Enjoyed 'Sheep in the Big City' as a kid, it was very funny, silly and charming with a lead character that endeared and amused, even if the animation was not quite to my taste and occasionally the humour went over my head. Seeing it as an adult, not only does 'Sheep in the Big City' fare even better but it was a show where the humour and concept were easier to understand.
'Sheep in the Big City' is sadly very much underrated now, especially when at the same there were longer-lasting and more popular shows airing more regularly. It may not be for everyone's taste, particularly if one likes more variety to their plots and beautiful animation, but it did deserve to last much longer than it did and deserves to be better known other than another relatively obscure (thank goodness for good old Youtube) show. Although not a Cartoon Network show strictly speaking, 'Angela Anaconda' lasted longer and had higher ratings when it aired on Cartoon Network in the UK in 2000 when 'Sheep in the Big City' first aired, plus aired at more accessible times, which is sad because 'Sheep in the Big City' was the significantly better show (actually being good).
The way 'Sheep in the Big City' was treated by Cartoon Network may have played a large part in the show not as successful as it deserved, with its troubled cancellation and revival history (it even almost didn't get a second season!). Although the pilot was well viewed, actually the highest rated premiere of any Cartoon Network original show at the time, ratings dwindled from my understanding. Which would have been partly because there was stiff competition of shows also airing, back when 'Dexter's Laboratory', 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', 'Cow and Chicken', 'Ed, Edd and Eddy' and 'The Powerpuff Girls' were airing on a regular basis and when the network was not just good but actually watchable (now it has the odd gem but has declined severely with a lot of the frequently aired shows being dross). And also the show's erratic scheduling which practically buried it amidst everything else airing, being aired (when first appearing in the summer vacation of 2000) either when families wouldn't be stuck indoors or around the children's bedtime period. It deserved much better treatment than that.
By all means, 'Sheep in the Big City' wasn't the perfect show. While it is colourful and more detailed, some of the pointy visuals are still not quite to my taste. There are times too where the show is a little formulaic and could have done with more variety and a few of the stories went a little overboard on the strangeness.
However, these are the only criticisms and they are not big ones. The stories a vast majority of the time are really entertaining with a clever satiric edge and an imaginative structure that was unlike any other Cartoon Network show airing at the time. Things that are deliberately unrelated could have been completely irrelevant but are used and written so cleverly and so seamlessly put together it adds to the fun and is what makes the show as unique as it is. Pacing is always lively.
Really like the characters. My childhood memories of Sheep being an endearing and funny protagonist still stand as a young adult. He is very cute but has a personality that makes him so much more than that, 'Sheep in the Big City' does a great job with making him an intelligent but flawed character and with the "sheep out of water" aspect. General Specific is one of those humorous, dim-witted bumbling villains that actually is entertaining, yet he does have a little menace in his treatment of his subordinates. His losses and outcomes of his scheming are predictable but you have to admire the guy's refusal to be discouraged.
Private Public is a perfect much smarter contrast. Farmer John has similar motives to Specific but is less overt and far more mild-mannered, while deliberately monotonous (part of the character) his pseudo-psychological talk is entertaining. Ben Plotz is one of the best use of narrators seen and heard in a cartoon in recent memory, his presence actually serving a lot to the show's humour and never becomes over-explanatory. There are other characters, with clever apt names (i.e. The Plot Device) that are also very interesting and fun.
It is the humour that makes 'Sheep in the Big City' a winner. Humour-wise, it is unusual but also quite unique, it is this uniqueness that makes the show a joy. It's extremely clever and hilarious, and done in a sharp, knowing, zany and satirical way. The apt oxymoronic character names, the constant breaking of the fourth wall, the unrelated sketches and shorts, sheep puns, use of literal humour, the narrator being treated as a character himself with frequent interaction, multiple rhetoric and comic references to film and broadcasting, this is humour unlike that of most other shows and it is done so well if more understandable to adults than children. The theme song is catchy and the voice acting fitting.
Overall, a great under-appreciated show. 9/10 Bethany Cox
