One Trick Pony

One Trick Pony is an American adult animated comedy-drama sitcom created by Bertel Mogensen. The story follows a woman who reminisces about her life and how things could have turned out for her if she had not. It stars Kiersey Clemons, Mahershala Ali, Yara Shahidi, Caleb McLaughlin and Anne Paquin.

Despite mixed reviews upon its debut, One Trick Pony received widespread critical acclaim with praise for character developments, music, emotional depth and subject matter. The show has been lauded for its realistic take on depression, trauma, religion, self-destructive behavior, racism, sexism, sexuality, and the human condition.

Main Cast

 * Rosario Dawson as Pony Plunder-Creek, a 38-year-old housewife who began to have negative thoughts on her life choices. As a perfectionist, she tends to fixate on order, prestige, power, and a perfect appearance, while preventing her children from failing at anything. In the past, she cannot trust her own feelings and impulses and concludes that it’s her fault that her mother is displeased with her, unaware that her mother will never be satisfied. She later
 * Mahershala Ali as Travon Creek, a 40-year-old and Pony's husband. He seemed to avoid his wife and children most of the time by either staying out late either at the office, locking himself in his study to drink, or avoiding arguments with Pony.
 * Kiersey Clemons as Teagen Creek, Pony and Travon's 12-year-old daughter. She is an innocent girl whose quest is to be moral and good, which drives most of the plots of the episodes. She is usually the one who takes responsibility for the emotional well-being of the family, often assuming a parental role. Taegen later became a high achiever outside the family as a means of escaping the dysfunctional family environment, defining herself independently of her role in the dysfunctional family, currying favor with her parents and shielding herself from criticism by her father.
 * Caleb McLaughlin as Goober Creek, Pony and Travon's 10-year-old son. He was often unjustifiably assigned the "problem child" role by others within the family and even wrongfully blamed by his father Travon for those members' own individual or collective dysfunction, often despite being the only emotionally stable member of the family. He began to be in denial regarding the severity of the family's situation and had mixed feelings of love–hate towards her parents. He mostly spends an inordinate amount of time alone watching television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, listening to music, and going out for late night walks alone which lack in-person social interaction.
 * Sasheer Zamata as Potato Creek, Pony and Travon's 9-year-old son. Despite being seen as good-natured, he is a self-proclaimed opportunist who capitalizes on the other family members' faults to get whatever he wants. Pony shows great deference to her overweight son and would spoil him with gifts.
 * Cree Summer as Marshmellow Creek, Pony and Travon's 3-year-old daughter. She tends to act out, throws tantrums when not getting her way, shouts, and rarely speaks any complete sentences, usually speaking in one or two word screams like "Mine!" or "Mommy!" She is usually ignored.

Supporting Cast

 * Anne Paquin as Arleen Gibson, Pony's closest friend and the only person who understood her upbringing.
 * Melissa Villaseñor as Ms. Fernandino, Teagan's homeroom teacher.
 * Rob Riggle as Dr. Mouse, the town's local doctor.
 * Mila Kunis as Dolly Duncan, Teagan's closest friend.
 * Angela Bassett as Rolanda Plunder, Pony's abusive and manipulative mother. She appears as a frail, level-headed, mysterious, and composed woman at first glance, Rolanda has horribly abused her daughter Pony to take out her anger over her failed career as a figure skater and boyfriend leaving her. She is shown to be an incredibly arrogant, manipulative, selfish, immature, angry, and cruel young woman, who rarely shows any sympathy and can be calm one moment and having a screaming tantrum the next. After regretting her previous behavior towards her family, Rolanda is more than willing to do everything possible to amend her mistakes towards Pony, although she is perfectly aware that her daughter hates her and she knows that her hatred towards her is more than justified. In the second season, Rolanda tells Pony she will change her ways, but Pony cannot accept this sudden change and has no problem with letting out everything she thinks of Rolanda to her, which includes the full anger about the fact that her father left because she drove him away. Rolanda later confesses that she is regretful for what she did to Pony due to her negligence and the damage caused accordingly. Eventually, Rolanda accepts that Pony does not forgive her and decides to end all ties with her for safety.

Guest Stars

 * Lucy Liu as Dr. Cheng, a therapist who tries to guide Pony through her misery and relationships.