Big Mouth (TV series)

Big Mouth is an American animated sitcom created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett featuring teens based on Kroll and Goldberg's upbringing in suburban New York, with Kroll voicing his fictional younger self.

The first season that consisted of ten episodes premiered on Netflix on September 29, 2017, and the second season was released on October 5, 2018. The third season was preceded by a Valentine's Day special episode on February 8, 2019, and the rest of the third season was released on October 4, 2019. In July 2019, Netflix renewed the series through to a sixth season.

Plot
The series follows a group of 7th graders, including best friends Nick Birch and Andrew Glouberman, as they navigate their way through puberty with struggles like masturbation and sexual arousal all in the suburbs of New York City. Acting as over-sexualized shoulder angels are the hormone monsters: Maurice (who pesters Andrew and occasionally Nick, and Matthew), Connie—the hormone monstress (who pesters Jessi and Nick and occasionally Missy) and Mona (who pesters Missy). Throughout the series, the kids interact with people and objects who are often personified and offer helpful, yet confusing, advice in their puberty-filled lives including the ghost of Duke Ellington, a French-accented Statue of Liberty, a pillow capable of getting pregnant, a bar of Adderall, and even Jessi's own vulva. They seek out their destiny as puberty destroys them mentally and physically.

Main

 * Nick Kroll as:
 * Nicholas Arsenio "Nick" Birch, an almost-adolescent boy living with loving and overprotective parents. He also has an older brother named Judd and an older sister named Leah. Throughout the series, Nick is increasingly insecure about his masculinity and overall development as it becomes evident that he's a late bloomer compared to his friends. Occasionally, he learns to appreciate his body and his emotions, with the help of his loved ones and a few other figures.
 * Maurice the Hormone Monster, also known as "Maury", full name Maurice Beverley, a raspy-voiced monster who follows Andrew around and is responsible for his brooding sexual desires, which frequently occur at inappropriate moments. He is revealed to hail from an alternate dimension where several different creatures, such as himself, represent and manage the stages of human life. He is shown to be able to interact with other boys, such as Nick and Jay. He is also Matthew's hormone monster.
 * Coach Steve Steve, the shrill-voiced middle school gym class teacher who is incompetent and overly talkative, often trying to get his colleagues—or even the students—to hang out (often to no avail). He is extremely childlike. It is revealed in season 2 that he is a virgin, though he ultimately loses his virginity to Jay's mom, with whom he has a one-night stand after she sexually approaches him. He is the only character unaffected by The Shame Wizard because he is incapable of experiencing shame. In season 3, he has a different job every time he appears until in the episode "Disclosure the Movie: The Musical!" he gets his job back as being a gym coach.
 * Rick the Hormone Monster, an old, dysfunctional yet enthusiastic hormone monster who follows Coach Steve and later Nick. He soon retires, however, after Steve loses his virginity, handing his position as Nick's hormone monster to Tyler.
 * Lola Ugfuglio Skumpy, an ill-tempered popular girl who is terrified of losing her social status and the approval of her best friend Devin.
 * Kroll also voices Mila and Lotte Janssen, the Statue of Liberty, a profane ladybug, Joe Walsh, the ghosts of Picasso and Richard Burton, Sylvester Stallone, a webcam girl, Gina's Abuela, Bad Mitten and Rabbi Poblart.
 * John Mulaney as Andrew Glouberman, a young boy and Nick's best friend who spends much of his time furtively masturbating. He is Jewish.
 * Mulaney also voices Mint, Grandpa Andrew, Babe the Blue Ox and Detective Florez.
 * Jessi Klein as Jessi Glaser, a sarcastic and smart girl. Her father, Greg, is an unemployed stoner and her mother, Shannon, is secretly dating another woman. She gets her period for the first time on a school trip to the Statue of Liberty. Though Jessi has kissed Nick before, specifically in the first episode "Ejaculation", she later has many French kissing make-out sessions with Jay. Like Andrew, she is Jewish, as she has a Bat Mitzvah in "I Survived Jessi's Bat Mitzvah".
 * Klein also voices Jessi's possible ancestor, Margaret Daniels, in "Duke".
 * Jason Mantzoukas as Jay Bilzerian, a brash Armenian American boy who is obsessed with magic and sex. He has sex with a pillow that he made into a sex toy. His mom allows Coach Steve to have a one-night stand with her in Season 2. He has two older brothers, Kurt and Val, who frequently bully him. His dad is a divorce lawyer. Jay is obsessed with Nick's mother and father and wishes for a loving family. In season 2, Jay starts a potential relationship with Matthew, an openly gay boy in school. After the two kiss, Jay questions his sexual orientation. During season 3, Jay continues to question his sexual orientation but comes to the conclusion he is bisexual.
 * Mantzoukas also voices Guy Bilzerian, Jay's dad, and the ghost of Socrates.
 * Jenny Slate (seasons 1-4) as Missy Foreman-Greenwald, a nerdy and kind girl.
 * Slate also voices Taffiny, a pharmacist, a Planned Parenthood nurse, Ms. Razz and The Implant.
 * Fred Armisen as Elliot Birch, Nick's loving father, who frequently shares inappropriate stories.
 * Armisen also voices the ghost of Antonin Scalia, a bus driver, Stavros and Bob the Hormone Monster.
 * Maya Rudolph as:
 * Connie the Hormone Monstress, who initially follows Jessi (and sometimes Missy) around and encourages them to embrace their wildest desires. By the end of the second season, she becomes Nick's hormone monster, despite him being a boy, which works well with them both.
 * Diane Birch, Nick's loving mother.
 * Rudolph also voices a bath mat, the ghosts of Elizabeth Taylor and Whitney Houston, Principal Barren, and Miss Clinkscales, Ellington's piano teacher.
 * Jordan Peele as the Ghost of Duke Ellington, the late jazz musician whose spirit now lives in Nick's attic and sometimes offers him advice.
 * Featuring Ludacris, Jay's pitbull, who suffers from a rare medical condition that causes him to become cripplingly self-conscious.
 * Peele also voices the ghosts of Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, and Prince, Atlanta Claus, a DJ, Missy's father Cyrus, and Patrick Ewing.

