Not in My Schoolhouse



Not in My Schoolhouse (originally titled It's My House) is an American animated sitcom created by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, Mike Scully and David Mandel and produced by Adelaide Productions for MTV. Animation was provided by Rough Draft Studios with its Korean subsidiary doing overseas animation. The show features animation direction from Chris Bailey and Steve Loter and character designs by Scott Adams, Stephen Silver, Craig Bartlett the former three have worked with Mandel before on ABC's Clerks: The Animated Series, and said three would later work for Disney's Kim Possible.

The series takes place in the fictional city of Goodwater, Alabama at Little Richard High School and follows the slice of life aspects of its main faculty: Nathan Pantsi, a house man living at Antebellum St. (guess where they got that from) whose job is being a science teacher, his wife, hippie Nancy, happy-go-lucky fraternal twin brother Jim, best friend and math whiz "Silent" Doug Perkins, principal Albert Hicks, musician Johnny Peck, and coach Mike Higgins.

It began airing on November 27, 2001 and ended on August 5, 2002, under a total of thirteen episodes. Originally confirmed to be greenlit with a first season of twenty-six episodes, only twenty episodes were completed but seven of them didn't air on American television until 2006, and were released on the Complete Series DVD. Six unknown others were originally released as scripts only.

Comedy Central bought rights to air reruns as well as new episodes in 2003, renewing the series for a second season.

Main

 * David Stern as Nathan "Nate" Pantsi
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Jim Pantsi
 * Noel Dunad as Uncle Colin, Mike and Dave Pantsi
 * Wallace Shawn as Principal Albert Hicks
 * Catherine O'Hara as Nancy Pantsi
 * Brian Posehn as "Silent" Doug Perkins
 * Ed O'Neil as Ricky Pekton
 * Patrick Warburton as Coach Craig Higgins
 * Hank Azaria as Janitor Rocky Brickles
 * Brian Doyle-Murray as Grammpy Pantsi (pilot only)

Recurring

 * David Mandel as Uncle Strong John Pantsi
 * Jeffrey Tambor as Beardboy
 * Seth Rogen as Jake Pantsi
 * Melissa Disney as Maddie Pantsi

Crew

 * Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, David Mandel - Creators, Executive Producers
 * Noel Dunad, Mike Scully, Jeff Kline - Developers
 * Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Josh Weinstein, Mike Scully, Claudia Katz, Jeff Kline - Co-Executive Producers
 * Richard Raynis, Steve Lookner - Supervising Producers
 * Claudia Katz - Co-Producer
 * Lauren MacMullan, Zac Moncrief, Steve Loter, Chris Bailey - Animation Directors
 * J. Michael Mendel - Producer
 * Stephen Silver, Dan Povenmire - Character Design
 * Christopher Tyng, James L. Venable - Original Music
 * Scott Muller - Casting
 * Nick Conti - Casting Associate

