The Paramount+ adult animated comedy The Harper House has reached the conclusion of its first season, and ComicBook.com has an exclusive clip from the finale. The description of Episode 10, titled “Bad Help,” reads: “Concerned about looking like a bad ally, Freddie attempts to hide his racist family history from their friends and neighbors and Todd gets some hollow help from Ollie with his school project.” In ComicBook.com’s exclusive clip, Freddie is approached by his Black neighbors as he surveys some roof damage to their Victorian fixer-upper. Whatever is under the roof tarp, Freddie doesn’t want his Black neighbors discovering what it is as he fumbles over his words.
The Harper House is created by Brad Neely (South Park) and features the voice cast of Rhea Seehorn, Jason Lee, Tatiana Maslany, Ryan Flynn, Gabourey Sidibe, Gary Anthony Williams, Nyima Funk, VyVy Nguyen, and Lance Krall.
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Neely talked with Bubble Blabber back in September on what it was like to create his own take on a “traditional” family comedy, stating:
“Yeah, it was exciting. I kind of stumbled into making television and animated cartoons. It wasn’t a dream of mine, so this has always been a bit of “Let’s try this! And let’s try this!” In the back of my head there’s always South Park and The Simpsons as my Michael Jordan and LeBron James. I’ve always aspired to do it like they did and continue to do. So I feel like I’m working in both of those arenas. Early on I decided that this show would not have a meta aspect. I don’t want anyone thinking about me when they’re watching this. I want them to be immersed in the storytelling.”
He also discussed how The Harper House gives its female characters, notably Debbie, more of a spotlight when compared to other animated shows.
“Well, to be honest and realistic on the matter: it felt like uncharted territory for me,” Neely said. “There have just been so many stories told about the bumbling dad so I thought—and while it’s not a revolutionary idea or doing anything new—but why don’t we make that agent of chaos be the female. Let’s let the mom be the fuck up, and over-drink, and drive her car through her kids’ school. It just kind of felt like it’d be fun to see that for a change. That was part of it, but also when I first came out to Los Angeles to do television, some of my first ideas were just female leads or female versions of Homer that never went anywhere. It was before Bridesmaids and some of the other vehicles that had females upfront doing raunchy stuff, but here we are.”
The synopsis for Season 1 of The Harper House can be found below.
The Harper House, an all-new Paramount+ Original animated comedy, follows an overconfident female head of a household as she struggles to regain a higher status for herself and for her family of misfits after losing her job and moving from the rich side to the poor side of an Arkansas small town. To save money, they’ve moved into their inherited Victorian fixer-upper, the historic Harper House.
“Bad Help,” the Season 1 finale of The Harper House, airs November 4th on Paramount+
