High School USA!

2013 animated television series created by Dino Stamatopoulos

High School USA! is an adult animated television show that was created and written by Dino Stamatopoulos. It aired on Fox as part of it’s Animation Domination High-Def block. It premiered on the block on July 21, 2013 along with another ADHD show Axe Cop and ended on January 21, 2015.

High School USA!
Created byDino Stamatopoulos
Written byDino Stamatopoulos
Directed byJohn Pham (art)
Doug Rowell (animation)
Voices ofVincent Kartheiser
T.J. Miller
Nathan Barnatt
Mandy Moore
Zosia Mamet
Jake Johnson
Dino Stamatopoulos
Theme music composerDino Stamatopoulos
Opening theme“High School, USA!”, performed by Mark Rivers
ComposerMark Rivers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producersDino Stamatopoulos
Nick Weidenfeld
Hend Baghdady
Dave Jeser & Matt Silverstein (co-executive producers)
ProducersLiz Beebe and Eri Hawkins (associates)
Matthew Chadwick (supervising)
EditorsJames Atkinson
Al LeVine
Running time11 minutes
Production companiesFragical Productions
Friends Night
ADHD Studios
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseJuly 21, 2013 (2013-07-21) –
January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29)

The show centers around 5 teens (Marsh Merriwether, Amber Lamber, Brad Slovee, Cassandra Barren and Lamort Blackstein) as they attend High School USA and have many differences while attending the school.

Characters

change

Main characters

change
  • Marsh Merriwether (voiced by Vincent Kartheiser) is the one of the 5 main protagonists of the show, he is the leader of the group and does the vocals and plays the guitar for the group's band, "The Gang". Marsh is insecure about his weight, an shows signs of having an eating disorder in various episodes.
  • Amber Lamber (voiced by Zosia Mamet) is a ditzy and air-headed, but genuinely kind girl. She plays the bass guitar for the gang’s band. Her best friend is Cassandra. It's possible that she and Cassandra have a crush on Marsh.
  • Bradleyford "Brad" Slovee (voiced by T. J. Miller) is a stereotypical jock. He plays the drums in the gang's band. Brad is passive aggressive, with mostly good intentions. He acts like a bully, though he denies it if someone said he actually is. His victim is Blackstein, who he calls "Brainstein" with the intent of irony.
  • Cassandra Barren (voiced by Mandy Moore) is a spoiled 16-year-old girl. She lives with her adopted parents who are very old. She is always horny and seems to be rather shallow and mean spirited at times but has shown that she does care for her friends, she also appears to have no style of her own and often copies people. As revealed in Episode 5, Cassandra was actually adopted from China, but her original parents were American factory workers who gave Cassandra plastic surgery to appear Asian so she would be adopted faster.
  • Lamort Blackstein (voiced by Nathan Barnatt) is a stereotypical nerd and he has a Lisp voiced. He is commonly known as just "Blackstein". He is very easy to bully, and Brad frequently calls him "Brainstein" with ironic intent.

Episodes

change
No.TitleOriginal air dateProd.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Bullies"July 21, 2013 (2013-07-21)HSU-1012.4[1]

Marsh learns a lesson when Brad is accused of bullying. Cassandra gets ready for the “It Gets Better After High School” dance.

Note: Originally was rerated TV-MA. Later runs reverted to its original TV-14 rating.
2"Sexting"July 27, 2013 (2013-07-27)HSU-1021.5[2]

When a personal picture of a classmate goes viral, Marsh must rally the other students to make the situation less embarrassing.

Note: This has been only aired twice due to its sexual nature.
3"Adderall"August 3, 2013 (2013-08-03)HSU-1031.1[3]

The pressure of the upcoming S.A.T. exams pushes the gang to resort to popping pills. Blackstein needs another extracurricular activity for his college applications, so he joins the school's gay club and tries to hide the fact that he is straight.

Note: One airing of this episode has the word "shit" in it, uncensored for a TV-MA-LS rating. Later reruns have the word bleeped to rebroadcast for a TV-14.
4"Heroes"August 10, 2013 (2013-08-10)HSU-1041.2[4]
Marsh is starstruck when he meets his hero Garrett Philanders (Anders Holm), the pioneer of the Candy Diet.
5"Adoption"August 17, 2013 (2013-08-17)HSU-105N/A
When Cassandra finds out that she is adopted, the gang arranges for her to meet her biological parents in China.
6"Best Friends Forever"January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29) (on FXX)HSU-106N/A

Amber learns that her parents star in adult films.

Note: Because of the highly sexual content and concerns over FCC interference, Fox shelved the episode before its scheduled airdate.[5] It was for a brief time available only to paid subscribers of the Hulu Plus[broken anchor] service. It has since been removed completely from the Hulu rotation. The episode finally aired on expanded basic cable network FXX on January 29, 2015.
7"Janitor Day"November 2, 2013 (2013-11-02)HSU-107N/A
High School USA! is about to lose all of its funding unless the gang can find a way to get test scores up. Due to the lack of funding, Mr. Structor holds Janitor Day when High School USA! is unable to afford the budget to pay for janitors.
8"Choices"November 9, 2013 (2013-11-09)HSU-108N/A
Amber finds out that she's pregnant. With the help of the gang, she'll have to decide whether to keep the baby or have an abortion. Meanwhile, Blackstein adopts a vicious dog and Mr. Structor falls for a substitute teacher.
9"The Early 90s"November 16, 2013 (2013-11-16)HSU-109N/A
Mr. Structor challenges the gang to spend a day as if they were back in the 1990s without modern technology and as a result hilarity ensues. Things get worse when they are pursued by a mysterious stalker.
10"Gun Control"November 23, 2013 (2013-11-23)HSU-110N/A
Cassandra and Amber run for student council presidents against Blackstein and the Weirdo from Home Room. Marsh questions the school's new self-protection policy.
11"Rumspringbreakers"November 30, 2013 (2013-11-30)HSU-111N/A
Marsh is worried for Brad's safety when Brad has a Spring Break fling with an Amish girl who is planning to go through a sex change.
12"Sweet 16"November 30, 2013 (2013-11-30)HSU-112N/A
Marsh realizes he has a hard time dealing with death once Cassandra's dad passes away close to her Sweet 16 party. While Officer Dumphy investigates Seymour's death, Brad takes an interest in death.

References

change
  1. Bibel, Sara (July 23, 2013). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother' Adjusted Up; 'Crossing Lines' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  2. Seidman, Robert (July 28, 2013). "FOX's Animation Domination High Def Premieres Strong In Late-Night". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  3. Bibel, Sara (August 8, 2013). "FOX's 'Animation Domination High-Def' Week 2 Steady in Adults 18-49 Ratings, Up in Teens". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  4. Bibel, Sara (August 15, 2013). "FOX's 'Animation Domination High Def' Ratings Rise 23 Percent Among Adults 18-49 in Week 3". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 21, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  5. Evans, Bradford (August 26, 2013). "The FCC Banned The Latest Episode of Fox's 'High School USA!'". Splitsider. Archived from the original on 2013-09-01. Retrieved September 3, 2013.