Completed and aired

 * 1) Pilot (teleplay by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, David Mandel, and Steve Lookner from a story by Noel Dunad, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, directed by Dan Povenmire) - In the premiere episode, ordinary school teacher Nate Pantsi searches for a new job when principal Albert Hicks fires him for causing an experiment gone wrong. Featured music: Baba O'Riley by The Who. (Airdate: 1997 [original; festivals only]; 2005 [original; DVD]; November 28, 2001 [new])
 * 2) 24 Hours Left Until You Die: It's What Heaven Wants (written by Noel Dunad and Jay Peakton, directed by Steve Loter) - Music teacher John Peck has 24 hours to live until he dies. But which side will he choose—Heaven or Hell? Guest voices include Jason Mewes and Freddie Prinze Jr. (Airdate: December 19, 2001)
 * 3) Beer Me Up: How to Drink Without Really Trying (written by Brian Kelley, directed by David Silverman) - The guys help Grammpy learn how to drink. Meanwhile, Nancy, John and Rocky find a monstrous beast inside the school. (Airdate: December 26, 2001)
 * 4) Reunited: If Nancy Can't Bring Her Ex, Her Ex Will Come to Her (written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, directed by Peter Avanzino) - Nancy's ex-boyfriend shows up and starts to rule the school. Guest voices include Alan Tudyk. (Airdate: January 2, 2002)
 * 5) Grammpy's a Little Nuts Today: Y'Know, More Than Usual (written by Clarence Livingston, directed by Nick Filippi) - Gramppy becomes a lot more cranky when he cleans an excessive amount of trash, so the faculty send him to anger management class. Guest voices include a late Phil Hartman and Kristen Davis. (Airdate: January 16, 2002)
 * 6) The Girl of His Dreams: A Love Story (written by Paul Dini and Noel Dunad, directed by Steve Loter) - Grammpy's heart is pounding when he sees his former wife. (Airdate: February 13, 2002)
 * 7) The Let's Roll! Game Show: What Nate Can't Do On Television (written by Noel Dunad and Jay Peakton, directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill) - Nate and his dad are contestants of Wheel of Fortune. Guest stars include Pat Sajak. (Airdate: July 1, 2002)
 * 8) Pig Crap: Vegans Can't Handle Pig Death (written by Richard Raynis and Greg Butcher, directed by Nick Filippi) - Nancy becomes a full vegetarian when she sees farmers chopping up a pig. Meanwhile, the school faculty put on a diet. (Airdate: July 1, 2002)
 * 9) Board Game: It's a Jigsaw Puzzle! (written by Jay Peakton, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, directed by Rich Moore) - Nate reunites with an old friend and compets him at a board game competition. Meanwhile, John and Doug help Higgins win a big basketball game with the help of basketball player Michael Jordan. (Airdate: July 8, 2002)
 * 10) Banana: Between a Cheapskate and a Primate (written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, directed by Peter Avanzino) - Principal Hicks sells a motel in order to earn money. Meanwhile, Clancy and Nancy watch Higgins' gym monkey. (Airdate: July 15, 2002)
 * 11) Ol' Lucky: Someday It Will Come in Handy (written by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton and Paul Dini, directed by Dan Povenmire) - Nate brings in Ol' Lucky, a tool useful for anything. (Airdate: July 22, 2002)
 * 12) The Big Movie: Nate and Grammpy and Hicks and Four Others Plus Joe and the Cockroaches Bring Us a Few Movie Parodies, Including Star Wars, Jurassic Park, The Infamous Joe's Apartment, plus Others (written by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein and David Mandel, directed by Steve Loter, Rich Moore and Dwayne Carey-Hill) - The school faculty—plus Joe and the Cockroaches from Joe's Apartment—create movie parodies including Star Wars and E.T. Guest stars include Jerry O'Connell and Mike Judge. (Airdate: July 29, 2002)
 * 13) Nancy's Been a Rebel Girl Before: A Rockin' Season Finale (teleplay by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, David Mandel, Matthew Ireland Beans and Paul Dini from a story by Noel Dunad and Will Arnett, directed by Mike Hollingsworth and Nick Filippi) - With summer coming in, the faculty find out that Nancy was once in a rock band. The final episode to be both produced and completed, it aired out of order and became the thirteenth and last episode to be originally broadcast on MTV. Guest stars include "Weird Al" Yankovic. (Airdate: August 5, 2002)

