List of Home Movies characters
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This is a list of the main and recurring fictional characters from the UPN/Adult Swim animated sitcom Home Movies.
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[edit] Main characters
[edit] Brendon
(Voiced by Brendon Small)—Age 8. Brendon Small is the star of the show and writer/director/lead actor in most of his movies. Brendon acts out his anxieties and problems through his movies. He has had his trusty camcorder since just after toddlerhood, and has been making films incessantly ever since, perhaps because he started around the time his parents got divorced. Though well-meaning and logical, he is consistently dogged by apathy, oversight, and occasional egotism; he is usually surprised, confused or hurt when his work is criticized. Despite his questionable wisdom and intelligence in other parts of life, he is surprisingly knowledgeable about films and filmmaking; his first film was an homage to Easy Rider called Eazy Trikers. Brendon is apathetic toward his schoolwork and consistently gets bad grades, most likely because he is preoccupied with making movies. He has also been said by a few characters that he is quite feminine, as stated in the episodes The Wedding and Shore Leave.
[edit] Coach McGuirk
(Voiced by H. Jon Benjamin)—Age 38. John McGuirk is Brendon and Melissa’s incompetent, acerbic soccer coach; an overweight, alcoholic Irish-American who constantly gives Brendon bad advice. McGuirk considers Brendon, Melissa and Jason his friends and will usually help them out or stick up for them even though he is often rude to them (especially Melissa). Also, he frequently attempts to reach out to Lynch and Erik; however his misguided attempts often fail due mainly to his poor attitude. He often tries to impress or court Paula, Brendon’s mother. McGuirk also admits that he hates soccer and has never played soccer, despite being the elementary school’s soccer coach. He makes a small cameo in Family Guy Blue Harvest in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene. He is sitting next to the Evil Monkey and Bender from Futurama in the table behind him.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dd/PDVD_074.JPG
[edit] Jason
(Voiced by H. Jon Benjamin)—Age 7. Jason is Brendon’s friend and co-star who is noticeably more emotionally stunted, but can be much more aware of his surroundings and situations than others. Subtle irony throughout the series suggests that, while his parents are never introduced, they are wealthy, but never around or aware of Jason's pastimes, including the fact that he is always hanging out with Brendon and Melissa making films. He has suffered dangerous and extreme attacks of sugar addiction on several occasions that Melissa usually helps him overcome. Jason also has numerous infections and diseases such as pinkeye, urinary tract infection and eczema. His feelings for Melissa are often very mixed—at one time, he told Brendon his view that she's a good person, but a terrible actress; at another time, he was more than eager to participate when Brendon suggested he and Melissa kiss to illustrate a hypothetical. In "Definite Possible Murder" it is revealed that he is Greek. Jason's last name has been spelled out as Panopolis (in "The Art of the Sucker Punch" within the closed captions), Penopolis (in "Time to Pay the Price"), Popodopolis (in "History"), and Penopopolis (in "Focus Grill").
[edit] Melissa
(Voiced by Melissa Bardin Galsky)—Age 8. Melissa Robbins is Brendon’s friend and co-star, who is often more sensible than Brendon or Jason. However, when it comes to very personal issues (such as her mother's whereabouts, family history and boyfriends), she becomes very frantic and overly sensitive. Melissa is also the daughter of a single father, Erik. At the beginning of season three she is shown to be a bit of a tomboy, but throughout season four she appears much more feminine. Melissa suffers from allergic bronchoconstriction if she eats kiwi, and carries an EpiPen as such.