Recurring

 * Andrew Rannells as Matthew MacDell, a flamboyantly gay student with a love of drama and spreading gossip.
 * Paula Pell as Barbara Glouberman, Andrew's mother and Marty's wife.
 * Richard Kind as Marty Glouberman, Andrew's grumpy and stereotypically Jewish father, Barbara's husband and lover of scallops.
 * Seth Morris as Greg Glaser, the perpetually stoned father of Jessi Glaser and the husband of Shannon Glaser.
 * Jessica Chaffin as Shannon Glaser, the mother of Jessi Glaser and the unfaithful wife of Greg Glaser.
 * June Diane Raphael as Devin, a popular student at school.
 * Jak Knight as DeVon, the boyfriend of Devin and another popular student, who may or may not be older than he looks.
 * Gina Rodriguez (season 2–onward) as Gina Alvarez, a very physically developed Paraguayan girl on Missy and Jessi's soccer team whose sudden pubertal development causes a stir at school.
 * Neil Casey as Lars, a student in a wheelchair.
 * Casey also voices Detective Dumont.
 * Joe Wengert as Caleb, a student, implied to be on the autism spectrum.
 * Wengert also voices a priest and Stan the Hormone Monster.
 * Jon Daly as Judd Birch, the dark yet caring older brother of Nick and Leah Birch, and the son of Diane and Elliot Birch.
 * Kat Dennings as Leah Birch, the older sister of Nick Birch and younger sister of Judd Birch.
 * Chelsea Peretti as Monica Foreman-Greenwald, Missy's mother and Cyrus' wife.
 * Peretti also voices Cellsea, Nick's sentient cell phone that he received from Leah, and "The Pill"
 * Heather Lawless as Jenna "Jay's Mom" Bilzerian, Jay's mother.
 * Mark Duplass as Val Bilzerian, an older, bullying brother to Jay Bilzerian.
 * Duplass also voices a clerk.
 * Paul Scheer as Kurt Bilzerian, another older, bullying brother to Jay Bilzerian.
 * Nathan Fillion as himself, Missy's celebrity crush.
 * Rob Huebel as Mr. Terry Lizer, a teacher at the school.
 * David Thewlis as Shame Wizard, the Hormone Monsters' mortal enemy who haunts the kids, stoking their deepest shame.
 * John Gemberling as Tyler the Hormone Monster, Nick's immature hormone monster.
 * Gemberling also voices a security guard.
 * Gil Ozeri as Wiggles, Missy's stuffed toy.
 * Ozeri also voices Brad, a couch cushion.
 * Kristen Bell as Pam, a pillow Jay has a sexual relationship with. Bell also voices an uninterested girl.
 * Jack McBrayer as Nick's pubic hair #1
 * Craig Robinson as Nick's pubic hair #2
 * Rosa Salazar as Miss Benitez, a seventh grade teacher.
 * Michaela Watkins as Cantor Dina Reznick, Shannon Glaser's love interest.
 * Zach Woods as Daniel, a boy Leah is interested in.
 * Woods also voices a sock.
 * Natasha Lyonne as Suzette, a motel pillow.
 * Kristen Wiig as Jessi's genitals.
 * Andy Daly as Dr. Wendy Engle, Nick's doctor.
 * Daly also voices a motel pillow and the ghost of Harry Houdini.
 * Jean Smart as the Depression Kitty, a cat employed in the Department of Puberty.
 * Zachary Quinto as Aiden, a gay boy that Matthew meets in "My Furry Valentine."
 * Ali Wong (season 3–onward) as Ali, a pansexual new student at Bridgeton Middle School.
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Gustavo, the male character in the book The Rock of Gibraltar.
 * Gary Cole as Edward MacDell, a U.S. Navy veteran who does not know his son is gay.
 * Julie White as Kimberly MacDell, Matthew's mother.
 * Julie Klausner as Cherry Marashina, formerly Cheryl Glouberman, Andrew's attractive cousin in Florida.
 * Emily Altman as Vicky, Cherry's delinquent friend.
 * Thandie Newton as Mona, Missy's new hormone monstress.

