Dan Vs.

Dan Vs.
Genre	Black Comedy
Created by	Dan Mandel Chris Pearson
Voices of	Curtis Armstrong Dave Foley Paget Brewster
Composer	Patrick Griffin
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	40 (35 aired) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Dan Mandel Chris Pearson Dan Angel Jay Fukuto (Season 1) Dana Booton (Season 2-present)
Producer	Lizbeth Velasco
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Film Roman The Hatchery
Original release
Network	The Hub
Release	January 1, 2011 (2011-01-01) – present

Dan Vs. is an American Flash animated television series created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson. The series premiered on January 1, 2011 on The Hub. Dan Vs. ended its first season on July 9, 2011. The series's second season began on November 19th and will continue through the 2011–2012 lineup. The series is rated TV-PG. Dan Vs. has been renewed for a third season.

Plot

The show is about a man named Dan who thinks the world is against him. He has a put-upon friend named Chris who can't help but go along with Dan's wild plots to get even with whomever or whatever is (or he thinks is) out to get him. There is another regular character, Elise, Chris' wife, who has some secrets and plots of her own. The show is set primarily in the Los Angeles, CA, area, and background scenes often show notable landmarks in and around Los Angeles. In one scene Chris' driver's license is shown, with an address in Van Nuys, CA. In another episode, he is shown wearing a T-shirt promoting the Van Nuys Owls. Dan and Chris are named after the show's creators.

Production

Series creators Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson conceived the personalities of the main characters Dan and Chris by loosely basing them on their own negative qualities. Mandel's original idea was for the show to be a live-action sitcom, but new possibilities opened up once they started development for an animated series. Pearson once stated that he thought of the Dan character as "Calvin [from Calvin and Hobbes] as a grownup, if his life had gone horribly wrong somewhere."

The design of characters was handled by a team of artists led by supervising director Matt Danner with involvement from Mandel and Pearson. The vocal cast was selected through an audition first consisting of pre-recorded voiceovers, followed by several rounds of callbacks. Curtis Armstrong really stood out to the creators as the voice of Dan from the beginning of the process. The idea to have Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross portray Elise's parents Elise Sr. and Don came from executive producer Jay Fukuto, who had worked with them during their time together on Family Ties. Co-creator, Dan Mandel himself does many voices in the series.

Characters

Main characters

• Dan (voiced by Curtis Armstrong) – Dan is a very hostile and short-tempered man with a mission to get revenge on anyone and anything he deems has wronged him. He always calls his best friend Chris whenever he is plotting or enacting revenge. He has said that he has been thrown out of libraries and jailed on multiple occasions. Dan has said to have been tear-gassed so many times that he no longer feels any effects from it, and he has also been maced enough times to claim that it is "tangier" than tear-gas. His everyday outfit consists of blue jeans, black shoes, and a black T-shirt that says "JERK" in white letters. He has black hair, green eyes, a soul patch, and round yet sharp teeth. He is described by Elise as "dangerously-unstable". Dan is lactose intolerant. He seems to really like his car, despite its state of disrepair; several of his "revenge missions" were instigated by people damaging or tampering with it. He also is very fond of his female cat, Mr. Mumbles, and cannot remain angry at her for very long. At the end of every episode's prologue, he always raises his fists in the air in rage and shouts out the name of whatever he is about to go up against and add the word(s) to the episodes' titles. Dan is unemployed and lives in a dilapidated apartment in North Hollywood, CA

• Chris (voiced by Dave Foley) – Dan's best friend and Elise's husband. Despite how much Dan torments him, he is almost always on call whenever Dan needs help with one of his revenge schemes. He has a nearly uncontrollable appetite and has food on his mind most of the time. He has been shown to constantly fall asleep, even at the wheel of his car. His regular outfit consists of a blue t-shirt, an orange over-shirt, drab cargo pants, and white socks with brown flip-flops. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. He is also a notoriously bad driver, as it is mentioned by both him and Dan that he is constantly running over bicyclists. Chris is one-sixteenth Canadian. Chris works as a temporary employee, and is seen working at a call center in one episode. He lives with Elise in a single story suburban house in Van Nuys, CA.

