Outrageous cartoon Lil’ Bush Makes a successful leap from Amp’d Mobile to YouTube to Comedy Central and the question is, will approval ratings for Lil’ George Bush continue to climb this week?
The first real surprise of this already crowded summer television season was the success last week of Comedy Central’s new animated property Lil’ Bush. It turned out to be the network’s highest rated series launch in three years and was second only to The Sarah Silverman Program in the eighteen to forty-nine demographic. I’m guessing the primary strength of Lil’ Bush was in the lower end of that demo, because it was also the most watched program on all of television among men eighteen to twenty-four during primetime on Wednesday.
I mean, healthy ratings for TNT’s The Closer (it’s best ever), ABC Family’s Kyle XY and USA Network’s The 4400 and The Dead Zone were to be expected, as these are all fine shows with very loyal audiences. The success of USA’s limited series Starter Wife and Lifetime’s new Army Wives also comes as no surprise, given the effectiveness with which these well-produced shows were marketed to female viewers. But Lil’ Bush is a cheap, crudely animated, frequently offensive little show that has been tucked away behind South Park reruns on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET—and it’s looking like a contender for the summer hit list.
Lil’ Bush actually began life as a series of mobisodes from Amp’d Mobile and has the distinction of being the first series to move from mobile platform to television. (The original cartoons can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere.) In addition to the title tyke, the other primary characters in the show are Lil’ Condi, Lil’ Rummy and Lil’ Cheney, all children with the look (and, some will say, the mannerisms) of their real-life adult selves. A grown-up George H.W. Bush is also on hand (as the current president on the show) along with First Lady Barbara Bush, Lil’ Jeb Bush (presented here as a total dimwit), Lil’ Bill Clinton, Lil’ Hillary Clinton and other characters based on familiar political leaders.
.gif){kind=icon}
