The PJs

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The PJs
Genre
Created by
Voices of
Theme music composer
ComposerMarc Bonilla
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes44 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Cinematography
  • Tim McGilvrey (S1)
  • Eric Adkins (S2-3)
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
  • Imagine Television
  • The Murphy Company
  • Will Vinton Studios
  • Touchstone Television
    (seasons 1-2)
  • Warner Bros. Television
    (season 3)
Original release
Network
ReleaseJanuary 10, 1999 (1999-01-10) –
May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)

The PJs is an American

Warner Bros. Television (season 3).[1] The original run of the series debuted on Fox on January 10, 1999, following the network's coverage of the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Two days later, the second episode aired in its regular Tuesday night time slot, following King of the Hill. The series was moved to The WB for its third season and the series ended on May 20, 2001.[2] The title is an abbreviation for "the projects", referring to the show's public housing highrise.[3]

Summary

Forty-four episodes aired during the show's run of 2 years and 4 months. Each took over 2 months to produce, owing to the laborious stop-motion process.

While co-creator Eddie Murphy is credited as the voice of Thurgood Stubbs on every episode, actor Phil Morris says that in some episodes, he provided the voice of Thurgood; according to Morris, Murphy did not want to show up on some days to record the voice of Thurgood Stubbs, so the producers hired Morris to record Thurgood's lines, where he worked in a separate booth from the other actors, allowing the producers to replace Morris' recordings with Murphy's voice in case Murphy decided he wanted to record his dialogue.[4]

After two seasons on Fox, the show moved to The WB in 2000. Its high budget and declining ratings led to its cancellation in 2001; the final 2 episodes weren't aired until 2003. The show aired in syndication for a time on Trio, Fuse, MTV2, and Adult Swim. As of 2020, the series is no longer syndicated by other television networks, but is occasionally shown on the ad-supported video on demand service Pluto TV, specifically on the service's Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud! Network and the entire series is available for viewing on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.

The PJs won 3

Annie Award during its run. Quincy Jones' son QD3, along with George Clinton
, produced the theme music for the show.

Characters

Portrait of most of the major characters

Locations

  • Thurgood and Muriel's Apartment - A below street-level apartment near the front of the building.
  • Front of the Building and Courtyard - Most outdoor scenes take place here. Thurgood and Sanchez occasionally play chess at the table in the corner of the courtyard.
  • Boiler Room - The room where Thurgood comes to plan ideas or relax with a Forty and his collection of
    Jet Magazines
    . It was briefly a beauty salon for Muriel and Bebe in "Weave's Have a Dream". In one episode, it also features a nuclear reactor that powers the projects.
  • The Roof - A variety of events and activities take place here, including the community garden (as seen in "Haiti Sings The Blues") and a gumbo cookoff in "Operation Gumbo Drop”.
  • Street Corner - This is where Thurgood usually meets Tarnell and gets the items he's after.
  • HUD Building - This is where Thurgood comes to get equipment for the building. The front sign features a number of cynical HUD "slogans" that change in each episode.
  • Porno Theater - An old dilapidated movie theater located near the Projects. Thurgood bought it with the intention to fix it up but accidentally bought a dirty movie on opening night.
  • Hilton Jacobs Penthouse - In season 1, episode 6, Thurgood discovers a penthouse in the building.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
114January 10, 1999 (1999-01-10)December 17, 1999 (1999-12-17)Fox
217May 30, 2000 (2000-05-30)September 5, 2000 (2000-09-05)
313 (3 unaired)October 8, 2000 (2000-10-08)May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)The WB

Home media

Disney
) has released all 3 seasons on DVD in Region 1.

DVD Name Ep# Release Date
The Complete First Season 13 May 3, 2011 (2011-05-03)
The Complete Second Season 18 July 5, 2011 (2011-07-05)
The Complete Third Season 12 October 4, 2011 (2011-10-04)

Syndication

The series has aired reruns on

Plex.[7][8]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 50%, based on 8 reviews.[9]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
1999
51st Primetime Emmy Awards Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program Steve Tompkins, Larry Wilmore, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Tony Krantz, Eddie Murphy, Will Vinton & Tom Turpin, executive producers; Bill Freiberger & David Flebotte, supervising producers; Mary Sandell, David Bleiman Ichioka, Michael Price & J. Michael Mendel, producers; Al Jean & Mike Reiss, consulting producers; Les Firestein, consulting producer/writer; Donald R. Beck, co-producer; Mark Gustafson, supervising director (for "He's Gotta Have It") Nominated [10]

Soundtrack

Raphael Saadiq & Q-Tip's "Get Involved", which predates Saadiq's first solo album.

References

External links