Imaginary Mary

Imaginary Mary was an American live-action/animated fantasy sitcom television series that ran on ABC from March 29 to May 30, 2017.[1] The series was created and executive produced by Adam F. Goldberg, David Guarascio, and Patrick Osborne, the Sony Pictures Television/Happy Madison Productions/21 Laps Entertainment/ABC Studios co-production and it was greenlighted to series order on May 12, 2016.[2] A first-look-trailer was released on the same day.[3] ABC reduced the number of episodes from thirteen to nine on September 28, 2016.[4]

Imaginary Mary
Genre
Created by
Starring
Voices ofRachel Dratch
ComposerMichael Wandmacher
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes9
Production
Executive producers
  • Adam F. Goldberg
  • David Guarascio
  • Doug Robinson
  • Patrick Osborne
  • Shawn Levy
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companies
Distributor
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseMarch 29 (2017-03-29) –
May 30, 2017 (2017-05-30)

On May 11, 2017, the series was cancelled after one season.[5]

Plot

The series follows Alice when an imaginary puppet being from her childhood, named Mary, reappears when she is now a single public relations executive falling in love with a single father of three children. Mary hopes to guide (or misguide) her.

Cast

Production

The series was first announced in 2015 as Imaginary Friend which was then changed to Imaginary Gary. In the original pilot, the main characters were both men.[6] When the series went into development, the main characters were changed into women. Elfman filmed her scenes first with a puppet in order for the animators to have a reference point, and then in a later take without anything to show what she was talking to. Dratch did her voice work separately in New York with the scenes already filmed. She said at the TCA press tour, "I have the freedom to go crazy."[7]

On September 2016, it was reported that the show's crew would make changes with the animation for the character, Mary, after it received a poor reception from ABC.[8] ABC then reduced the original thirteen-episode order for the first season to nine episodes in order to allow the show's crew to make changes with the animation.[8]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
1"Pilot"Shawn LevyS : Patrick Osborne;
S/T : Adam F. Goldberg & David Guarascio		March 29, 2017 (2017-03-29)5.39[9]
Alice falls in love with a divorced dad but she then learns that he has 3 kids. Alice becomes consumed by her fears and contemplates giving up until her old childhood imaginary friend, Mary, comes back.
2"The Mom Seal"Shawn LevySarah Haskins & Emily HalpernApril 4, 2017 (2017-04-04)3.45[10]
Alice is tasked in taking care of Bunny. A task she takes too far. Ben pressures Andy to take his driving test.
3"The Parent-y Trap"Peter LauerMargee MageeApril 11, 2017 (2017-04-11)3.06[11]
Alice learns the emotional highs and lows of being a parent when Andy considers auditioning for the school musical; Dora creates her own feminist musical.
4"Prom-Com"Richie KeenAdam F. Goldberg & David Guarascio & Chris BishopApril 18, 2017 (2017-04-18)3.15[12]
Andy has a hard time finding a prom date while Dora keeps turning away a guy who persistently asks her, but Alice tries to convince her to go. Meanwhile, Ben struggles to deal with kids growing up and tries to scare away Dora's date.
5"In a World Where Worlds Collide"Paul MurphyBrian GallivanApril 25, 2017 (2017-04-25)2.88[13]
After a hesitant Alice meets Ben's friends, Alice wants to meet Ben's friends, but Ben is hesitant. Later: he makes a startling admission after devising a plan to impress her.
6"Alice the Mole"Lev L. SpiroDavid GuarascioMay 2, 2017 (2017-05-02)2.63[14]
Alice faces the dilemma of whether she should play the role of parent or friend as she tries to connect with Dora; Ben wants Alice to be his personal mole; Bunny infiltrates the one place Andy feels cool.
7"The Ex X Factor"David KatzenbergDaniel Libman & Matthew LibmanMay 9, 2017 (2017-05-09)2.83[15]
When Ben's ex-wife says she doesn't believe Alice is a good influence on the kids, Alice goes out of her way to prove her wrong; Andy and Dora fake being sick at school.
8"Last Dance with Mary"Fred GossMelody Derloshon & Danielle UhlarikMay 16, 2017 (2017-05-16)2.80[16]
When Ben and Alice get engaged, Mary disappears, as Alice apparently no longer needs her. However, when Ben begins discussing the realities of marriage, such as living together and possibly having more children, Mary reappears to help Alice cope.
9"Sleep Over"Luke GreenfieldAdam F. Goldberg & Chris BishopMay 30, 2017 (2017-05-30)2.13[17]
Alice is ready to sleep over at Ben's when his kids are in the house, but Ben worries the nightly rituals will put her off; when Alice gets rattled, she gets Mary's help in an attempt to fix the situation.