Completed but unaired
These episodes were first released on disc three of the DVD. They later made their premieres on television in 2006 on Comedy Central.
 * 14 - Cloning Middle School: A HUGE Reason Why MTV Passed This One (teleplay by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, and David Mandel, story by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Bill Lawrence, directed by Gregg Vanzo) - In an episode promoting Clone High, Hicks finds a copying machines so that his friends would make life worth a living. Guest stars include Clone High creators Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence. (Airdate on Comedy Central: April 15, 2006)
 * 15 - Paint the World Green: Making the Earth Very Clean (written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, directed by Nick Filippi) - In an episode that's completely different, the faculty take spring break off cleaning the city of Goodwater. Unfortunately for Nate and Hicks, they were painted green by bullies who also lock them inside Hicks' office. (Airdate on Comedy Central: April 22, 2006)
 * 16 - Rent-A-Room: Silly Roomie, Rules Are for Fools! (written by Kurt Weldon, directed by Raymie Muzquiz) - Rich uncles and brothers Colin and Strong John Pantsi bunk in at younger brother Nate's for the night after accidentally spilling an ant farm at their home. (Airdate on Comedy Central: April 29, 2006)
 * 17 - The Share Fair: Looks Like a Care Bear Doesn't Want to Care (written by David Mandel and Jeff Kline, directed by Peter Avanzino) - At the Share Fair, Nate is jealous over Nancy, so he sends up a teddy bear to help. (Airdate on Comedy Central: May 6, 2006)
 * 18 - The Three G's: Guilt, Grumpy, and Good Lord! (written by Waco O'Guin and Roger Black, directed by Ian Graham) - Nate wants his dad Clancy to be less negative around his friends. Meanwhile, the rest become lawyers when Mr. Nit and Mr. Wit get sued for a crime they didn't commit. Guest stars include Steve Carell and Will Ferrell. Featured music: Take On Me by a-ha. (Airdate on Comedy Central: May 13, 2006)
 * 19 - Three Different Stories (written by Noel Dunad and Jay Peakton [cartoon 1], Greg Butcher [cartoon 2], Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein [cartoon 3], directed by Raymie Muzquiz [1], Dwayne Carey-Hill [2], Gregg Vanzo [3]) - Three incredibly different stories include a baseball game with aliens, Grammpy's missing teeth, and a comic book where the faculty get superpowers. (Airdate on Comedy Central: May 20, 2006)
 * 20 - Clip Show: An Episode Featuring Our Old Episodes (episode proper written by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, Steve Callaghan and David Mandel, directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill and Rich Moore; additional clips by multiple writers and directors) - Waiting for a show to come on, the gang put on a clip show featuring their own misadventures. Was the penultimate episode to be completed. (Airdate on Comedy Central: May 27, 2006)

Specials

 * The Magic Gift (or Something Like That) (written by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, David Mandel, Steve Lookner, and Kara Vallow, directed by Ray Claffey and Gregg Vanzo) - Christmas is in ruins when somebody wants to capture the Jolly Fat Man himself. Guest voices include Martin Mull, Ed Asner and John Goodman. (Airdate: December 13, 2003)
 * A Fright Is No Delight (written by Noel Dunad, Jay Peakton, David Mandel, and Steve Lookner, directed by Peter Avanzino) - Halloween is here and the gang want a corn maze to be scary. (Airdate: October 21, 2005)

Season 2 (2006-2007)
On November 17, 2003, Comedy Central bought rights to air both reruns and new episodes of the show.

Episodes three through eight of season two were originally part of the first season.
 * "We're On a Cruise! Our Return to Television!" (written by Noel Dunad and Jay Peakton, directed by Stephen Sandoval) - Continuing where the last episode left off, the gang take a cruise where Nancy performs live in Canada, but many detours and fender benders on the bus prevent the way.
 * "In a Jam: To Dance!" (written by Greg Butcher, directed by Peter Avanzino) - It's the day of the school dance. Nate cannot dance, so talented dancer Jim gives him tips.
 * "Fire Fighters: Eight Teachers and 101 Dalmatians": An episode about a fire truck rescue, and a total of 101 dalmatians.
 * "Price C's Crew of Cowards: The Big Day", which involves about the gang joining a rap gang.
 * "Trap and Zap: Being in the Big House Ain't Easy", about how jail isn't a safe place for someone like you, a la Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' "Busted".
 * "Spider-Jim: The New Peter Parker", about Jim doubling a secret life as Spider-Man. Originally to promote the 2002 Spider-Man film, MTV scrapped it because it already has plans for the Marvel character, which Harris attained the title role.
 * "Grease Trap: The Musical": In this parody of Grease, the gang help the lunch ladies get rid of all the overflowing grease in the school.
 * "Run (into a) Forest: (See Nate) Run!": Nate proceeds to run at a marathon. Besides, it's good exercise for him. The title spoofs a famous quote from Forest Gump as well as See (name) Run.
 * "Fantastic Voyage Journey: To the Bottom-Left Center of Hicks" (written by Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson): When Hicks accidentally eats a powerful plutonium that he thinks is a hors d'oeuvre, the Faculty goes inside his body to remove it. The title spoofs Fantastic Voyage, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Episodes scrapped, unfinished, or originally planned

