After that last entry about my cousin’s upcoming cartoon, I swung by Google to see if I could find any more info. Turns out an Adult Swim blog posted a show description last November, a year after I first heard about it, and months before the first teaser was posted online. It had yet another title back then, which probably happens all the time in TV development. I’ll quote the entire entry here, since some of the things I’ve linked to at Adult Swim’s site in the past have disappeared into the e-cyber-web ether . . .

November 29, 2005
God Bless, Mississippi.

Everyone is sick at Williams Street. Chip has a fever of 102 and is staying at home. Torrent was sick last week. I am lucky to be over at a local post house, where I can’t catch their germs and can focus in on putting some Behind The Scenes stuff together on Robot Chicken and Dethklok today.

But speaking of Behind the Scenes stuff, there is another new pilot headed your way from Adult Swim that sounds really funny and I am pretty excited about it.

It’s called “God Bless, Mississippi” and it was created by Williams Street staffers Nick Weidenfeld, Jacob Escobedo and a mysterious third figure. Over the last year or so, I have kind of seen this thing take shape from afar, but I thought I would ask Nick about it directly today.

Basically, the show is about a huge culture clash in modern Mississippi between the Old Gentile South and the New South. There is a family in God Bless, Miss. that is kind of trapped in the past. Nick described them as being like a racist Addam’s Family. This family has a false sense of entitlement because they used to be very rich and actually founded the city of God Bless.

They believe they live in the antebellum South, but it’s actually 2005 and they are smack in the center of the New South.

Adam Reed, from Sealab, voices two of the characters from the family: Beauxregard Beauregard Sr and his son, Beauxregard Beauregard XI (or Bobo for short).

Rap artist David Banner plays Virgil, the grandson of one of the Beauregard’s former slaves. He is Bobo’s foil in the show.

Niecy Nash, from Reno 911, also voices a character.

Nick says that “God Bless, Mississippi” was inspired by Faulkner’s tales from Yoknapatawpha (specifically “The Sound and the Fury”) and also David Banner’s first album, “Mississippi: the album.” Nick is recording the pilot right now and Jacob is drawing up some final character designs.

Jacob is the designer on a ton of Adult Swim stuff, but really, nothing he has done for Adult Swim can really prepare you for his personal style. His stuff has a really great look and it is pretty unique. I have been to two of Jake’s shows now and everyone walks around with their jaws just hanging open at the stuff he creates.

I am excited for this pilot, if for nothing else than to see Jacob’s drawings move.

Right now, “God Bless, Mississippi” is only a pilot, but if it goes well, it could get picked up for series. Hopefully, you will see the pilot on Adult Swim sometime in 2006.

Thanks for the update, Nick.

–Merrill

There was another brief mention by another blog contributor over there in March:

We also saw peeks of two shows that have been cleared for pilots: Korgoth of Barbaria and That Crook’d ‘Sip. There will be no complaining about the animation on Korgoth, that’s for sure. It’s on the full tip. I feel too biased to talk subjectively about That Crook’d ‘Sip, because I love the people involved so much. But suffice it to say that the world needs a show art directed by Jacob Escobedo. It looks terrific, so far. AND it’s got David Banner.

Just for the heck of it, I’ll also quote another entry I just now found. Apparently Jake looks like a rock star named Pete:

October 7, 2005
My Lunch With Pete the Rock Star
My boss offered to pay for me to take Nick Weidenfeld and Jacob Escobedo out to lunch to discuss some Internet-y things, which is awesome because I practically go to lunch with them every day. So because I had the little green corporate card, I wanted to go somplace nicer than usual. That place turned out to be One Midtown Kitchen, which is convenient to work and snazzier than the kind of thing we normally do (Jimmy John’s, Tacqueria Del Sol, Highlander).

Nick ate a pork chop. Jake ate shrimp and grits. I ate a burger. But near the end of our lunch, this guy approached our table with his hand extended to Jake. I first assumed it was somebody that Jake had worked with before and sort of watched the exchange in a daze. But here is roughly what the guy said: “Hi, Pete. My name is ____ and I’m a big fan of your music. I’m the owner of this building and wanted to stop by and make sure you were being taken care of. Everything OK so far?”

“Uh, everything’s great,” Jake stammered. Nick chimed in with “Fantastic.” The guy also shook my hand and asked if all was okay. “Yup!” I said.

And then he left. We wondered if the entire meal would be complimentary, since Jake was Pete, whose music had touched this guy’s life. But we couldn’t figure out who Pete is. Peter Yorn, maybe? But that’s so three years ago. Anyone know a musician named Pete that Jake looks like? This could be a whole new revenue stream for us.

By the way, the restaurant didn’t give us a complimentary anything. I guess the building owner is more “with it” than the restaurant staff, who has no idea who Jake isn’t.

–SwimBuddha

And last, but not least, a piece of art Jake auctioned for charity fetched $560. Cool.