Beavis and Butt-head, also voiced by Judge.
• Helen Goode (voiced by Nancy Carell) – Gerald’s wife. A local activist who has "daddy issues" and does not think highly of people who wear U.S. flag lapel pins. She is concerned about her social status among the other eco-conscious people in Greenville, and often tries to impress the wealthy wife of Gerald's boss.
• Ubuntu Goode (voiced by David Herman) – The Goodes' adopted son, named after Ubuntu, a concept from African philosophy (mispronounced by the characters as /juːˈbʌntuː/ instead of /uːˈbuːntuː/). The Goodes adopted him in the name of promoting racial tolerance within the community, but due to their vagueness in filling out the adoption paperwork, the family ended up with a white South African baby instead of the black infant they wanted. He is fascinated by machinery. He is often shown conflicted with a seemingly innate desire to go against his parents' lifestyle; however, rather than being an outright rebellion, this seems to reflect the nature vs. nurture debates. Even though he is sixteen years old, he sleeps in footy pajamas that are decorated with big rig trucks. Despite his seemingly dopey and unaware nature, he is naturally accomplished at sports and machinery.
• Bliss Goode (voiced by Linda Cardellini) – Helen and Gerald's biological daughter. One of the characters with a sense of reason, she often disagrees with and mocks her parents' political stances, about which she is usually better-informed. She serves as the show's chief foil by poking holes in Gerald's and Helen's world view. Yet, in more recent episodes, she has tended to agree with her parents, and in some instances has actually helped them to achieve a common goal.
• Che (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) – The family dog, named after the socialist/communist revolutionary Che Guevara. He is also vegan but not by choice. He craves meat and often eats neighborhood animals and pets.^[5] As a consequence, "missing" flyers of neighborhood pets blanket street poles.
• Charlie (voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray) – Helen's SUV-driving father who generally likes making fun of her lifestyle. He frequently ridicules Gerald and Helen, although he seems to favor Ubuntu more due to him being involved in the football team, and Bliss who seems to share his opinions.

Other characters

• Kent Jenson (voiced by David Herman) – Gerald's boss at Greenville Community College, and Margo's husband.
• Kiki (voiced by Amy Hill) –
• Margo (voiced by Julia Sweeney) – Helen's snooty rival who relentlessly puts down the Goodes (but mostly just Helen). She's an influential member of the Greenville community and embodies everything Helen wants to be, while ironically at odds with Helen and vice-versa. Helen seems to mostly get the best of her, and her purpose is to display the type of person who is holier-than-thou while being a fake personality who seizes on fads to increase her social standing.
• Mo (voiced by Laraine Newman) – A rugged homosexual woman the Goodes are friends with, along with her life partner Trish. Mo worked on an oil rig.
• Mr. Heelo (voiced by Howard Kremer) –
• Penny (voiced by Lori Nasso) – A neighbor who is single and childless, and makes occasional comments about her loneliness and desire to have children. Her beliefs fluctuate, and she will take liberal causes only to abandon them shortly afterwards to her personal benefit.
• Ray Johnson (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams) – An easy-going black neighbor of the Goodes who drives a gas-guzzling car and thinks of race as less important than the Goodes do, as an ironic device.
• Solosolo (voiced by Phil LaMarr) –
• Souki (voiced by Cree Summer) –
• Treyvon (voiced by David Herman) – A teenage employee at "One Earth," an organic supermarket frequented by the Goodes and Margo. He is also an amateur filmmaker whom Bliss tries to befriend. He comes across as a suburbanite that thinks it is "cool" to mock others of less liberal beliefs.
• Trish (voiced by Julia Sweeney) – A homosexual woman the Goodes are friends with, along with her life partner Mo. Trish is a mechanic.
• The Average Guy (voiced by) - A news caster that does stories from the "average" point of view.
• One Earth - The grocery store that Greenville's Liberal elite shops at. A running gag is a big sign that tells its shoppers what is good and what is bad; Farm-Raised Catfish (Aquaculture of catfish) constantly moving between good and bad.

Crew

The show is created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky, with Altschuler and Krinsky serving as show runners. The show is directed by John Rice, Seth Kearsley, Jennifer Coyle, and Anthony Chun, with Wes Archer as supervising director. Show writers include Jonathan Collier, Jace Richdale, Gene Hong, Owen Ellickson, Dave Jeser, Franklin Hardy, Leila Strachan, Brad Pope, Howard Kremer, Shane Kosakowski, Jordana Arkin, and Matt Silverstein, in addition to Altschuler and Krinsky, and other writers.

Episodes

Season 1 (2009)

References

External links

• Official site, 'The Goode Family'
• The Goode Family at the Internet Movie Database
• The Goode Family at TV.com
• SitcomsOnline Review of The Goode Family