China, IL

For the township in Illinois, see China Township, Lee County, Illinois.

China, IL
File:China, Il cast.png The main characters. From the left: Steve Smith, Dr. Jack Falgot, Pony, The Dean, Baby Cakes, Professor Cakes, and Frank Smith.
Created by	Brad Neely
Written by	Brad Neely
Directed by	Mike L. Mayfield
Starring	Brad Neely Greta Gerwig Hulk Hogan
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10 (and 1 backdoor pilot) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Brad Neely Daniel Weidenfeld Keith Crofford Nick Weidenfeld
Producers	Chris Prynoski Shannon Prynoski Dave Newberg Vernon Chatman
Running time	11 minutes (Season 1) 22 minutes (Season 2)
Production companies	Titmouse, Inc. Williams Street
Original release
Network	Adult Swim
Release	Backdoor pilot: May 25, 2008 Official: October 2, 2011 – present

China, IL – meaning "China, Illinois" – is an animated television series for the cable network Adult Swim. The series is created by Brad Neely, and features Neely's existing characters from the China, IL web series and special. Characters include Frank and Steve Smith, aka "The Professor Brothers," and Mark "Baby" Cakes. Neely provides the voice for all three characters. The series is produced by Williams Street and animated by Titmouse, Inc. China, IL has been renewed for a second season with the possibility of a new half-hour runtime.

On May 25, 2008, Adult Swim ran The Funeral, an 11-minute special which was streamed on the now defunct Super Deluxe website. The special combined Brad Neely's Professor Brothers and Baby Cakes webseries, which were also streamed at Super Deluxe, and established a larger environment for the characters. The special, as well as Brad Neely's other videos, can be viewed at Neely's YouTube page.

Plot

The series takes place at the "Worst College in America", located at the edge of town. The school's poor reputation is celebrated by the school's uncaring faculty and staff, constantly shown drinking while teaching and/or trying to avoid teaching altogether. Steve and Frank Smith are twin professors at the college, teaching different subjects with limited success, while Professor Cakes is the father of undergraduate Baby Cakes, who spends his time at college with the school staff. Pony is the teacher's aide at the school, and the most rational of the staff, but still willing to go along with the staff's insane plots to avoid working.

The town is often destroyed by the bizarre antics at the school, something that angers the Mayor to psychotic levels, as he's left with the task of cleaning up the city.

Cast

Main

• Brad Neely as Steve Smith, Frank Smith, Mark "Baby" Cakes
• Greta Gerwig as Pony
• Hulk Hogan as The Dean (credited as "Terry 'Hulk' Hogan")

Recurring

• Tommy Blacha as The Mayor
• Chelsea Peretti as Crystal Peppers
• Jeffrey Tambor as Professor Leonard Cakes
• Jason Walden as Sammy Davis
• Gary Anthony Williams as Dr. Jack Falgot

Various

• Jackie Buscarino
• Dave Coulier
• Jason Alexander

Episodes

Backdoor pilot (2008)

Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
"China, IL: The Funeral"	Brad Neely	Brad Neely	May 25, 2008 (2008-05-25)	000
Baby Cakes finds the diary of a dead professor. NOTE: This 4-act special was originally made for SuperDeluxe.com, and drawn in the style of Neely's Creased Comics videos.

Season 1 (2011–2012)

#	Total	Title	Directed by	Written by	U.S. viewers (millions)	Original air date	Production code
1	1	"Rewind, Pause, Pay!"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	0.89	October 2, 2011 (2011-10-02)	101
A time-traveling Ronald Reagan attempts to have his revenge on Professor Steve Smith for doing Reagan impressions in a talent show.
2	2	"Dean Vs. Mayor"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	1.06	October 9, 2011 (2011-10-09)	102
The Mayor is tired of the riots sparked by UCI after the latest one following a math competition and challenges The Dean to an arm wrestling contest for control of the school.
3	3	"Baby Boom"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	1.10	October 16, 2011 (2011-10-16)	103
When a freak accident causes a science experiment to go horribly wrong, the college has to deal with a giant baby on campus.
4	4	"Coming Out of the Casket"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	1.07	October 23, 2011 (2011-10-23)	104
The ghost of a dead professor (Jason Alexander) becomes a little too friendly with Professor Frank, while Steve and Crystal wage war over who will have more students for the upcoming semester.
5	5	"Secret Society"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	1.15	October 30, 2011 (2011-10-30)	105
Steve becomes a tenured professor while Pony blackmails The Dean, threatening to expose his sexual fetishism for old strippers, to gain tenure herself.
6	6	"Prom Face/Off"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	N/A	November 6, 2011 (2011-11-06)	106
The staff-only prom is held in a condemned building formerly used by Professor Cakes, and Baby Cakes falls for a feral girl with a dark secret.
7	7	"Chinese New Year"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	N/A	December 27, 2011 (2011-12-27)	108
The students all fail their finals and the governor threatens to shut down UCI unless they retake the exams and pass. Professor Cakes builds robotic replicas of the professors so they don’t have to teach, but the robots revolt when they learn that the New Year’s ball drop will trigger a self-destruct mechanism.
8	8	"Frankensteve"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	1.28	February 19, 2012 (2012-02-19)	107
After suffering near-fatal internal injuries from the annual Faculty League Wrestling match, Professors Frank and Steve are literally joined at the hip to save both their lives, but use their new joined body to start winning wrestling matches instead.
9	9	"Dream Reamer"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	N/A	February 26, 2012 (2012-02-26)	109
Babycakes "friends" his imaginary friend Dream Reamer on Facebook. Now Babycakes must go back into the dream world to defeat Reamer.
10	10	"The Dean's List"	Mike L. Mayfield	Brad Neely	N/A	March 4, 2012 (2012-03-04)	110
The Dean issues his Dean's List, which forces professors and students to form teams and compete in a scavenger hunt, which he watches on monitors with China, Illinois' elites, including Baby Cakes. However, to make the contest more interesting, the Dean turns the scavenger hunt into a Hunger Games-style fight for survival.

Season 2

On May 17, 2012, Brad Neely made a Tweet confirming that he is currently working on Season 2 of the show. On June 17, 2013 Brad Neely stated via Facebook that Season 2 will begin airing September 2013. Season 2 will consist of 30 minute episodes, instead of the previous 11 minute run-time of Season 1. On July 16, 2013, Neely confirmed via his twitter that actor Hannibal Buress would join the cast as a new character named Matt Attack. On August 20, 2013, it was revealed that China, IL Season 2 would start September 22, 2013 at 11:30pm.

Season two titles:

• 201 The Perfect Lecture September 22, 2013

Frank wants to have a perfect lecture.

• 202 Prank Week September 29, 2013
• 203 Kenny Winker Rules October 6, 2013
• 204 Surfer God October 13, 2013
• 205 The Diamond Castle October 20, 2013
• 206 Is College Worth It? October 27, 2013
• 207 China-man Begins November 3, 2013
• 208 Do You Know Who You Look Like? November 10, 2013
• 209 Total Validation November 17, 2013
• 210 Wild Hogs

Reception

Critical reception for the show has been positive, with the A.V. Club stating "This is probably the most charming comedy you'll ever see that includes a scene hinting that the wily Ronald Reagan was faking his Alzheimer's." The New York Times called China, IL "the first new cartoon in years truly to live up to the renegade spirit of the golden era of Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Animation". MTV Geek called China, IL "one of the most enjoyably demented shows to make its debut in the Adult Swim lineup this year".

External links

• Official website
• Neely's official You Tube page
• Template:Bcdb
• Adult Swim's official University of China, IL page