Bloom County Animated Series Gets a Showrunner

The Simpsons veteran Tim Long is going from Springfield to Bloom County. Long, a writer, story editor, and producer of the long-running FOX sitcom since 1999, will serve as co-showrunner of the network’s Bloom County animated series with cartoonist and creator Berkeley Breathed. In February, FOX Entertainment announced it was developing Breathed’s iconic Bloom County comic strip as an animated comedy series with Fox’s Bento Box Entertainment (Bob’s Burgers, Central Park), Miramax (Clerks: The Animated Series), Spyglass Media Group (Scream, Hulu’s Hellraiser), and James Vanderbilt’s Project X Entertainment (Ambulance, Scream 6). Variety confirmed the news.

Long has written dozens of episodes of The Simpsons, including “Treehouse of Horror X,” “Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade,” and “Lisa Goes Gaga.” Long has served as co-producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, and executive producer on seasons of The Simpsons since 1999, and as a consulting producer since 2009. 

Breathed is co-writing and executive producing the Bloom County series inspired by his comic strip. Per Fox, Bloom County centers on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and a penguin in briefs and fruit headwear living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayWayOver country. To wit, today’s America at a glance. 

Bento Box will serve as the animation studio on the project executive produced by Miramax, Spyglass, and Project X. Originating from Breathed’s The Academia Waltz strip in his student newspaper, “The Daily Texan,” Bloom County debuted as a nationally syndicated strip in 1980, appearing in 1,200 newspapers worldwide until its end in 1989. Breathed’s followups, Outland and Opus, have featured Bloom County characters; since 2015, the artist has posted new Bloom County strips on Facebook.

“At the end of Alien, we watched cuddly Sigourney Weaver go down for a long peaceful snooze in cryogenic hyper-sleep after getting chased around by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be wakened decades later into a world STUFFED with far worse,” Breathed said in a statement announcing the series. “FOX and I have done the identical thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us.”

“I was introduced to the brilliance of Berkeley Breathed and Bloom County as a teenager. His signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus,” added Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, of FOX Entertainment. “Today, Berkeley’s smart and hilarious take on American culture is more relevant than ever. And, together with Bento Box, we’re thrilled to bring his unique ensemble of characters and social commentary to broadcast television.”

Bloom County will join an animated FOX lineup that includes The Simpsons, Duncanville, and the upcoming Krapopolis and Grimsburg.