Let’s face it—life is difficult as an adult. There are bills to pay, crappy bosses in the workplace, plus taxes, school functions for kids, being snubbed by younger people, etc. In his latest animated series, Regular Show’s J.G. Quintel adds being forced to room with strange people in order to afford a good home and school district, becoming friends with a dog/human crossbreed who’s addicted to 1990s Jim Carrey movies, and getting sucked into an open house sitcom in a parallel dimension to the challenges of adulting.
Following in tune with Regular Show, which ran for seven years on Cartoon Network and focused on immature twenty-somethings Mordecai (a Blue Jay) and Rigby (a racoon) working as groundskeepers for a park, Close Enough—which was originally developed for TBS in 2017 and picked up by the new HBO Max streaming service—could almost be an imagining of Mordecai and Rigby in the time since the park, albeit if they were human. Quintel now voices Josh, a former video game programmer who, with his wife Emily (voiced by Gabrielle Walsh), struggle to raise their 5-year old daughter, Candice. In order to afford living in a decent school district, they live with divorced couple Alex (Jason Mantzoukas) and Bridgette (Kimiko Glenn).
Although the show focuses on the struggles of adulting, Quintel doesn’t forget his characters’ roots. Each 11-minute episode enters a different fantastical world, be it a magical time-slowing hat from a mystical snail that helps teach Emily the importance of time management with her family or a video game that comes to life and takes over Josh’s mind. Combined with a brilliant score composed in part by Northeast Ohio’s own Mark Mothersbaugh, it is quite easy to get drawn into the action and embrace the craziness as if it were part of our own daily lives.
For fans of Regular Show, Close Enough will be a fresh take on a familiar story. While the show may not be perfect for all audiences, the many 90s culture references will appeal to millennials and Gen Z, who may be easily hooked by the first episode. One downside is that the series is exclusive to HBO Max, which runs $14.99 per month. Thankfully, the platform has a 7-day trial, during which the series can easily be binged.
Close Enough is available on HBO Max. For more information, visit https://www.hbomax.com.
