The Watterson Family Show

NOTE: This is the Idea Central version due to DevlinWho and his new counterpart being blocked on the Idea Wiki. If you want to help with the Idea Wiki version, go to w:c:ideas:What if the Wattersons were Looney Tunes characters?/The Watterson Family Show. The Watterson Family Show is an American-British animated-live action television sitcom developed by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network. Produced primarily by Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Television and Cartoon Network Studios Europe, it first aired on January 23, 2013. It follows the Watterson Family, consisting of parents Richard and Nicole and their children Gumball, Anais and Darwin. The show is set in the fictional city of Elmore, Rhode Island, and the Wattersons frequently find themselves involved in various shenanigans around the city, during which time they interact with and an extended supporting cast of characters.

In 2012, Bocquelet decided to make a live-action/animated sitcom with animated characters interracting with live-action characters, which Cartoon Network was heavily interested in. He pitched The Watterson Family Show to the network and Turner Broadcasting executive Daniel Lennard subsequently greenlit production of the series. It is the first series to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, and is currently co-produced with Studio SOI in Germany, Great Marlborough Productions Limited and Warner Bros. Animation & Television.

Ben Bocquelet later stated in September 6, 2016 that the sixth season would be his last time working on the show, but production could continue without him. However, on October 7, 2018, he retweeted an article that the show may end after the sixth season.

Premise
The series revolves around the life of a family called the Wattersons and their frequent shenanigans in the fictional American city of Elmore, Rhode Island. The family consists of Richard, a bumbling yet well-intentioned stay-in-house father who gets messed in several comical situations due to his naïve personality; Nicole, a short-tempered mother and blue-collar worker with many bad luck issues who tries to avoid Richard's troubles; Gumball, their mischievous 11-years-old son who is a male/younger version of Nicole at many respects, but more patient; Anais, their often-bullied 4-years-old intelligent daughter who is also constantly ridiculed or ignored by the family; and Darwin, an antropomorphic fish with legs who was adopted by the family. Other characters include TBD.

One prominent feature of the series since its third season is the Void, a dimension inside of Elmore where all the universe's mistakes reside. This includes references to aspects of reality as well as in-series elements. Rob (Hugo Harold-Harrison, David Warner for episodes "My First Nemesis" to "A Complete Disaster") is a background character from the first two seasons who became trapped in The Void after becoming "irrelevant". He later escapes in Season 3, after which he becomes the Watterson family's nemesis and main antagonist. He is shown to be aware of his fictional existence in the Season 4 episode "A Complete Disaster", and his hatred towards the family is a result of his role as the protagonist.

Production
When Cartoon Network Studios Europe was created in 2007, Ben Bocquelet was hired to help people pitch their projects to the network. However, when the studio decided to have its employees all pitch their own ideas, he decided to take Looney Tunes characters in a real world setting. Daniel Lennard, vice president of Original Series and Development at Turner Broadcasting System Europe, was impressed by the premise and approved production of the series. The first series to be produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, thirty-six episodes were produced for its first season in collaboration with Studio SOI, Dublin-based Boulder Media Limited and Dandelion Studios. Cartoon Network executive TBD hired Sony Pictures Imageworks for the show's visual effects.

Voice cast

 * Dan Russell as Richard Watterson
 * Teresa Gallagher as Nicole Watterson
 * Logan Grove, Jacob Hopkins and Nicolas Cantu as Gumball Watterson
 * Kyla Rae Kowalewski as Anais Watterson
 * Kwesi Boakye, Terrell Ransom Jr., Donielle T. Hansley Jr. and Christian J. Simon as Darwin Watterson
 * Hugo Harold-Harrison and David Warner as Rob
 * Rob used to be a live action character, but he was turned into a CGI-animated glitched up freak.
 * John Kassir as Jealousy (a one-shot character that appears in "The Flower")
 * Nolan North as the Ghost (a one-shot character that appears in "The Ghost That Wished to Eat")
 * Peter Capaldi as the Scottish person (a one-shot character that appears in "The Ghost That Whished to Eat"'s subplot)
 * Bob Bergen as Tweety
 * Jeff Bergman as Sylvester
 * Frank Welker as Hector the Bulldog

