“WE ARE one year into my presidency, and it’s time to finally admit that I am absolutely crushing it.”
So proclaims animated President Trump to open the premiere of “Our Cartoon President,” Showtime’s half-hour comedy, created by Stephen Colbert and his “Late Show” executive producer Chris Licht, that kicks off a 10-episode run Sunday.
The “satirical view of the president, his family and his inner circle when the cameras are off,” as Licht describes it, was born out of the writers thinking about documentary-like access: What if a camera crew were invited to follow Team Trump to both wings of the White House, recording oddball moments even more faithfully than Michael Wolff did?
The striking result is that although lines like Trump’s “crushing it” are meant as satire, this cartoon president shows some warmth. Trump might be the butt of venomous barbs five nights a week on “The Late Show,” but for the sake of a narrative …show more content…
President Trump listens to his sons in “Our Cartoon President.” (Showtime)
One reason for the character’s warmth is the voice behind him. Jeff Bergman — who has voiced Homer and Fred Flintstone on “Family Guy” — provides a lived-in delivery that does not steer into over-the-top, Alec Baldwin-like parody.
[‘The Simpsons’ predicted a Trump presidency 16 years ago. The writer explains why.]
“R.J. really drove that train,” Licht says of R.J. Fried, his fellow “Cartoon President” executive producer, as well as showrunner. “It was a big discussion actually, but at the end of the day, he actually sounds like Trump and not a caricature of Trump.
“When you have the cartoon, you don’t necessarily need the voice to be the main source of the satire, and you’d get sick of [a caricature] over 10 episodes,” continues Licht. “So his voice, to my mind, is
So proclaims animated President Trump to open the premiere of “Our Cartoon President,” Showtime’s half-hour comedy, created by Stephen Colbert and his “Late Show” executive producer Chris Licht, that kicks off a 10-episode run Sunday.
The “satirical view of the president, his family and his inner circle when the cameras are off,” as Licht describes it, was born out of the writers thinking about documentary-like access: What if a camera crew were invited to follow Team Trump to both wings of the White House, recording oddball moments even more faithfully than Michael Wolff did?
The striking result is that although lines like Trump’s “crushing it” are meant as satire, this cartoon president shows some warmth. Trump might be the butt of venomous barbs five nights a week on “The Late Show,” but for the sake of a narrative …show more content…
President Trump listens to his sons in “Our Cartoon President.” (Showtime)
One reason for the character’s warmth is the voice behind him. Jeff Bergman — who has voiced Homer and Fred Flintstone on “Family Guy” — provides a lived-in delivery that does not steer into over-the-top, Alec Baldwin-like parody.
[‘The Simpsons’ predicted a Trump presidency 16 years ago. The writer explains why.]
“R.J. really drove that train,” Licht says of R.J. Fried, his fellow “Cartoon President” executive producer, as well as showrunner. “It was a big discussion actually, but at the end of the day, he actually sounds like Trump and not a caricature of Trump.
“When you have the cartoon, you don’t necessarily need the voice to be the main source of the satire, and you’d get sick of [a caricature] over 10 episodes,” continues Licht. “So his voice, to my mind, is