The Hard Times of RJ Berger | |
---|---|
Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | David Katzenberg Seth Grahame-Smith |
Starring |
Paul Iacono Jareb Dauplaise Kara Taitz Amber Lancaster Jayson Blair Caitlin Crosby |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 24 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | David Katzenberg Seth Grahame Smith |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | Wild Brain |
Distributor | MTV Networks International |
Release | |
Original network | MTV |
Original release | June 6, 2010 | – May 30, 2011
External links | |
Website |
The Hard Times of RJ Berger is an American television comedy series created by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith for MTV. The show's central character is RJ Berger (Paul Iacono) an unpopular sophomore at the fictional Pinkerton High School in Ohio who has an exceptionally large penis. Berger's two best friends are Miles Jenner (Jareb Dauplaise), whose ambitions for popularity cause him to clash with Berger, and goth girl Lily Miran (Kara Taitz), who has been lusting after Berger for several years. Berger's love interest is Jenny Swanson (Amber Lancaster), a cheerleader who is involved with Max Owens (Jayson Blair), a popular jock and bully. The show is presented as a coming of age story and has been described by Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith as a blend of the television series The Wonder Years and the film Superbad.
The pilot episode premiered on June 6, 2010, and the first season of 12 episodes concluded August 23, 2010. MTV renewed The Hard Times of RJ Berger for a second season, which premiered on March 24, 2011, and concluded on May 30, 2011, but canceled the show that August.
The Hard Times of RJ Berger originated from a short film with a similar premise titled The Tale of RJ, written and directed by David Katzenberg and produced by Seth Grahame-Smith. The Tale of RJ was described by The New York Times as "a short homage to Boogie Nights, about a well-endowed nerd" played by Mark Wahlberg. MTV executives were interested in developing scripted television series around the time Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith made their short film. In June 2009, MTV announced multiple series in development, including "Hard Times". It was described as "an irreverent half-hour coming-of-age series" in which unpopular fifteen-year-old RJ Berger becomes infamous when his "anatomical gift" is revealed to his school. Paul Iacono was cast as the title character that May.