Downtown (1999 TV series) explained

Genre:	Animated sitcom
Creator:	Chris Prynoski
Director:	Ilya Skorupsk Eugene Salandra Tony Kluck Patrick Smith Kevin Lofton Chris Prynoski Jody Schaeffer
Executive Producer:	Abby Terkuhle
Producer:	David McGrath
Editor:	Matt Miller
Starring:	Gregory Gilmore Leyora Zuberman Marco H. Rodriguez Scot Rienecker Tammy Lang Hector Fontanez Aurora Lucia-Levey Phoebe Summersquash
Composer:	Kimson Albert
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	1
Num Episodes:	13
Runtime:	22 minutes
Company:	MTV Animation
Network:	MTV

Downtown is an American animated sitcom created by Chris Prynoski that aired on MTV from August 3 to November 8, 1999.

Plot

The show follows a diverse and multiracial cast of young people who live in an urban area of New York City, and presents their everyday lives. The series is based on interviews with real people.^[1]

Cast and characters

Gregory Gilmore as Alex Henson, a nerdy 24-year-old virgin and Chaka's older brother. He harbors a crush on goth girl, Serena.
Leyora Zuberman as Chaka Henson, Alex's rebellious 17-year-old younger sister
Marco H. Rodriguez as Fruity, an Afro-Latino ladies' man who has a crush on Chaka
Scot Rienecker as Scott ("Goat"), Alex and Jen's stoner friend
Tammy Lang as Jen, Alex's chubby, sarcastic Asian-American best friend
Hector Fontanez as Matt, Fruity's artsy best friend
Aurora Lucia-Levey as Mecca, an African-American hopeless romantic and Chaka's best friend
Phoebe Summersquash as Serena, a resident goth girl, and Alex's love interest
Rosanna Plasencia as Leah, Jen's promiscuous roommate

Broadcast

Downtown aired 13 episodes from August 3 to November 8, 1999.^[2]

Reception

Sarah Nechamkin of Interview called Downtown "The best piece of discarded treasure to come out of the glorious trove of '90s MTV".^[3]

In a retrospective review for Vulture, Greta Rainbow called it a "Feat of naturalistic dialogue", describing the series as a "hyperspecific time capsule".^[4]

In 2000, Downtown was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for the episode "Before and After".^[5]

References

News: Greppi . Michele . August 3, 1999 . MTV Takes A Ride Downtown...Where It's S-o-o-o Unhip To Be Hip . MTV's Downtown . NY Post . November 12, 2017.

Notes and References

Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 162–163.
Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 2nd . 567–568.
Web site: 2020-08-04 . "Downtown" Is For Stoop Kids Everywhere . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220519221615/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/downtown-mtv-cartoon-into-90s . May 19, 2022 . 2022-06-05 . Interview.
Web site: Rainbow . Greta . 2021-05-07 . MTV's Downtown Is a Hyperspecific Time Capsule . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220605175145/https://www.vulture.com/article/downtown-mtv-1999-grunge.html . June 5, 2022 . 2022-06-05 . Vulture.
Web site: Outstanding Short Format Animated Program Nominees / Winners 2000 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180717010408/http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2000/outstanding-short-format-animated-program . July 17, 2018 . April 14, 2016.