Downtown (1999 TV series)

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox television Downtown, also known as MTV Downtown,<ref name=":8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":11" /> is an American animated sitcom created by Chris Prynoski that aired on MTV from August 3 to November 8, 1999. The show follows a group of young adults who live in an urban area on East Village of New York City, presenting their everyday lives.

Inspired by Ralph Bakshi's films from the early 1970s, Prynoski in the mid-1990s felt that his films from its time were a time capsule of a culture. He began work on Downtown, for the same effect of what he felt watching about Bakshi's films of the period time, as Downtown years later.

MTV canceled the series after one season. Prynoski put bad marketing decisions and the rerun's inconvenient time slots as speculations for the cause. Nonetheless, the sitcom's episode "Before and After" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2000, and the series has been positively received by critics and audiences in retrospect.

Plot

The show follows a diverse and multiracial group of young adults who live in an urban area on East Village of New York City, and presents their everyday lives. The series is based on interviews with real people.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref>

Characters

File:Downtown Cast.jpg

The main characters of Downtown

• Alex Henson (voiced by Gregory Gilmore)<ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a nerdy 24-year-old virgin and Chaka's older brother. He harbors a crush on goth girl Serena. Alex lives in Lower East Side apartment.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Chaka Henson (voiced by Leyora Zuberman)<ref name=":5" /> is Alex's rebellious 17-year-old younger sister.<ref name=":3" />
• Fruity (voiced by Marco H. Rodriguez)<ref name=":5" /> is an Afro-Latino ladies' man who has a crush on Chaka.<ref name=":3" />
• Scott "Goat" (voiced by Scot Rienecker)<ref name=":5" /> is Alex and Jen's stoner friend.<ref name=":3" />
• Jen (voiced by Tammy Lang)<ref name=":5" /> is Alex's chubby, sarcastic Asian-American best friend. She runs a used-clothing shop, with a minimum-wage.<ref name=":3" />
• Matt (voiced by Hector Fontanez)<ref name=":5" /> is Fruity's artsy best friend.<ref name=":3" />
• Mecca (voiced by Aurora Lucia-Levey)<ref name=":5" /> is an African-American hopeless romantic and Chaka's best friend.<ref name=":3" />
• Serena (voiced by Phoebe Summersquash)<ref name=":5" /> is a resident goth girl, and Alex's love interest.<ref name=":3" />
• Leah (voiced by Rosanna Plasencia)<ref name=":5" /> is Jen's promiscuous roommate.<ref name=":3" />

Production

Development

According to Chris Prynoski, when he watched early-1970s Ralph Bakshi films in the mid-1990s, he felt that his films from that time were "much like a time capsule." This inspired him to create Downtown, "so that when people watch the show 20 years later, it feels exactly like 1999 in New York".<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":7" /> Prynoski also wanted to show "a line of demarcation where society changed completely" before cell phones and he "wanted to be able to have nostalgia for what doesn't exist now."<ref name=":1" />

Music

Soundtrack of Downtown was composed by Massive Attack and DJ Shadow.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Music tracks involving drum-and-bass however, was composed by Kimson Albert.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Release

Before the release of Downtown in January 1999, the show was shown at the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE).<ref name=":11">Template:Cite news</ref> It was broadcast 13 episodes, airing from August 3,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">Template:Cite news</ref> to November 8, 1999.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":10" /> Video clips of episodes were also available on its official website.<ref name=":6" /> The show was also shown during Comic-Con International in August of that year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Prynoski himself was unsure why the show was canceled after one season.<ref name=":0" /> But fans speculated that bad marketing decisions and inconvenient time slots for its reruns caused the cancellation from MTV.<ref name=":10">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Due to licensing issues with the music, the series was never officially released on DVD or in any physical form. But in 2007, Chris Prynoski started to sell promotional units of the show for $25. Promoting them through his personal blog.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All 13 episodes of the show, sometime later, were unofficially released on YouTube.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":10" /> A collection of six T-shirts Merch of the show was also released by Prynoski and Titmouse Inc. in 2024, for the celebration of the show's 25th anniversary, as it also was not officially released by MTV.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" />

Reception

Critical reception

In retrospect series was postily Sarah Nechamkin of Interview called Downtown "The best piece of discarded treasure to come out of the glorious trove of '90s MTV".<ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a retrospective review for Vulture, Greta Rainbow called it a "Feat of naturalistic dialogue", describing the series as a "hyperspecific time capsule".<ref name=":1" />

Revived interest and audience response

Downtown did receive lackluster interest during its release, aside from being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for the episode "Before and After" in 2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the show gained larger interest from the audience in retrospect online, on YouTube and TikTok.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" />

Downtown was ranked in fourth out of ten places on IMDb for becoming one of the best-rated Animated Series on MTV by July 2021, scoring at 8.0 out of 10.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if:

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• Official website at MTV