Close Enough

American adult animated sitcom

Close Enough is an American adult animated sitcom created by J. G. Quintel for HBO Max.

Close Enough
GenreAnimated sitcom
Surreal comedy
Adult Animation
Created byJ. G. Quintel
Developed by
  • J. G. Quintel
  • Sean Szeles
  • Matt Price
  • Calvin Wong
Directed by
  • Sean Szeles
  • Calvin Wong
  • J.G. Quintel
Voices of
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes24 (46 segments)
Production
Executive producerJ. G. Quintel
ProducerRyan Slater
EditorRob Getzschman
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseJuly 9, 2020 (2020-07-09) –
April 7, 2022 (2022-04-07)
Related
Regular Show

At first, the series was created for TBS in 2017, but was not shown. After the AT&T purchase of Time Warner, the show was put on hold. It was released exclusively to the HBO Max streaming service on July 9, 2020 to April 7, 2022. The series has received positive reviews.[1][2][3][4] On August 6, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on February 25, 2021.[5]

On February 10, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season.[6]

Premise

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The series revolves around a couple who are in their early thirties who have a five-year-old daughter and live with their divorced friends in a Los Angeles duplex. As they get into what seem like normal domestic crises that usually escalate in surreal, often science fiction-esque, ways.

Cast and characters

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  • Joshua "Josh" Singleton (voiced by J. G. Quintel) – an aspiring video game developer who works for Plugger-Inners; a television installation company based on Geek Squad. His appearance and mannerisms are based on those of Quintel.
  • Emily Ramirez (voiced by Gabrielle Walsh) – Josh's wife, who works as an assistant for a food corporation called FoodCorp. She is based on Quintel's own wife, Cassia.
  • Candice Singleton-Ramirez (voiced by Jessica DiCicco) – Josh and Emily's six-year-old (as of "Birthdaze") daughter, who struggles with school work.
  • Alex Dorpenberger (voiced by Jason Mantzoukas) – Josh's best friend, who works as a community college professor. He is a conspiracy theorist.
  • Bridgette No Stress Yoshida (voiced by Kimiko Glenn) – Emily's best friend and Alex's ex-wife. She is a Japanese-American social media influencer, and a part-time comedy singer-songwriter in a band with Emily. Her middle name was revealed in an episode from the first season, which also revealed that it was the result of a legal name change that she authorized while she was under the influence of drugs.

Recurring

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  • Pearle Watson (voiced by Danielle Brooks) – A retired LAPD cop, and the landlord of the duplex.
  • Randall "Randy" Watson (voiced by James Adomian) – Pearle's adopted Caucasian son, and the duplex's property manager. He was adopted by Pearle after his biological parents, Wyatt and Deborah Trickle, were arrested for siphoning gas from multiple cars.
  • Mr. Timothy Brice Campbell (voiced by John Early) – Candice's hippie teacher at Chamomile Elementary.
  • Mr. Salt (voiced by Fred Stoller) – Emily's boss at FoodCorp.
  • Dr. Glandz (voiced by Cheri Oteri) – A physician who works at a hospital called Pretty Good Samaritan.
  • Dante (voiced by Eugene Cordero) – One of Josh's coworkers at Plugger-Inners who has a prosthetic lower arm.
  • Jojo (voiced by Mo Collins) – A biker woman who is the leader of the Cool Moms, and the mother of Candice's classmate, Mia.
  • Trish (voiced by Kate Higgins) – A member of the Cool Moms, and the mother of Candice's best friend and classmate, Maddie.

Additional voices

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Guest stars

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Release

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The series was announced in May 2017, four months after Quintel's previous series, Regular Show, concluded, and was originally planned to air on TBS,[7] but it was delayed several times, and TBS's plans for the animation block to premiere it fell through when production on The Cops was shut down due to Louis C.K.’s admitted sexual misconduct.[8] On October 29, 2019, it was announced that the series would instead make its home on HBO Max.[9] The second half of the third episode was premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 15, 2020.[10] On September 14, 2020, the series was broadcast internationally through Netflix and Adult Swim.[11][12] The second season premiered on February 25, 2021 on HBO Max.[13] The second season is scheduled to release on Netflix internationally on May 26, 2021.[14][better source needed]

Episodes

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SeasonSegmentsEpisodesOriginally released
1158July 9, 2020 (2020-07-09)
2168February 25, 2021 (2021-02-25)

