George McGruttle

George McGruttle (or by its abbreviation GMG) is an animated sitcom created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. The series concerns the lives of 13-year-old George McGruttle and his friends: Jessica and Aaron who attend middle school in the fictional city of Aniville, Georgia which is populated by talking animals. They often find themselves in various shenanigans around the city.

After Ward pitched George McGruttle to the network in 2014, Turner Broadcasting executive Daniel Lennard green-lit the production of the series. The show was produced by Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe (known today as Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe) in association with Cartoon Network Studios.

On December 13, 2020, Ward announced the series would be an a 2 year hiatus after season 2; he reaffirmed his position on Twitter in October 2021. However, Turner Northern Europe was unable to confirm at the time whether the second season would be the show's last. But they managed to continue the series from July 2022. Two TV Movies were released: the 54 minute Rise of Animalia in May 2022 and the 1 hour A Cartoon Vacay: featuring other characters from Cartoon Network in August 2023. On September 11, 2023, it was confirmed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that the 6, 7 and 8 seasons of the show was in the works, though a release date has not been announced yet.

On December 17, 2023, Cartoon Network revealed that a theatrical film based on the series was in development. The working title will be “George McGruttle’s Big Film In Theaters! On December 22, 2023, it was announced that a new spin-off series, to be a follow-up for both the show and the movie, had been greenlit for Cartoon Network and Max alongside the film.

Episodes
Main article: List of George McGruttle episodes

Crossovers
Additionally, "The Great Big Ripoff" featured the characters interacting with ones similar to those from Humans and Animals, a Chinese clone of the show.

George made a cameo appearance on the Uncle Grandpa episode "Pizza Eve", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.

George McGruttle made a cameo appearance on the ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' episode and Cartoon Network special "Crossover Nexus", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.

Broadcast
The first season were released on Cartoon Network channels in over 126 countries.

The series debuted on Cartoon Network UK on February 15, 2016, one day before the US premiere.

The show aired on Boomerang from December 1, 2018, to August 1, 2019, its second run from February 19, 2020, to April 2, 2020, and its third run from June 2, 2021, to October 31, 2021.

Ratings
On February 16, 2016, the series premiere of George McGruttle was watched by 2.204 million viewers in the United States. "In The Internet" is currently the highest viewed episode of the series, with 2.99 million viewers. "Noise and Frustration" is the lowest viewed episode with only 0.10 million viewers, approximately 15% of its series high.

Critical reception
George McGruttle has received critical acclaim. In a favorable review, Brian Lowry of Variety described the series as "mostly a really clever spin on domestic chaos" and "first-rate silliness." Ken Tucker of Entertainments Weekly was also positive, writing: "There are few examples of mainstream children's programming as wildly imaginative, one of the best of modern tv series, as visually and narratively daring, as George McGruttle."

The A.V. Club 's Noel Murray graded the DVD release of the series' first 9 episodes a B+, writing that "what sets [George McGruttle] apart from the many other super-silly, semi-anarchic cartoons on cable these days is that it features such a well-developed world, where even with the different animal characters, there are recognisable traits and tendencies." Wired writer Z noted that the series "manages to have genuine heart even as the plots themselves transition from well-worn TV tropes to all out madness."

Comic book
On June 18, 2018, Boom! Studios began publishing George McGruttle comic book series, which would end in 2020 after 10 issues. The series was written by Frank Gibson and illustrated by Tyson Hesse.