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Special Features
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| The Life and Times of Tim | Bill Brownstein
April 2010
Movie Entertainment
Time, once again, for an important public-service reminder: Cartoons aren't just for kids, OK? In fact, they may no longer be for kids at all on the tube. Times have changed, clearly, since Walt Disney brought a cartoon mouse named Mickey to life in 1928. Today, Uncle Walt would likely be turning over in his final cryogenic resting place if he were to catch the latest in animation.
These days the animators appear to be marketing their cartoons with grownups in mind. Gone are the days of the mild-mannered Mickey and Donald Duck, Mighty Mouse, The Flintstones and The Jetsons. In case some hadn’t noticed, the longest-running primetime TV series is a ‘toon, The Simpsons. Yup, The Simpsons surpassed the longevity record held by that classic oats-opera of yore, Gunsmoke, wherein the laconic Marshall Dillon stood tall and Chester hobbled along after him.
And if some found the histrionics of that drunken lout Homer Simpson somewhat in poor taste and hardly a role model, what to make of the characters who people the hit animated series Family Guy and American Dad? And what to make of the perennially popular Beavis and Butt-head, South Park or Ren & Stimpy?
Sadly, there are some allegedly higher life forms among us who still labor under the misconception that animation is kids' stuff. This is, of course, a complete crock. Sure, it used to be that cartoons helped sell sugar-coated breakfast cereals to kids on Saturday mornings. The reality is also they are virtually recession-proof and never go out of fashion. But in this day and age, where pretty much anything goes on the tube, thanks to an ever-expanding TV universe where old rules of censorship and political correctness no longer apply, the sky is the limit.
On the live-action TV front, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Californication and Dexter are about as outrageous as it gets. But even Larry David or David Duchovny might blush at some of the antics of today’s TV animated anti-heroes. All of which may just help to explain why British superstar comic Ricky Gervais, certainly no shrinking violet in the flesh, has decided to animate his shtick. The Ricky Gervais Show, the cartoon series debuting Feb. 19 on HBO-Canada, will see animated likenesses of Gervais and his comedy partner Stephen Merchant. The show will revolve around the bizarro world of their friend, Karl Pilkington, and consensus is it will more resemble South Park than Superman.
And returning to HBO-Canada in February for its second season is The Life and Times of Tim, an X-rated 'toon about an off- centred New Yorker (not an oxymoron). The series, conceived, written, produced and voiced by Steve Dildarian, is adapted from his debut short film, Angry Unpaid Hooker.
In its first season, the show proved beyond a doubt that it pushed the cartoon envelope. To wit: Tim is not a rocket scientist. Tim is a cad. Tim makes the buffoon Homer Simpson seem warm and cuddly. Astonishingly, Tim has a live-in girlfriend. She is, clearly, understanding. She brings her visiting parents over to their apartment to meet Tim, who is in the midst of being serviced by a prostitute.
Tim's dilemma, though, is not trying to placate his girlfriend or her parents. No, Tim doesn't have the $300 to pay off the prostitute. The prostitute is unhappy and summons her pimp to the place. He is also unhappy. Tim has a solution of sorts: He offers the prostitute and her pimp some meat-loaf in lieu of the money.
You get the picture. It’s sordid and twisted and oh so darkly amusing. Maybe it’s just as well that Uncle Walt isn’t around any longer to see what has become of his fave movie genre.
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