Guest

 * Nasim Pedrad as Fatima, the female character in the book The Rock of Gibraltar.
 * Alia Shawkat as Roland, a friend of Nick Birch's who lives in Manhattan, New York.
 * Mae Whitman as Tallulah Levine, a friend of Leah's who takes a liking to Nick.
 * Jon Hamm as Scallops
 * Harvey Fierstein as an unnamed older gay man who lives at Guy Town.
 * Bobby Cannavale as Gavin, the Hormone Monster.
 * Martin Short as Gordie, the main character of the Canadian Netflix hit, Gordie's Journey.
 * Carol Kane as Menopause Banshee.
 * Judd Hirsch as Lewis Glouberman, Andrew's grandfather.
 * David Cross as Skip Glouberman, Marty's brother and Andrew's uncle.
 * Wanda Sykes as the ghost of Harriet Tubman.
 * Rob Riggle as Col. Adderall, the personification of the ADHD medication.
 * Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye as themselves, sent to makeover Coach Steve.
 * Retta as Duke Ellington's Mother.

Production
TV writer Andrew Goldberg and screenwriter-directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin approached Nick Kroll, Goldberg's best friend since childhood, with the idea to develop a show about going through puberty. Kroll and Goldberg used their divergent pubertal experiences as a centerpiece of the show, because Kroll was a late bloomer while Goldberg went through the physical changes of puberty very early. Many of their lived experiences are featured in the show, such as Kroll's first kiss, and Goldberg's parents waxing his mustache. The show also includes an experience of their childhood friend, Lizzie, who the character of Jessi is based on, getting her first period on a school trip to the Statue of Liberty. According to Kroll in an interview on NPR, Big Mouth "takes an equal look at what it's like for girls and women, the process of going through puberty, which I think has not been quite as explored in most popular culture." Netflix announced they had picked up Big Mouth in June 2016.

In July 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth, fifth and sixth season.

On June 24, 2020, it was announced that Jenny Slate would no longer be voicing Missy Foreman-Greenwald due to the recast being in favor of an African-American actress in the wake of the George Floyd protests. Slate's final time voicing Missy will be in the fourth season as she recorded her lines in advance.

Music
The first soundtrack album of songs from the TV series was released alongside season three on October 4, 2019.

All songs written by Mark Rivers except where indicated.

Release
The first season consisting of ten episodes premiered on Netflix on September 29, 2017. On October 24, 2017, it was confirmed that a second season had been ordered, which was released on October 5, 2018. On November 17, 2018, Netflix announced that Big Mouth had been renewed for a third season. The third season was preceded by a Valentine's Day special episode on February 8, 2019. On July 26, 2019, Netflix renewed the series through to a sixth season. On August 21, 2019, it was reported that the third season was set to be released on October 4, 2019.

Critical response
Big Mouth has received critical acclaim since its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 has an approval rating of 100% based on 22 reviews, with the critical consensus reading, "Big Mouth's simplistic animation and scatological humor belie its finely sketched characters and smart, empathetic approach to the messiness of adolescence." At Metacritic, the show holds a rating of 80 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes Season 2 has an approval rating of 100% based on 30 reviews, with the critical consensus reading "Poignantly repulsive, Big Mouth continues to confront the awkwardness of adolescence with foul-mouthed glee and an added layer of maturity." At Metacritic season 2 has a score of 90 out of 100 for the second season, based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Season 3 has received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gave Season 3 a rating of 100% based on 30 reviews, with the critical consensus reading "Like the characters at its center, Big Mouth's third season continues to grow, taking on complicated new issues with the same gross-but-utterly-empathetic eye that made it so lovable in the first place."

Vox described the show as sharp and jarring depicting the awkwardness of pubescence, post-pubescence and pre-pubescence. Erik Adams from The A.V. Club awarded the second season an 'A-'. Adams praised the cast, especially Thewlis, and the experimentation of this season, commenting that "it's shown that it deserves to be included in any conversation about TV's animated greats."

Spin-off
On October 3, 2019, Netflix announced a straight-to-series order for a spin-off series titled Human Resources, set within the show's universe.