Big Mouth (2017-Present)

Since getting the cast recording from Falsettos, I’ve been on something of an Andrew Rannells kick.  I’d already seen banners for this show on Netflix and been intrigued, but when I saw it on Rannells’s filmography, that clinched it for me.  Very glad I watched it and especially glad that it’s already been renewed for a second season – this one’s a keeper!

Best friends Nick and Andrew, along with a number of their classmates, are navigating the treacherous waters of middle school.  Andrew’s already gotten to know the Hormone Monster, a lusty walking id who bugs him at the worst times, while Nick, who isn’t developing quite as fast, is feeling a little left behind.  The kids try to figure out friendships, more-than-friendships, and changing family dynamics in the midst of new urges and growing bodies, all the while trying to avoid humiliating themselves in front of their peers.

First up, let it be known that this show holds almost nothing back.  Like middle school itself, it’s very “all or nothing,” and that includes the language and sexual content (masturbation, comparing bodies, etc.)  It’s a show that could really only exist in animated form with adults voicing all the young characters because, even though it’s unflinchingly real for that age group, I don’t see how it could be legal if these scenes were played by actual 12- and 13-year-olds in live-action.

But we’re fortunate that they did find a format in which the show could work, because it’s pretty amazing.  It’s so authentic for the messiness, cringing, and overwhelming emotion of that time period, and it covers a lot:  sexual curiosity/confusion, young relationships, weird fantasies, first periods, middle school cliques, and evolving friendships, just to name a few.  The characters are by turns super funny, really frustrating, and achingly relatable, and the incredibly-irreverent humor is peppered with fun callbacks and awesomely-bizarre non-sequitirs.

Even though Nick and Andrew are the main characters, I like that we also get to see plenty of what the girls are going through at this age.  What’s more, while the specifics of their situations are often different, the show highlights the ways that the feelings and insecurities for both the boys and the girls are frequently the same.  Case in point:  Andrew and Jessi both have Hormone Monsters, and although Andrew’s most often deals with his horniness and Jessi’s with her mood swings, there are instances where the impulses are flipped for both.  Andrew’s Monster sometimes makes him fly off the handle, just as Jessi’s sometimes makes her tingle.

Nick and Andrew are excellently voiced by Nick Kroll (also one of the show’s creators) and John Mulaney, and a fine assortment of comedians round out the kids, including Jessi Klein, Missy Slate, and Jay Mantzoukas (along with the aforementioned Andrew Rannells in a smaller role.)  The cast also features Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Richard Kind, and Paula Pell as assorted parents, plus Jordan Peele as the ghost of Duke Ellington (just go with it.)  Not to mention, Kroll and Rudolph both deserve extra credit for also voicing the Hormone Monsters to profane perfection.

Warnings

Lots of sexual content, language, gross-out humor, a little drinking, and thematic elements, all involving (animated) tweens (voiced by adults.)