• Elise (voiced by Paget Brewster) – Chris's level-headed kind-hearted wife. Usually calm and easy-going, she only becomes stressed (or "psuchotic" as described by Dan) when her parents are around. She is shown to be constantly annoyed with Dan's antics with revenge, though she rarely tries to stop her husband whenever he goes off to help Dan. She will occasionally help Dan herself if she believes it to be necessary or advantageous. Elise normally wears a white T-shirt with red trim, blue hip huggers, and red sneakers. Her hair is reddish-brown and her eyes are purple. She exhibits superb skills in martial arts (especially ninjutsu) and acute technical ability, but has a strong phobia of magicians from a traumatic experience in her childhood. Elise lived in Japan when she was 14 years old, where she ran afoul of a ninja clan. She has a brother named Ben. Elise's mother also has the first name "Elise", so the elder Elise refers to the younger as "Elise Jr." or simply "Junior", which annoys her very much when someone calls her that. Elise works as a covert agent for an unnamed (but presumably American) government agency, and is sometimes seen wearing tactical gear or a black "ninja suit" with a red scarf in combat scenarios. Her codename is "Dancing Shadow".

Supporting characters

• Don (voiced by Michael Gross) – Elise's father. Does not like Chris and runs a chain of cupcake shops.

• Elise Sr. (voiced by Meredith Baxter) – Elise's mother, who likes Chris more than Don does. She works for an unspecified Mafia family, a fact none of the other characters are aware of.

• Mr. Mumbles (voiced by Paget Brewster) – Dan's cat that he rescued from while having his revenge on an animal shelter. He later learned that Mr. Mumbles is a female while facing art, though he still calls her "Mr". Dan appears to be able to understand her meows and engage in meaningful conversation with her. Dan seemed to have trained her numbered escape plans. Unlike her owner, she appears to be a sweet, albeit easily startled cat.

• Hortence (voiced by Grey DeLisle) – An employee of the Burgerphile restaurant who falls for Dan after he begins a protest against the restaurant because they gave him the wrong order. The two briefly date during Dan's protest but break up by the end of the episode when she gets promoted to regional manager in another district and Dan refuses to make her "give up on her dream". She is the only person whom Dan ever treats kindly during the show's entire duration.

• Crunchy (voiced by Tom Kenny) – A recurring character that is often seen running shops and stores. He seems to have a laid-back personality.

Episodes

Main article: List of Dan Vs. episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (U.S. dates)		DVD and Blu-ray release date
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	22	January 1, 2011	July 9, 2011	July 17, 2012	—	—
	2	18	November 19, 2011	TBA	—	—	—

Principal voice actors

• Curtis Armstrong – Dan
• Dave Foley – Chris
• Paget Brewster – Elise, Mr. Mumbles, Madame Zelda (ep. 12)

Additional voices

The following have done guest and/or recurring voices in this show:

• Carlos Alazraqui - Balloonist Cult Member (ep. 1), Surfer #2 (ep. 11), Lifeguard (ep. 11), Maurice (ep. 17), Magnifico the Magnificent (ep. 21)
• Matt Angel - Burgerphile Employee (ep. 31)
• René Auberjonois - Chef Purée (ep. 17)
• Eric Bauza - Paramedic (ep. 2, 5), Ninja Dave (ep. 4), Clark (ep. 14), Ben (ep. 23)
• Meredith Baxter - Elise Sr.
• Jeff Bennett - Librarian (ep. 1), Paramedic (ep. 2, 5), Jiro Kushugi (ep. 4), Actor (ep. 8), George Washington (ep. 12), Security Guard (ep. 12), Bernard (ep. 17), Judge (ep. 18), Police Officer (ep. 18), Jeff (ep. 20), Mr. Bambridge (ep. 29), Prescott Richman IV (ep. 29), Buddy Starr (ep. 36), Tony Minestrone (ep. 36)
• Grey DeLisle - Supermodel (ep. 2), Child #1 (ep. 2), Child #2 (ep. 2), Assistant Dentist (ep. 3), Child (ep. 3), Toddler (ep. 3), Self-Destruct Sequence (ep. 3), Woman (ep. 4), 911 Operator (ep. 4), Nurse #1 (ep. 5), Hortence (ep. 5, 31), Nurse #2 (ep. 5), Son (ep. 6), Mother (ep. 6), Shakespeare Dinner Theatre Owners (ep. 8), Female Salvation Armed Forces Employee (ep. 10), Ilsa (ep. 13), Kid (ep. 15), Delores (ep. 22), Moose (ep. 22), Darla (ep. 24)
• Matt Danner -
• Julianna David - Neighbor Girl (ep. 28)
• John DiMaggio - Police Officer (ep. 2, 20, 25), Security Guard (ep. 9), Male Salvation Armed Forces Employee (ep. 10), Barber (ep. 14), Chad (ep. 30)
• Patrick Falvey - Cop (ep. 1)
• Judy Greer - Jennifer (ep. 25)
• Michael Gross - Don
• Mark Hamill - Dr. Pullem (ep. 3), Mall Santa (ep. 24)
• David Kaye - Canadian Announcer (ep. 6)
• Tom Kenny - Crunchy (ep. 5, 10, 20, 26, 30, 34), Ranger (ep. 19), Field Reporter (ep. 34), Gullet Bowl Host (ep. 34), Jack (ep. 36)
• Bill Kopp - Baseball Manager (ep. 9)
• Dwight Kuhlman - Pet Store Owner (ep. 29)
• Maurice LaMarche - Dock Worker (ep. 33), Mel Darwin (ep. 33), Governor of California (ep. 34), Reporter (ep. 34)
• Dan Mandel - Balloon Cult Member (ep. 1), Skip (ep. 6), Vice Commissioner (ep. 9), Confused-Looking Enemy (ep. 9), Hot Dog Vendor (ep. 9), Baseball Player (ep. 9), Goodwill Guy (ep. 10), Spy Boss (ep. 13, 24, 27, 33), Random Artist (ep. 15), Mime (ep. 15), Cop (ep. 16, 19, 22), Sous Chef Guard #2 (ep. 17), Bathroom Attendant (ep. 17), Talking Sandwich (ep. 17), Police Officer (ep. 19), Magic Goon (ep. 21), Random Magician (ep. 21), Jason (ep. 25)
• Kevin McDonald - Barry Ditmer (ep. 13)
• John C. McGinley - Fake Dan (ep. 18, 35)
• Daran Norris - Colby (ep. 19)
• Kevin Michael Richardson - Surfer #1 (ep. 11), News Anchor (ep. 11), Jeremiah Burger (ep. 20, 31), Police Officer (ep. 20, 27), Reporter (ep. 20), Baru (ep. 27), Skywriting Pilot (ep. 31)
• Tara Strong - Timmy (ep. 22), Bank Manager (ep. 27)
• Cree Summer - Becky (ep. 14), Woman with Baby (ep. 14), Actress (ep. 36), Kelly (ep. 36)
• Fred Tatasciore - Hippie Captain (ep. 11)
• Harland Williams - Hiram (ep. 1)
• Henry Winkler - Hal (Ep. 7)

Crew

• Dan Angel – Executive Producer for The Hatchery
• Stephanie Arnett – Director
• Kirill Baru – Writer
• Chris Battle – Character Design
• Ruben Chavez – Background Painter
• Rich Chidlaw – Storyboard
• Matt Danner – Supervising Producer, Supervising Director
• David Mucci Fasset – Character Design
• Jay Fukuto – Executive Producer for Film Roman
• Peter Gomez – Character Design
• Patrick Griffin – Composer
• Dawn Hershey – Original Casting Director
• Joe Horne – Storyboard
• John Hoyos – Production Manager
• Jerry De Jesus – Background Painter
• Ernie Keene – Storyboard revisionist
• Esther Kim – Color Styling
• Bill Kopp – Director
• Dave Kupczyk – Character designer
• Bruce Largent – Prop Design
• Ashley Lenz – Storyboard
• Marina Levakova – Background Design
• Jairo Lizarazu – Background Design
• Rob Long – Consultant
• Dan Mandel – Creator, Writer, Actor, Co-Executive Producer
• James McDermott – character design
• Jeannette Moreno – Storyboard
• Chris Pearson – Creator, Writer, Co-Executive Producer
• Jill Petrilak – Background Painter
• Cosmo Serguson – Storyboard
• Brian Sheesley – Director, Supervising Producer, Supervising Director
• Jesse Silver – Background Painter
• Camille Stancin – Color Stylist
• Eric Zimmerman – Writer

External links

• Official Website
• Dan vs. at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb
• Dan Vs. Wikia – A Wikia wiki about Dan Vs.