The PJs

This is a great show. I love Eddie Murphy's role as Thurgood, the superintendant of the apartment building. I think the people who produced this show capture the life of minority groups living in urban project housing. It is also a wonderful use of clay animation. It may be slow, but it's certainly worth it when complete. FOX took it off the air for awhile quite some time ago, but it looks like it's going to be making a comeback.

One of the most original and charming animated series I've seen. Eddie Murphy has created an animated comedy set in an urban housing project that presents its subject matter without a trace of self-consciousness, political correctness or disrespect for its lovable characters.

The muddle-headed but harmless junkie, the shotgun toting grandma, the faceless city bureaucrats at the HUD headquarters; they all hint at real life without making this particular plump, white suburban viewer itchy with guilt over his better life. What a jewel! Of course, like everything else I've ever liked on TV (Brimstone, Max Headroom) it has vanished. Check with me to see if a show you like will stay on the air. If I like it- kiss it goodbye!

In one of the first of "The Simpsons"'s annual Halloween specials (incidentally, why is each episode referred to as "Treehouse of Horror" everywhere but in the on-screen credits?), we see a graveyard with tombstones for "Fish Police," "Family Dog" and "Capitol Critters," extremely shortlived shows that came up as a result of the first wave of animated shows in the wake of The Greatest TV Show Ever. "The PJs" would probably be included if such a stunt was to be tried again, but while many short-lived prime time cartoons deserve it ("Gary & Mike" and "Stressed Eric," anyone?), this one was more worthy of praise than most.

Set in the Hilton Jacobs Projects (the very name suggests the writers know their TV) in an unnamed city, this series focused on building superintendent Thurgood, wife Muriel, and the tenants - of which there seemed to be surprisingly few for such a big building; the series was fairly high on stereotyping with its characters (although one can't help noticing that one tenant, a Jamaican never clearly seen because of all his marijuana smoke, was soon dropped) and in the later episodes suffered from trying to emulate "The Simpsons" a bit too closely, and from shows like the spoof of season finales "Cliffhangin' With Mr Super" (that format doesn't really suit this show) ... the episodes where co-creator/executive producer Eddie Murphy didn't supply Thurgood's voice also suffered when Phil Morris subbed (it's impossible to not hear him and think "Jackie Chiles!").

But Will Vinton's Foamation technique, plus the simple fact that many of the shows actually were very funny, made up for a lot; the characters of Thurgood - loud, a couch potato ("Jack Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want to turn him down!"), lazy, but still somehow likeable - and the others, plus the fact that every character got at least one story of their own, made up for the rest. (It's interesting that the most intelligent character on the show is Smokey, a homeless recovering crack addict.) The series may have been weighed down by the promise of its credits (former "Simpsons" writer Steve Tompkins co-created the show with future "The Bernie Mac Show" creator Larry Wilmore; Ron Howard was one of the show's eight (!) executive producers), but it was better than many similar live action shows; an underrated pleasure.

"NEXT!"

I found this site while looking to see if I could find a way to buy the PJ's on DVD or Tape. I only got to see a few episodes before they were canceled and they were amazingly funny and a great exaggeration of the way things probably are in the project buildings in the big cities. Even just the depiction of each character in the series was a hoot. I am sure that it offended some but it still makes for some great comedy as many things in life, good or bad, can be funny especially if given a little extra to the story. Eddie Murphy has a magical way of bringing out the comedy in most anything. I would surely like to find a way to get all 41 episodes on DVD so I could see them all and share them with friends.

We in the UK seem to come across little gem's like this years after our American friends, what with the show already cancelled in 2001 over there.

They have only recently started putting this on two episodes at a time on C4 in UK at 2am, and next week it sadly disappears from the schedules.

I have to say I love this programme as much as "The Simpson's", it's Eddie Murphy back to his best, as funny as he used to be back in his old standup shows in the 80's.

I only hope they bring this out on DVD, Sadly, they probably won't.