Lil' Bush

Li'l Bush
Created by Donick Cary
Voices of Chris Parson
Dave B. Mitchell
Mara Cary
Donick Cary
Ann Villella
Iggy Pop
Kari Wahlgren
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 17 (1 unaired) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Release
Original network Comedy Central
Original release June 13, 2007 
May 15, 2008

Lil' Bush is a satirical, politically themed animated television series which premiered on June 13, 2007 on Comedy Central. The series features childlike caricatures of members of the George W. Bush administration, and other American and international political leaders. Donick Cary created the series initially as content for Amp'd Mobile. The first season's episodes each consist of two story segments, with each segment featuring a musical performance by a band composed of main characters.

The second season, which premiered on March 13, 2008, consists of 10 episodes, and features thirty-minute storylines including the musical segment.[1] The second season finale aired on Thursday May 15, 2008. The show was not renewed for a third season.

Premise

Li'l Bush takes place in an alternate reality version of the present day, where George H. W. Bush is president and George W. Bush ("Li'l George" on the show), along with his cronies (members of George W. Bush's real-life former staff), are children attending Beltway Elementary School. Issues in which the latter Bush Administration is involved (for example, the Iraq War) are transferred to the elder Bush, but feature the younger Bush interacting with them in various ways. Also, just as George Bush's father is president, the parents of the other kids are members of the elder Bush's cabinet (all depicted as their real-life adult counterparts, with the exception of the elder Cheney, who is depicted as Cheney with a Darth Vader helmet). The show pokes fun at George W. Bush's policies in an indirect manner and provides a criticism of his administration.

Main characters

Supporting characters

Li'l Democrats

The series antagonists (also called Li'l Dems).

American politicians

Others

Episodes

Season 1 (2007)

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Iraq / First Kiss"June 13, 2007 (2007-06-13)102
Lil' Bush and the Gang go to Iraq to find the perfect Father's Day gift; the Gang bets to see who can kiss a girl first. The gang is shown as Guns N' Roses in a musical number.
2"Nuked / Camp"June 20, 2007 (2007-06-20)101
Lil' Bush learns to stand up to a bully named Lil' Kim Jong-II by bombing, among other things, his residence; Lil' Bush and the Gang go to summer camp and discover a sleeper cell. The Lil' Bush Band is shown as the Sex Pistols, and later as Kiss in this episode.
3"Gay Friend / Mexican"June 27, 2007 (2007-06-27)103
Lil' Bush meets Lil' Tony Blair, and the two become close friends and cheerleaders for the school's football team, while the Gang begins to blindly follow Lil' Barack Obama in Lil' George's place; Under his father's threat of canceling Martin Luther King day, Lil' Bush and the Gang find an alternate way to complete their chores, with the help of illegal immigrant workers. The gang parodies WHAM! and Toni Basil in their musical numbers.
4"Global Warming / Hall Monitor"July 11, 2007 (2007-07-11)104
The gang try to thwart Lil' Al's Lil' Live Earth concert, featuring the Lil' Foo Fighters and Lil' Red Hot Chili Peppers to secure the earth's future as a completely flooded uninhabitable wasteland that the gang sees as an "awesome water park"; Lil' Bush competes with Lil' John McCain for the position of Hall Monitor by exploiting the school's fear of hippies. The band ends up parodying the Red Hot Chili Peppers (wearing only socks during their performance) in the first short, and in the second short, they parody the Grateful Dead.
5"Evolution / Press Corps Dinner"July 18, 2007 (2007-07-18)105
Lil' Cheney goes to hell after perishing of a heart attack, where he proves himself more evil than Satan, and Lil' Bush becomes a born again Christian and denounces evolution; Lil' Bush is the headliner at his father's Press Corps Dinner when he discovers he has a knack for comedy. The Lil' Bush band parodies several rap artists, including Eminem and 50 Cent, in an anti-evolution video.
6"Haunted House / Hot Dog"July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25)106
Lil' Bush and the gang spend the night up in the haunted White house attic, and are visited by the ghosts of the Founding Fathers which turn out to be the Lil' Democrats in disguise (except for the real ghost of George Washington in search for his head)-- this short parodies the chase scenes and imagery of Scooby-Doo; Lil' Bush and the Gang meet Lil' Michael Moore, who attempts to expose their torture of the school cafeteria workers in an attempt to bring back the american institution of hot dogs when the school decides to be in favor of a more multi-cultural menu (based on the Abu Ghraib torture photos). The "Hot Dog" episode also features Jeb with a short-lived but greatly improved intelligence as a result of a frying pan blow to his head.
7"Walter Reed"Unaired107

Lil' Bush and his gang put on a concert at the nearby Walter Reed veteran's hospital, which accidentally brings media attention to the atrocious conditions there. As punishment, he and the gang must raise money for repairs, which the eventually spend on themselves. Featuring Henry Rollins as the voice of an injured veteran that Lil' Bush knicknames "Halfsy".

Note: This 11-minute storyline was produced but never aired as a backup episode. The network was worried that the story of show 105, featuring Lil' Dick Cheney dying of a heart attack, would be insensitive to air if the real Dick Cheney had a heart attack. It appears on the Lil' Bush Season One DVD, along with an introduction from show creator Donick Cary and writer Opus Moreschi.

