Fans ofThe Simpsonsshould tune intoBig City Greens, a surprisingly hilarious animated series that airs on Disney+. Created by the Houghton Brothers, Chris and Shane Houghton,Big City Greenspremiered on Disney Channel in 2018, and follows the adventures of the Green family after they move from their country home to Big City.
Big City Greenscast of charactersfeatures siblings Cricket and Tilly, their dad, Bill, and their Gramma Alice, who all live together in Big City. The Houghton Brothers have said that the show’s storylines were inspired by their childhood in the small town of St. Johns, Michigan, butthey’ve also citedThe Simpsonsas a major influence on the show.
In fact,the Houghton Brothers even worked onThe Simpsonscomic books, with Chris as an illustrator and Shane as a writer.Big City Greenshas aired for four seasons, and has been renewed for season 5, so there are plenty of episodes for new fans to watch.
Big City Greens Is A Modern-Day Simpsons
The Show Reflects The Family Dynamics Of Current Times
As groundbreaking asThe Simpsonswas when it premiered in 1989 after spinning off ofThe Tracey Ullman Show,it still presented a very traditional family dynamic: two married parents, Homer and Marge, with their three children, Bart, Lisa, and baby Maggie.
Big City Greensreflects the family of current times:single dad Bill lives with his two children, Cricket and Tilly, and his mother, Alice. However, Bill’s ex-wife and the children’s mother, Nancy, is still in their lives, reflecting how many families function in today’s world. Unlike Marge though, Nancy isn’t a typical sitcom mom. She’s a former biker who even served time in prison for attempting to free cows from a factory.
Like Bart, Cricket is mischievous and always getting into trouble, while Tilly is similar to Lisa with her inquisitive and imaginative personality. Fans of Bart and Lisa will love Cricket and Tilly’s relationship with each other. They’ll also find the father-child connection to be refreshing.
While Bill sometimes struggles to make the right decisions as a father like Homer, he’s portrayed with much more heart. As a single dad,Bill tries so hard to set a good example for his children. Although he’d sometimes like to strangle Cricket like Homer has done to Bart, episodes often end with him having a talk with him that teaches him the error of his ways.
Of course,all of this is conveyed through zany and hilarious storylines that are reminiscent of the outrageous scenarios fromThe Simpsons. Big City Greensepisodes will elicit belly laughs from children and adults alike.
Big City Greens Has Its Own Sideshow Bob In Chip Whistler
Chip Has A Vendetta Against Cricket Green
One of themost popularSimpsonscharacters is Sideshow Bob, the infamous villain who seeks revenge on his archnemesis, Bart.Big City Greenshas its own antagonist, Chip Whistler, who is constantly feuding with Cricket. After being reported as dead, Chip returns to Big City with a clever and comical pseudonym, Norm Alguy, and attempts to live a normal life.
However, Chip’s desire for revenge on Cricket is too strong, and he goes back to his evil ways. A recurring joke on the show is Chip chipping and losing his teeth, which happens in all sorts of funny ways, including him biting into a fake apple planted by Cricket, which was actually an eight-ball painted red. However, Cricket didn’t mean for Chip to eat the fake apple.Fans of Sideshow Bob will love Chip, and will laugh out loud at all of his wicked schemes.
Big City Greens Is Surprisingly Adult
The Series Has Something For Everyone
Even thoughBig City Greensairs on Disney Channel and Disney+, it definitely appeals to adults just as much as kids, and it’s shockingly funny. In fact,some of the storylines are more relatable to adults than children.
In the season 4 episode, “After Dark,“Bill gives Cricket permission to attend a nighttime drone show, as long as he’s home five minutes before the streetlights turn on. If not, he’ll have to wash the dishes for a month.
Of course, Cricket tries to find a way around this stipulation and causes a citywide blackout to prevent the streetlights from going on and having to go home during the drone show.Baby Boomers and Gen Xers alike will love this hilariously relatable throwback to their own childhoods, as they remember what it was like to try to find loopholes in their parents' rules.
Big City Greensalso has a lot of heart, which can bring adults to tears as much as it can make them laugh. In theBig City Greensseason 4episode “Good Grief,“Bill wants to protect Tilly from grief after her pet fish, Cougho, dies.
Adults will laugh as they watch Bill look on helplessly as Tilly chooses the clearly very ill Cougho from the pet store, and names him after his ailment. Of course,Cougho dies shortly after they bring him home.
Just as Bill’s flushing Cougho down the toilet in an attempt to hide the fish’s death and replace it with a new one,Tilly catches him in the act. In a panic, Bill lies and says that it was an accident, leading to Tilly believe that they can go down into the sewers and get Cougho back.
After this hilarious scenario plays out, Bill finally admits to Tilly that Cougho died,which suddenly pivots to a heartfelt conversation about griefas Bill recounts the story of his own pet that died: his worm, Todd. It’s an astonishingly well-balanced episode that’s both funny and touching.
Big City Greensalways finds a way to blend humor with heart. Fans ofThe Simpsonswill enjoy all of Cricket’s shenanigans, and will find many similarities to Bart.The Simpsonsis a classic series that has inspired many other shows, and its fans will loveBig City Greensand the perfectly imperfect Green family.
Big City Greens
Cast
Big City Greens follows the adventures of 10-year-old Cricket Green as he adjusts to life in the big city after moving from the countryside with his eccentric family, including his older sister Tilly, his father Bill, and Gramma Alice. Released in 2018, the animated series highlights their humorous escapades.