Reception

Critical response

The series received a generally negative response from critics. On review aggregator site Metacritic, Imaginary Mary has a metascore of 39 out of 100 based on 13 critics signifying "generally unfavorable reviews".[18] On another review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a 27% approval rating, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus: "Imaginary Mary's appealing cast is canceled out by uninspired material and a ridiculous premise whose deficiencies are compounded by an unfunny, ill-advised CGI creature."[19]

Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Imaginary Mary
No. Title Air dateRating/share
(18–49)		Viewers
(millions)
1 "Pilot" March 29, 20171.4/55.39[9]
2 "The Mom Seal" April 4, 20170.9/33.45[10]
3 "The Parent-y Trap" April 11, 20170.8/33.06[11]
4 "Prom-Com" April 18, 20170.9/33.15[12]
5 "In a World Where Worlds Collide" April 25, 20170.8/32.88[13]
6 "Alice the Mole" May 2, 20170.7/32.63[14]
7 "The Ex X Factor" May 9, 20170.9/32.83[15]
8 "Last Dance with Mary" May 16, 20170.8/32.80[16]
9 "Sleep Over" May 30, 20170.5/22.13[17]

See also
  • Drop Dead Fred, a 1991 British/American dark fantasy black-comedy film with a similar concept.
  • Son of Zorn, another live-action/animated hybrid that premiered in the 2016-2017 season.

References
  1. Andreeva, Nellie (January 10, 2017). "ABC Midseason Schedule: 'Time After Time', 'American Crime', 'The Catch', 'Dirty Dancing', Others Get Premiere Dates". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  2. Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2016). "Drama 'Notorious', Comedy 'Imaginary Mary' Picked Up To Series At ABC". Deadline.
  3. Trailer for "Imaginary Mary" from YouTube
  4. "'Imaginary Mary' Episode Count Cut From 13 to 9". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  5. Snierson, Dan (May 11, 2017). "Dr. Ken and two more comedies canceled by ABC". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  6. https://deadline.com/2015/10/imaginary-friend-live-action-cgi-comedy-adam-f-goldberg-patrick-osborme-abc-pilot-order-1201568110/
  7. Dresch, Cassie. "Beyond imagination: Jenna Elfman, Rachel Dratch star in new ABC comedy". TV Media. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  8. Andreeva, Nellie (September 28, 2016). "'Imaginary Mary' Order Trimmed By ABC". Deadline. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  9. Porter, Rick (March 30, 2017). "'Modern Family,' 'Survivor' and 'Chicago PD' adjust up: Wednesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  10. Porter, Rick (April 5, 2017). "'NCIS' and 'The Middle' adjust up: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  11. Porter, Rick (April 12, 2017). "'The Middle' adjusts up: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  12. Porter, Rick (April 19, 2017). "'The Middle' adjusts up: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  13. Porter, Rick (April 26, 2017). "'The Mick' and 'Agents of SHIELD' adjust up, 'iZombie' adjusts down: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  14. Porter, Rick (May 3, 2017). "'NCIS' and 'The Middle' adjust up, 'Prison Break' adjusts down: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  15. Porter, Rick (May 10, 2017). "'The Voice' adjusts up, 'iZombie' adjusts down: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  16. Porter, Rick (May 17, 2017). "'NCIS' finale and 'Bull' adjust up, 'The Middle' adjusts down: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  17. Porter, Rick (June 1, 2017). "'America's Got Talent' adjusts up, 'Imaginary Mary' adjusts down: Tuesday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 3, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  18. "Imaginary Mary Season 1 Reviews". Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  19. "Imaginary Mary: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
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