Live-action cast

 * Joel Courtney as Tobias Wilson
 * Drake Bell as Banana Joe
 * Hugh Laurie as Gaylord Robinson
 * Paula Shaw as Margaret Robinson
 * Greg Cipes as Rocky Robinson
 * Andrew Lincoln, Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Warburton, Ashton Kutcher and TBD as Police Officers
 * Betty White as Emma "Granny" Webster
 * Rachael MacFarlane as Young Granny (Granny's past self in the subplot in "Genius Troubles")
 * TBD as Leslie
 * TBD as Tina
 * Seth Rogen as Larry Needlemeyer
 * Zachary Gordon as Colin
 * TBD as Felix
 * Elizabeth Gillies as Carrie Krueger

Episodes
What if the Wattersons were Looney Tunes characters?/The Watterson Family Show/List of episodes

Crossovers
On September 17, 2015, series creator Ben Bocquelet announced on his Twitter page that a crossover episode with The Big Bang Theory would air as part of the fifth season. This turned out to be the episode "Richard Meets Sheldon".

The Boredom featured characters from Spy vs. Spy (from MAD), Two and a Half Men, the Arrowverse and Uncle Grandpa making cameo appearances.

Richard and Nicole had a cameo appearance on the Uncle Grandpa episode "Pizza Eve", along with other Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation characters from currently running and ended cartoons.

The Wattersons also had a cameo appearance on the ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' episode and Cartoon Network special "Crossover Nexus", along with other Cartoon Network characters from currently running and ended cartoons.

Waiting For Gumball
Waiting For Gumball is a series of thirteen shorts focused on Gumball and Darwin's puppets (some of them focus on their owners in their imagination) based on the series, or more specifically, "The Puppets."

Broadcast
The first two seasons were released on Cartoon Network channels in over 126 countries, with the third season rolling out through 2015.

The series debuted on Cartoon Network UK on 22 January 2013.

On December 1, 2014, The Watterson Family Show began airing on Boomerang in the United States, alongside its broadcasts on Cartoon Network, but as of April 3, 2017, reruns have been removed and moved to The CW.

Ratings
On May 3, 2011, the series premiere of The Watterson Family Show was watched by 2.120 million viewers in the United States. "The Dumbest Family Ever!" is currently the highest viewed episode of the series, with 2.72 million viewers. "Hocus Pocus" is the lowest viewed episode with only 0.42 million viewers, approximately 15% of its series high.

Possible film(s)
In an interview with The Times newspaper, series creator Ben Bocquelet mentioned plans for a feature film based on the series. However, after Bocquelet announced his departure from the show following the sixth season, he stated that he doubted a film would be made.

In March 2018, Bocquelet's interest in a TWFS movie was seemingly revitalized as he stated that he "might have a good idea" for a movie. He later added that he had two ideas, one for a potential theatrical film and one for a potential direct-to-video film.

On September 29, 2018, during a Q&A with the series director Mic Graves at Cartoon Network UK's 25th anniversary screening, he confirmed that a script for The Watterson Family Movie is in the works. He also said that he hopes for the movie to happen. With the announcement that the sixth season will be the last of the series, Bocquelet retweeted a tweet which states that the script for a TWFS film is being written, but at the current moment there's no way to know if the movie will be actually made just yet.

United States of America

 * Cartoon Network (2013-present)
 * Boomerang (2014-2017)
 * The CW (2017-present)

United Kingdom

 * Cartoon Network (2013-present)
 * E4 (2013-present)

Canada

 * Cartoon Network (2013-present)
 * Teletoon (2014-present)

Opening
TBD

Bumpers

 * What if the Wattersons were Looney Tunes characters?/The Watterson Family Show/Bumpers