The Goode Family is an American animatedcomedy series, which originally aired on ABC from May 27, 2009 to August 7, 2009. The series was created by Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, and follows the life of an environmentally responsible but obsessive family. The series takes a comic look at contemporary society, this time focusing on a liberal family instead of King of the Hills conservative family. Judge created the show along with former King of the Hill writers John Altschuler and David Krinsky. The show was cancelled after its first season. The series was released on DVD format on January 8, 2013 by Shout! Factory.
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 bepolitically correct all of the time about everything. Situations in the first 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.
Characters
Main characters
Gerald Goode – An administrator at a community college. He comes from a "long line of over-educated academic liberals". He rides a bicycle for transportation to protect the environment, and his trademark clothing is a cycling uniform. He is very fastidious and easily disgusted, both by animals and people. His voice and character traits resemble those of the David Van Driessen character from Mike Judge's earlier series Beavis and Butt-head.
Helen Goode – Gerald's wife. A local activist who has "daddy issues". 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 – The Goodes' adopted son, named after Ubuntu, a concept from African philosophy. 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. But they decised to keep him because was an interesting challenge to rise a "racist born" white baby as a liberal adult. Ubuntu 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 and nurture controversy. He sleeps in footy pajamas that are decorated with big rig trucks. Despite his seemingly dopey and unaware nature, he is naturally accomplished at both sports and machinery; he is a member of his high school's football team.
Bliss Goode – 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. In later episodes, she has tended to agree with her parents, and in some instances has actually helped them to achieve a common goal.
Che – The family's dog, named after the communist revolutionary Che Guevara. The Goodes feed him vegan food which he hates. He craves meat and often eats neighborhood animals and pets. As a consequence, "missing" flyers of neighborhood pets blanket street poles.
Charlie – Helen's SUV-driving father who generally likes making fun of her lifestyle. He frequently ridicules Gerald and Helen for their beliefs, 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 Jensen – Gerald's boss at Greenville Community College, and Margo's husband.
Kiki – The Goodes next door neighbor, 41 years old.
Margo Jensen – Helen's snooty rival who relentlessly puts down the Goodes, 45 years old. She is an influential member of the Greenville community and embodies everything Helen wants to be, while 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.
Penny – 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 – An easy-going, country-music loving 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. 43 years old.
Mo – A lesbian the Goodes are friends with, along with her partner, Trish. Mo worked on an oil rig and is 47 years old.
Solosolo – Football quarterback at Greenville High School, and son of Kiki, 17 years old.
Souki – A lesbian, 40 years old.
Jenn – Another lesbian, and Souki's partner. 41 years old.
Treyvon – A teenage employee at One Earth, an organic supermarket frequented by the Goodes, Margo and Greenville's Liberal elite. Treyvon 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.
Mr. Heelo – The manager of the "One Earth" supermarket, 38 years old.
Trish – See 'Mo'.
The Average Guy - A newscaster that does stories from the average point of view.
Maffew – Leader of a gang of thugs.
Dawn – Female member of Maffew's gang, 16 years old.
Other two thugs – Members of Maffew's gang.
Principal Whitmore – Principal at Greenville Community College.
Mrs. Glavin – Teacher at Greenville Community College.
Tanya – Greenville Community College student who is in model congress.
Michelle – Director of community service at Greeneville Community College, 25 years old.
Jeff – Teacher at Greenville Community College.
Duncan – Isabelle's husband.
Benny – Victim of the rival drug dealers.
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
Cancellation
On August 8, 2009, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings. In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It was to be evaluated for new episodes. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
Reception
When first airing, the show received mixed reviews. A reviewer for the Los Angeles Times said: "The Goode Family, which is nicely acted and well animated, works best when the cultural potshots give way to the more basic human needs of its characters: a mother's desire to be close to her daughter, or to her father, in spite of "a lifetime of crippling negative comments," and a father's willingness to go outside his comfort zone to make his son happy, as when Ubuntu joins the football team. There's a show there." A reviewer for NJ.com said: The Goode Family feels as if you are being dropped into a foreign land without any kind of guide, or even map." A reviewer for The New York Times said: "Mr. Judge, who remains obsessed with the absurdities of political correctness, still has his head very much in the Clinton years, and it is possible to watch The Goode Family feeling so thoroughly transported back to another time that you wonder where all the Monica Lewinsky jokes went. Sometimes you’ve just got to grab your cup of fair-trade coffee and move on."