[edit] Paula
(Voiced by Paula Poundstone, eps 1-5, Janine Ditullo, eps 6+)—Paula Small is Brendon’s single mother, a (temporarily unemployed) creative writing teacher (apparently having taught in her younger days, as mentioned in Method of Acting) and author. She is usually supportive of Brendon's filmmaking, but sometimes sees it as a nuisance or unhealthy. She talks very frankly with Brendon about life issues, and they both make age-inappropriate jokes, thereby creating much more of a friendship between them than is usual. She is highly critical of Andrew's (Brendon’s father’s) relationship with Linda, frequently mocking the age disparity. Paula occasionally interferes with Brendon's movies, out of boredom or thanks to manipulation by Jason or Melissa. She frequently attempts to improve Brendon's apathy towards his schoolwork, to no avail. Paula performs terribly in pressure situations, such as job interviews and parent-teacher conferences. Her love life is rare to non-existent. In the very first episode, Paula and Coach McGuirk go out on a date, but Paula can barely handle sitting through dinner, and they do not go out on a second date. Jason and Melissa suggest in the series finale that Paula and McGuirk belong together, and Brendon hesitantly admits they look good together.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] Major characters
- Mr. Lynch (Voiced by Ron Lynch)—Brendon and Melissa’s teacher who, later in the show, also becomes their interim principal. He is referred to by two different first names (Ronald and Donald) in the same episode ("Broken Dreams"). He is often at odds with McGuirk, who intensely dislikes Lynch but sometimes befriends him. Lynch is a somewhat pretentious person; he insists on pronouncing "Mexico" meh-hee-co. Lynch would like to believe that he is fluent in Spanish, but makes numerous errors in both grammar and vocabulary, particularly while intoxicated. He is the owner of numerous oddly-named cats (due to the fact that he is obviously single), and once suffered a breakdown when Brendon accidentally freed them all. A subtle, visual running gag in the last season is that he is secretly a cat-themed superhero, inspired from the previous season finale; this joke is usually relayed in the form of a newspaper headline in the background.
- Walter and Perry (Brendon Small and H. Jon Benjamin)—Two hyper best friends with high-pitched voices and matching attire. Their relationship (which is noticeably intimate and implicitly homosexual) is a comedic tool, but treated gracefully by the show. It is also implied in a DVD commentary track that they may be the only truly happy characters in the series. Later in the series it is revealed that the two frequently engage in delinquent behavior, such as cheating and shoplifting. Small commented that they were often unsure of which person portrayed which character.
- Duane (or Dwayne) (Brendon Small)—A metalhead of few words, whose band Scäb writes and performs the music for most of Brendon’s movies. Duane has essentially mastered the guitar and is presumably a multi-talented showman (in "Director's Cut," Duane wrote and starred in a rock opera based on Kafka's The Metamorphosis which Melissa said may be "the best thing we've ever done," and in "Renaissance," he and his band show mastery of advanced pyrotechnics). He did not speak during a portion of the early series (only singing or mumbling incoherently). His physical appearance is similar to that of Joey Ramone. Scäb’s songs are actually played by the show’s creator, Brendon Small. The spelling of his name changes throughout the series. Duane said he was 15 in "Guitarmageddon".
- Erik Robbins (Jonathan Katz)—Melissa’s father, a real estate agent. Erik is one of Paula's few close friends, and occasionally hints at being attracted to her. In several episodes he and McGuirk show signs of friendship, such as him helping McGuirk in looking for a new apartment. He tells McGuirk that his ex-wife (Melissa's mother) is dead, but then reveals that she ran away with another man.
- Fenton Mewley (Sam Seder)—Age 8. A spoiled, annoying classmate with the tendency to call Brendon “Bren-Bren”, and ask to be in one of his films. His personality changes dramatically after McGuirk scolds Fenton for his poor treatment of his mother at his 8th birthday party, and in later episodes is seen as oddly obedient and clingy to her. Brendon once stayed at Fenton's house for the weekend; the experience was extremely tortuous and Brendon at one point feared for his own life after accidentally seeing Fenton's mother naked, and filmed himself hiding in the closet à la "Blair Witch" as Fenton ran through the house yelling threats at him. He deeply disdains Brendon's movies, and enjoys berating him with film theory criticisms, although this has more to do with his jealousy of not being in them than the actual films themselves.
- Josie Small (Voiced by Loren Bouchard)—Brendon’s adopted baby sister. Her biological parents never appear in the series.
- Andrew Small (Louis C.K.)—Brendon’s estranged father, a lawyer. He is 11 years older than his second wife, Linda. He and Brendon are re-acquainted in Season 2, and an initially awkward relationship ultimately shows them as very close and loving. However, he seems to disappear from Brendon's life and was not present for the birth of his child by his second wife Linda, because he was on a business trip. She is compelled to stay with Paula during the final days of her pregnancy. It is unclear whether or not Andrew continues to live with Linda after she gives birth.
