Downtown (1999 TV series)
Downtown, also known as MTV Downtown, is an American animated sitcom created by Chris Prynoski that aired on MTV from August 3 to November 8, 1999. The show follows a group of young adults who live in an urban area on East Village of New York City, presenting their everyday lives.
Inspired by Ralph Bakshi's films from the early 1970s, Prynoski in the mid-1990s felt that his films from its time were a time capsule of a culture. He began work on Downtown, for the same effect of what he felt watching about Bakshi's films of the period time, as Downtown years later.
MTV canceled the series after one season. Prynoski put bad marketing decisions and the rerun's inconvenient time slots as speculations for the cause. Nonetheless, the sitcom's episode "Before and After" was nominated for a Primetime [Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program] in 2000, and the series has been positively received by critics and audiences in retrospect.
Plot
The show follows a diverse and multiracial group of young adults who live in an urban area on East Village of New York City, and presents their everyday lives. The series is based on interviews with real people.Characters
- Alex Henson is a nerdy 24-year-old virgin and Chaka's older brother. He harbors a crush on goth girl Serena. Alex lives in Lower East Side apartment.
- Chaka Henson is Alex's rebellious 17-year-old younger sister.
- Fruity is an Afro-Latino ladies' man who has a crush on Chaka.
- Scott "Goat" is Alex and Jen's stoner friend.
- Jen is Alex's chubby, sarcastic Asian-American best friend. She runs a used-clothing shop, with a minimum-wage.
- Matt is Fruity's artsy best friend.
- Mecca is an African-American hopeless romantic and Chaka's best friend.
- Serena is a resident goth girl, and Alex's love interest.
- Leah is Jen's promiscuous roommate.
- Lizzie is a raver girl who Chaka and Mecca mock behind her back.
Episodes
Production
Development
According to Chris Prynoski, when he watched early-1970s Ralph Bakshi films in the mid-1990s, he felt that his films from that time were "much like a time capsule." This inspired him to create Downtown, "so that when people watch the show 20 years later, it feels exactly like 1999 in New York". Prynoski also wanted to show "a line of demarcation where society changed completely" before cell phones and he "wanted to be able to have nostalgia for what doesn't exist now."Music
Soundtrack of Downtown was composed by Massive Attack and DJ Shadow. Music tracks involving drum-and-bass however, was composed by Kimson Albert.Release
Before the release of Downtown in January 1999, the show was shown at the National Association of [Television Program Executives]. It was broadcast 13 episodes, airing from August 3, to November 8, 1999. Video clips of episodes were also available on its official website. The show was also shown during Comic-Con International in August of that year. Prynoski himself was unsure why the show was canceled after one season. But fans speculated that bad marketing decisions and inconvenient time slots for its reruns caused the cancellation from MTV.Due to licensing issues with the music, the series was never officially released on DVD or in any physical form, nor on any streaming service or VOD. Years later, Chris Prynoski started to sell promotional units of the show for $25. Promoting them through his personal blog. All 13 episodes of the show, sometime later, were unofficially released on YouTube. A collection of T-shirts Merch of the show was also released by Prynoski and Titmouse Inc. in 2024, for the celebration of the show's 25th anniversary, as it also was never officially released by MTV.