 * Had the show been renewed, NIMSH's second season would have premiered taking a twist by being set in Wales, United Kingdom.
 * Four more seasons were confirmed, but MTV unfortunately couldn't renew the series.
 * New episodes starting with the second season were originally planned to air on Spike or Comedy Central—the former wouldn't let them after its animation block was discontinued the same year it began due to the extremely negative reception from Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", giving them the same fate the unaired Immigrants had. Comedy Central bought the rights to air the remaining twenty episodes...although they're not interested for a second season due to the success of South Park. After that, most of the staff went on to create and/or work on their respective shows.
 * In 2005, Dunad, working for Disney at the time, was going to revive the series. Originally about the faculty on summer vacation after the events of episode thirteen in the second season or about them being park rangers in season three, it was eventually scrapped.
 * One episode of the revival confirms that there would be another trio of segments and was to feature a silent black-and-white cartoon, pirates, and Nate hanging with Robin Williams (guest voiced by himself). It was produced in 2013 but the episode alongside the revival was in development hell in 2014, when Williams died by committing suicide.
 * Another episode was to have Smosh's Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla as two new teachers.
 * Finally in 2018, after failed attempts to move to a different network, Dunad confirmed that a revival began production and is scheduled for release on the Netflix streaming service, which Viacom signed a contract for, although an official release date is uncertain.

Broadcast
Not in My Schoolhouse has aired reruns on MTV's sister networks MTV2, Tr3s, MTV Classic, Comedy Central, Spike (for a short time in 2003), and VH1. Reruns have mainly aired on Comedy Central from 2006 until 2011, in order to make way for reruns of Futurama and South Park.

Not in My Schoolhouse was broadcast on international markets on MTV, as well as VIVA, Comedy Central, and AXN. It also aired on Razor, The Comedy Network, and Teletoon's Detour block in Canada.

Production
Nate and Hicks were created by Dunad and Peakton back in 1991 as proposed sketches for Liquid Television, directed by Dunad and Jon McClanahan, and were amazingly animated by McClanahan's StarToons. The sketches run one minute and were about the slice-of-life aspects of two twin brothers working as school teachers who do nothing but talk about music when nobody's here. Dunad provided the voices of both characters.

Later in 1997, Dunad hired Seinfeld writer David Mandel and Simpsons writer Mike Scully to produce a show featuring Nate and Hicks. Sony acquired rights to the new show, with Wish 5 retaining rights to the two characters and the new faculty and Sony keeping their rights to the new characters. To that end, they pitched a pilot for MTV, the channel that aired Liquid TV, who greenlit the show for its original plan of 26 episodes. New characters were added in, including Grammpy, his stressful father who never dies (whom Dunad omitted out since MTV doesn't allow elders on their network, something that they promised to keep prior to Jackass: Bad Grandpa; this also explains Aunt May's absence in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series).

Music was composed by Walter Murphy and Ron Jones of Family Guy and fellow Clerks composer James L. Venable, with licensed music provided by MTV-the crew had to give them $200 to license them on DVD. In-house animation was produced at the Rough Draft Studios in Glendale, California, with overseas animation handled by its offices in Seoul, South Korea.

Successor
Few of the staff eventually went on to create a similar concept, the 2009 Sit Down, Shut Up cartoon based on the 2001 Australian series, greenlit by Fox. Mixed to negative ratings led to its cancellation, and reruns air on Comedy Central and Adult Swim.

Reception
The show recieved mixed reviews on its premiere night, gaining 0.32 million viewers. Common Sense Media gave this a 3/5 on its website, claiming "Not in My Schoolhouse is MTV's take on Schoolhouse Rock!...a sitcom about teachers who get drunk and party when students aren't there. What happens next is a sad story." The show has gained a cult following from fans, retaining the comedic and wacky antics that Clerks had.

Home video releases


A 3-disc DVD containing all 13 episodes as well as the seven unaired episodes were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 24, 2005. In addition to the episodes, there's also audio commentaries on all episodes, animatics for "Pilot", "The Big Movie", and "Nancy's Been a Rebel Girl Before", music videos, the original unaired version of the pilot, sketches from Liquid Television, and MTV promos.

It is also available on digital via iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, and the Sony Pictures-owned Crackle.