Season 2: 2008

No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
8"St. Patrick's Day"March 13, 2008 (2008-03-13)201
The Lil' Gang doesn't want the Lil' Dems to ruin St. Patrick's Day with their liberal and tolerant St. Patrick's Day float. They enlist the help of Lil' Karl Rove (voiced by Kevin Federline), who gives them advice and does some bad rapping as his alter-ego, MC Rove. Meanwhile, first lady Barbara gets a tanning bed and inadvertently cooks her liver.
9"Big Pharma"March 20, 2008 (2008-03-20)203
When Beltway Elementary's book fair is taken over by a drug company, it becomes a drug fair, and all the Lil' Cronies get hooked on meds. In order to kick their addiction, they face off against the big pharmaceutical company's charismatic CEO (voiced by The Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh). Meanwhile, George Sr. attempts to appear more manly for the state of the union by taking beard-growth pills. Unfortunately, the side effects involve a prolonged and prominent boner.
10"Crony Break-up"March 27, 2008 (2008-03-27)202
After a big fight, the Lil' Gang break up. Each of them finds comfort in new friends: Lil' Mitt Romney, Lil' Rudy Giuliani, Lil' Fred Thompson and Tiny Dennis Kucinich. When the new friendships turn disastrous, the Lil' Cronies put their differences aside in a heartwarming, vomit-filled reunion. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush inadvertently invents a new diet craze called "The Pudding Hole" which involves leaving a hole in your stomach so food can pour out.
11"Katrina"April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03)204
George Sr. and Barbara punish the Lil' Gang for destroying the White House by sending them to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina. They end up creating a surprise Mardi Gras float (out of a tank that was supposed to be a FEMA trailer and money that was being kept from the residents) trying to cheer up the residents. They instead crash into one of the levees and flood the city. Meanwhile George Sr. and Barbara cannot pay of the mortgages for the White House and look to sell it, with many of the Lil' Politicians looking to buy it. They eventually pay it off with all the money on the Mardi Gras float.
12"Three Dates"April 10, 2008 (2008-04-10)205
With the school dance coming up, Lil' George doesn't know who to take. His brain advises him to be cautious, but George plows ahead and ends up inviting three dates. Once they get to the dance (featuring Good Charlotte as Good Charlotte cover band "Good Charlotter") George has to silence his brain once and for all. George Sr. is dealing with an annoying houseguest, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who parties like a frat guy and lords his oil over the president.
13"Weekend at Saddamy's"April 17, 2008 (2008-04-17)206
It's spring break, and Lil' George and the gang join George Sr. on a camping trip to Baghdad. Lil' George tries to impress his father and fix Iraq at the same time by digging up Saddam Hussein's body and turning him into a real puppet dictator, a la "Weekend At Bernies." Meanwhile, Lil' Bill Clinton convinces all the Lil' Democrats to spring break on South Padre island. When some of their antics end up on video, "Lil' Dems Gone Wild" becomes a top-selling DVD.
14"Afghanistan"April 24, 2008 (2008-04-24)207
When Osama bin Laden is diagnosed with a weak heart, he finds the only perfect match for a donor is Lil' Cheney. Al Qaeda kidnaps Lil' Cheney, forcing Lil' George and the gang to smoke him out of his hole in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Barbara gets her groove back in Jamaica.
15"Wedding"May 1, 2008 (2008-05-01)208
When Lil' Bill Clinton invites Lil' George to his "Rainbow Party," Barbara and George realize he's growing up too fast. They decide the best way to preserve George's innocence is in a "purity wedding" in which he marries Barbara. When Lil' George decides his own father's a better match, they are forced to have a gay wedding, sending Barbara into the arms of super-smooth man-about-town Colin Powell.
16"Pooty-Poot"May 8, 2008 (2008-05-08)209
When Lil' Vladimir Putin and Lil' George start a schoolyard rivalry, it escalates to Lil' Putin poisoning Lil' George, whose head swells to five times its normal size. After some training from former wrestling champ Barbara Bush, Lil' George faces off against Lil' Putin in a classic playground battle. Meanwhile, Lil' Cheney has been partnered with Lil' Nancy Pelosi, and given a watermelon to care for as their child. When it becomes apparent that their watermelon is a lesbian, Lil' Cheney has some hard choices to make.
17"Anthem / China"May 15, 2008 (2008-05-15)210
The first story pits the Lil' Gang against the Lil' Dems in a battle of the bands for who can write the best new national anthem. Featuring a secret super-surprise awesome musical guest star. In the second, the Lil' Gang faces off against China, where they must win the Olympics to save America from being recalled by the Chinese.

Critical response

The show has received negative reviews from critics, with an aggregate metascore of 31/100.[2] A common complaint is that the show comes too late in Bush's presidency to remain topical.[3] Other complaints accuse it of immaturity and lack of subtlety.[4]

Not all the reviews, however, have been negative. Among others, The Hollywood Reporter gave the show a positive review. A review from About.com cited the show's "cleverness and maturity," likening it to "a less bloody South Park".[5] Likewise, in a Netscape review, the show was credited as a political satire which "pinpoints the logical extreme of real life."[6]

Home releases

Season Number of episodes Release date Additional information
Season 1 7 March 11, 2008 The 7th unaired season finale
Season 2 10 October 14, 2008

See also

References

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