| Hey Monie! | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | Dorothea Gillim |
| Voices of | Angela V. Shelton Frances Callier |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Soup2Nuts |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Oxygen BET |
| Release | March 4 (2003-03-04) – April 15, 2003 (2003-04-15) |
Hey Monie! is an American animated sitcom produced bySoup2Nuts. It features heavilyimprovised dialogue by theSecond City cast,[1][2] similarly to Soup2Nuts animated sitcomHome Movies.
Its creator and executive producer wasDorothea Gillim, creator ofWordGirl, who also produced animated seriesCurious George,Pinkalicious & Peterrific,Molly of Denali, andTime Warp Trio.[3]
The show began as 5-minute shorts that were part ofOxygen's animation seriesX-Chromosome.[4] It achieved 11-minute episodesHey Monie! aired onBET and, afterward, on Oxygen in 2003.[5][6][7] It was BET's first in-house animated series; BET stated that it followed "the tradition of entertaining and satirical animated programming likeThe Simpsons,The Critic, andDaria."[4]
In 2003,Seattle PI described the series as "smart, and at times wickedly funny."[8]
It was the onlyadult animated series tofeature a Black woman as its protagonist untilOh My God... Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances which started airing onAdult Swim in 2025.[6][9][10]
Simone a.k.a. "Monie" (Angela V. Shelton), is apublicist at a PR agency in Chicago. She lives in an apartment building with her best friend, Yvette (Frances Callier). The show chronicles her life living as a singlecareer woman in the big city.[11]
The series protagonists are voiced by the improv comedyFrangela duo, who are real-life best friends.[1]
Hey Monie! was not released on DVD; this may explain its multiple half-hourlost episodes. This also may explain whyHey Monie! did not amass afandom as numerous as that ofHome Movies; creatorBrendon Small has attributedHome Movies' DVD release "for its increased popularity and cult following."[4]
A 2004SFGate article lamented the previous year's cancellation ofHey Monie!, as the show positively impacted diversity on television.[12] That year, the show was recommended in self-help bookBeautylicious![13]
In 2006, television scholarAmanda D. Lotz praised the show's cast for bringing "an authentic feel to the show's language and dialogue."[14]
In 2016,Bustle described the show as a feminist cartoon "way before its time and gone way too soon."[15] That year, the show was listed inVibe's "Forgotten Laughs: 9 Black Shows You Missed Out On."[16]
In 2018, Flood Magazine interviewed show creators and stars about the show, although series creator Gillim "was astonished that she was contacted for an interview for this piece, based on how little updated information about the show is available online."[4] Once it was cancelled, Shelton and Callier stated "the show's momentum halted when executives got involved, hiring a white writer—without consulting either of them—to pen the final episodes." These episodes are now lost due to a lack of DVD release.
In 2019,Tuca & Bertie creatorLisa Hanawalt mentioned the show while compiling a list of adult animated shows created by women.[17][18]
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