Bloom County TV Series In The Works From Fox

By Russ Burlingame

Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County is coming to TV, with a new series planned for Fox. The series, which ran throughout the 1980s, blended absurdist humor with pop culture jokes and sharp criticism of the Reagan administration and the right-wing culture movements that were flourishing around that time. The new series will reportedly draw inspiration from that, commenting on modern culture through the unique lens of Bloom County's off-the-wall characters in their middle-American small town. The series returned in 2015, picking up more or less exactly where it left off. Like The Simpsons, almost three decades of time passing did little to change the appearances or personalities of the characters.

It sounds like the buffoonish lawyer Steve Dallas will be a Homer Simpson-style lead for the series, along with Bill the Cat and Opus the Penguin. So, prepare yourselves for the first official Bill the Cat merch in years.

 "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. "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," said Michael Thorn, president of Fox Entertainment. "His signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus. 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."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Breathed will co-write and executive produce the project, which is being produced by Fox Entertainment, Bento Box Entertainment, Miramax, Spyglass Media Group and Project X Entertainment.

The strip, a blend of political, pop cultural and childlike humor, featured a number of characters including the penguin Opus, who became its icon even had a spinoff strip. While 2015 marked the first time in years that Bloom County had officially returned, Breathed has never completely left behind iconic characters from the world of the strip, particularly Opus the Penguin who has had spinoff strips, a long-form illustrated Christmas story and more over the years.  

The original strip ran from 1980 until 1989, and was followed up by the spinoff strips Outland (1989-1995) and Opus (2003-2008). During that time, Breathed also provided art for the movie Secondhand Lions. You can follow new installments of Bloom County on Breathed's Facebook and Instagram pages, and classic strips on the Bloom County landing page at GoComics.

You can check out the TV project's synopsis below.

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.  

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