Season 1 (2020)

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The first season was originally set to run for ten episodes, but only 8 episodes were released when the series launched.[15][16]

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byStoryboard directorsOriginal release date
11"Quilty Pleasures"
"The Perfect House"
Sean Szeles
Sean Szeles & Calvin Wong
Minty Lewis, Ryan Pequin & Madeline Queripel
Minty Lewis
Aminder Dhaliwal, Ryan Pequin, Madeline Queripel & Andres Salaff
Aminder Dhaliwal & Andres Salaff
July 9, 2020 (2020-07-09)

"Quilty Pleasures": After Candice fails to turn in a quilt she was supposed to make as a class project, Emily and Josh enlist the help of British street urchins at the local fashion district to make one. Things turn quickly when the urchins turn out to be not what Josh and Emily expected them to be.

"The Perfect House": Emily enjoys going to open houses to escape from the stress of her life, and forms a fake family with a stressed father and a pre-teen pop star so they can go to open houses for the same reason, but things get weird when Emily's reality turns into a cheesy 1980s family sitcom. Meanwhile, Josh buys a family bike.
22"Logan's Run'd"
Room Parents"
J.G. Quintel & Calvin WongChris Kula
Aaron Burdette
David Davis & Siti Lu
Janice Chun & Cal Ramsey
July 9, 2020 (2020-07-09)

"Logan's Run'd": While Josh and Emily are enjoying their first night without Candice (who is at a sleepover), Bridgette tells them (and Alex) that they are getting old, so all three of them join Bridgette on a night out to a club where anyone over 30 gets a deadly VIP treatment.

"Room Parents": Josh inadvertently volunteers to be a "room parent" (after he ducks out to use the bathroom and misses out on the other parents murdering each other and committing suicide to get out of it), and befriends a single mother named Nikki, whom Emily suspects is out to steal Josh from her.

Songs: "Turn Down for What" by DJ Snake and Lil Jon; "Crazy on You" by Heart

References

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  1. "HBO Max Unveils Exciting Second Wave Slate of Max Originals to Debut Throughout the Summer Beginning June 18th". Pressroom. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  2. Trumbore, Dave (July 9, 2020). "'Close Enough' Review: J.G. Quintel's Comedy Gets Parental in HBO Max Animated Series". Collider. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  3. "'Close Enough' Will Make You Feel Good About Getting Old". Decider. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  4. "'Black Mirror' has a cartoon counterpart in the artful 'Close Enough'". Los Angeles Times. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  5. Taylor, Drew (August 6, 2020). "'Close Enough' Renewed for Season 2 on HBO Max". Collider. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  6. "HBO Max Orders Three Adult Animated Series, CLONE HIGH, VELMA and FIRED ON MARS, Picks Up Two More Seasons of CLOSE ENOUGH". WarnerMedia (Press release). February 10, 2021. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  7. Jennifer Wolfe (May 17, 2017). "TBS Greenlights 'Close Enough,' New Animated Series from J.G. Quintel". Animation World Network. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  8. Rogers, Olan [@finalspace] (October 29, 2019). "Lol what No. No. No. The entire block failed. Cops was shut down because of Louis CK. Tarantula was burned out and canceled. Close Enough had their own production struggles unrelated to Final Space. Bad Luck is what happened. -Olan" (Tweet). Retrieved November 25, 2019 – via Twitter.
  9. HBO Max [@hbomax] (October 29, 2019). "No more searching. The most beloved TV, movies, and family favorites, plus new originals, all on #HBOMax [VIDEO](@0:53)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. "TV Films in Competition Close Enough "100% No Stress Day"". Annecy. June 15, 2020. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  11. "Close Enough, la nueva serie del creador de Un Show Más, llegará a Netflix en Latinoamérica". TVLaint. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  12. Evershed, John (2020). Adult Animation Finally Breaking Free of its Comedy Shackles (PDF) (Report). High Concentrate, LLC in Squarespace. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  13. "HBO Max Highlights - February 2021". WarnerMedia (Press release). January 27, 2021. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  14. "'Close Enough' Season 2 Coming to Netflix Internationally in May 2021". What's on Netflix. May 5, 2021.
  15. Close Enough on HBO Max [@CloseEnoughMax] (June 18, 2020). "Prepare to clear your schedule for approx. 221 minutes" (Tweet). Retrieved July 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  16. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/close-enough/listings/