[edit] Recurring characters
- Linda Small (Laura Silverman)—Brendon’s attractive, snippy stepmother. She often does volunteer work, but most likely for a sense of superiority, she later becomes pregnant with Andrew's second biological child and goes into labor on Halloween night. Brendon becomes her birthing partner but leaves when she becomes too moody due to her labor pains. He does come back later to videotape the birth. Andrew is not around for the birth, the gender of the baby is assumed to be a boy as she considers calling it Jesus.
- Nurse Kirkman (Jen Kirkman)—The attractive new school nurse who Coach McGuirk tries unsuccessfully to court. Jason is infatuated with her, and attacks McGuirk after he mentions his (McGuirk's) advances.
- Arnold Lindenson (Andy Kindler)—Paula’s expressive and oddly energetic boss. He is quite tactless; he laughingly denied Paula when she asked for a raise, and assumed she would try to kill him when he fired her. Apathetic and carefree, but is oblivious about how rude he is being to others. He has a good side, however, and offered Paula her job back on the day of her ex-husband's wedding (which she accepted).
- Shannon (Emo Philips)—Age 9. A bully who initially beats up Brendon, but later befriends him. He coerces Brendon into giving him the lead role in the musical "Bye Bye Greasy" and shows a remarkable talent for acting and singing.
- Stephanie (Kelly Kimball)—Paula’s attractive but flaky friend who twice tries to seduce McGuirk, though to no avail thanks to his self-sabotaging personality and a mild heart attack.
- The Adelbergs (both Small), a presumably foreign family with a drawly West Slavic accent. Only two members are ever seen: Junior, a schoolmate of Brendon, and Ken, Junior's father (although Ken's wife was heard off screen as a phone voice in the episode "Curses", where she was also voiced by Small and spoke in the same accent as her son and husband). Junior has appeared in one of Brendon's Starboy films, his school play, and his focus group. He is a Skunk Scout, and once convinced Brendon to join at a moment when Brendon was trying to distance himself from his film "The Wizard's Baker." Ken is a recurring adult character; he is constantly seen changing jobs, which have included hotelier, an agent for Big Brothers, a domain name registrar, a student, a flower delivery man and a butcher. Ken Adelberg is also credited as director in the credits of All That Violence in the episode "Everybody's Entitled to My Opinion".
- Lonnie (Laura Silverman), a red-haired girl in Brendon's school presumably around age 9. The only episode she played a prominent role in was "Yoko", in which she became Brendon's girlfriend after meeting at a camping trip. She leaves him for her ex-boyfriend, Mitch (Mitch Hedburg) the fifth grader. In other episodes, she is only shown as a background character.
- Clarice (Valerie Kappa)—Coffee-house employee. She is the girlfriend of Duane's rival Jimmy Monet.
- Trudy Mewley (Paula Plum), mother of Fenton Mewley. She is a woman around age 35 who has the essence of a 1950's housewife who tries to do everything right. She only had a prominent role in two episodes: "The Party" and "Shore Leave". In the episodes "Curses" and "Honkey Magoo", she is shown with Fenton in crowd scenes and has no lines.
- Cynthia (Jen Kirkman)—Choreographer for Duane’s band on whom Brendon has a crush. He eventually confesses his feelings in a disastrously public way at a battle of the bands in her last appearance.
- Drill Sergeant/Instructor (Brendon Small)—A middle-aged man, who dresses and acts like a Drill Sergeant, appears in episode #311, "Broken Dreams," as a Lifeguard Instructor, as well as in episode #409, "Those Bitches Tried to Cheat Me," as a DMV Instructor.
[edit] Guest appearances
- Todd Barry as The Clerk in "Psycho-Delicate"
- David Cross as Guy in Grocery Store in "Brendon’s Choice"
- They Might Be Giants as the counselors in "Camp" (John Flansburgh as Mike and John Linnell as Miguel)
- Mitch Hedberg as The Pet Eulogist in "Brendon Gets Rabies," Mitch in "Yoko," Cop in "Law and Boarder,” and Anger Management Counselor in "Brendon’s Choice"
- Tom Kenny as Doctor in “Coffins and Cradles"
- Eugene Mirman as Eugene in "Yoko" and "The Wizard’s Baker"
- Patton Oswalt as Helmet in "Renaissance"
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Penny in "Those Bitches Tried to Cheat Me”
- Ian Roberts as Tom Wilsonberg in "Stow-A-Way"
- Maria Bamford as Journal Instructor and Joviana in "Curses"
[edit] See also
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