Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

Premise

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law features ex-superhero Harvey Birdman from Birdman and the Galaxy Trio as an attorney working for a law firm alongside other cartoon stars from other 1960s and 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Harvey's clients are also primarily characters taken from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the same era.

Many of Birdman's nemeses from his former cartoon series appear as attorneys, often representing the opposing side of a given case. Harvey usually fills the role of a criminal defense attorney, though he will act as a civil litigator or other similar roles when the plot calls for it.

The series uses a surrealist style of comedy, featuring characters, objects, and jokes that are briefly introduced and rarely (if ever) referenced thereafter. Because the series relies heavily on popular culture references to classic television animation, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law constantly delves into parody, featuring clips of these series or specially created scenes which mimic the distinctive style of the animation being referenced.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is the first Adult Swim series to maintain continuity through the entire series. Various episodes reference Harvey's (or another superhero's) former crime-fighting career. The episode "Turner Classic Birdman" serves to bridge the gap between Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

Much of the humor is derived from giving superheroes and supervillains more eccentric qualities, such as transforming mad scientist Dr. Myron Reducto into a paranoid prosecutor. Several of the plots revolve around popular myths about classic Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo being recreational drug users.

Voice cast

Main article: List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and Birdgirl characters

• Gary Cole as Harvey Birdman, Judge Hiram Mightor
• Stephen Colbert as Phil Ken Sebben, Myron Reducto
• Thomas Michael Allen as Peanut
• Paget Brewster as Judy Ken Sebben/Birdgirl
• Chris Edgerly as Peter Potamus
• John Michael Higgins as Mentok the Mindtaker
• Peter MacNicol as X the Eliminator

Episodes

Main article: List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episodes

Production

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law creators Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter had no credited involvement with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which featured a separate character with the same "Harvey Birdman" name who was established by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer. The "Attorney at Law" part of the series title comes from a separate Space Ghost Coast to Coast character, Dr Nightmare, from the episode "Lawsuit"; which was also written by Dorkin and Dyer. J. J. Sedelmaier Productions produced the pilot and was subsequently credited in every episode despite their lack of involvement otherwise. Production of the first season was handled by Allied Art & Science, with Cartoon Network Studios joining in after the second episode. The show was Adult Swim's most expensive original series at the time due to its use of digital ink and paint. After the first episode of the second season, both studios were replaced by Turner Studios, who animated episodes using Adobe After Effects. The reason for the switch was that the animation studio was having difficulty maintaining the fast pace of the show, and thus the production of episodes slowed down due to constant retakes.

International broadcast

In Canada, Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4's Adult Digital Distraction block. The series currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.

Reception

In 2009, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was named the 91st-best animated series by IGN. They called the concept of the show "wonderful" and the show as a whole "especially clever." The review summarized that "Harvey Birdman worked as both a parody and homage to these animated characters we know and love, with plenty of funny, surreal jokes along the way."

Home media

Warner Home Video released three volumes of DVDs of the series, each in the shape of a law book. Each season's box art is nearly identical; the only change for each season is the background colour (Volume One is brown purple, Volume Two is blue, and Volume Three is black). The small picture next to the title and the title itself also appears different. In April 2005, Adult Swim had a "Do Our Work For Us" contest for Harvey Birdman Season 1 on DVD. The objective of the contest was to ask viewers to make their own fan-made promo commercial for the then-upcoming DVD.

The series is also available on HBO Max.

Music

The theme song is an edited version of the song "Slow Moody Blues" written by Reg Tilsley. Other notable songs used in the show include Charlie Steinman's "It Is Such a Good Night" (also known as "Scoobidoo Love") and a lyricless version of Gianni Morandi's "La Mia Mania" (also known as "Okay Maria").

Other media

Video game

Main article: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (video game)

A video game based on the series has been released for the PlayStation 2, Wii and PlayStation Portable video game consoles. It was developed by High Voltage Software and published by Capcom, with gameplay mechanics similar to Capcom's Ace Attorney series. It was released on January 8, 2008, and includes five new, interactive cases.

Special

Main article: Harvey Birdman: Attorney General

On May 14, 2018, it was announced that there would be an upcoming special based on the series entitled Harvey Birdman: Attorney General. In the special, Harvey Birdman becomes the next Attorney General of the United States, under President Phil Ken Sebben. The original voice cast returned for the special. It premiered at midnight on October 15, 2018.

Spin-off

Main article: Birdgirl (TV series)

On May 9, 2019, a spin-off entitled Birdgirl was announced, following Judy Ken Sebben/Birdgirl in her new role as the CEO of Sebben & Sebben. It premiered on April 4, 2021, with a second season premiering June 19, 2022.

Notes

References

References

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3. Harvey Birdman Volume 1 DVD commentary for episode 1{{citation needed. (September 2018)
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8. (March 26, 2019). "Corus Entertainment Announces Adult Swim Launch Sponsors".
9. (2009-01-23). "91, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law".
10. (2025-07-17). "Watch Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law - HBO Max".
11. Onyett, Charles. (2007-07-12). "E3 2007: Harvey Birdman Preview".
12. Kim, Alicia. (2007-09-04). "Wii takes the case – Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law comes home to roost on the latest Nintendo video game system".
13. Baity, Naquan. (2007-08-01). "Move Over Phoenix Wright, PSP Has Harvey Birdman on the Case!".
14. Ramos, Dino-Ray. (May 14, 2018). "'Harvey Birdman, Attorney General' Lands At Adult Swim With New Special".
15. (9 May 2019). "'Birdgirl': Paget Brewster Leads 'Harvey Birdman' Spinoff At Adult Swim".
16. (March 31, 2021). "Spring 2021 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming".
17. (June 9, 2022). "Exclusive: 'Birdgirl' Co-Creator Erik Richter Offers a Preview of Season 2".