When The Great North premiered on Fox in 2021, viewers were excited to welcome a new animated family into their lives. Starring the voice talents of Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, and Will Forte, the animated series is set on a family living in Alaska, led by their patriarch, Beef Tobin. The other characters to round out the series are Beef’s children Judy, Ham, Moon, Wolf, and Wolf’s wife Honeybee.

The first episodes of the new series focused exclusively on young Judy, the only girl in the family surrounded by three brothers. We watched as she dealt with crushes, mean girls, and going home to the chaotic family that she adores. Almost every episode of this first season began and ended with Judy going out on the roof of the Tobin home to talk to her imaginary friend, Alanis Morissette. (Voiced by THE Morrisette. I don’t know how they pulled that off either.) The first season is a strong offering, but I will be the first to admit that I stopped watching after the season was finished. I couldn’t give you a specific reason at the time, but I can confidently say now that I was a little tired of Judy being the main focus of the show. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Judy and her chaos. A favorite episode of mine from the first season is when Judy develops a big crush on the new boy in town, Crispin. Crispin comes to the Tobin house, meets her family, and agrees to accompany her to the big dance… because he has a crush on Ham. A theater girl has to fall in love with a gay boy at some point, it’s just a right of passage. But for the gay boy to fall in love with her twin brother? A perfect episode if you ask me. 

I relate to Judy’s goody two shoes and try-hard nature. I do believe she brings a lot of laughs to the show. But I didn’t realize just how much the show could grow until the writers chose to shift away from Judy. 

Season two opens with another Judy-centric episode, but slowly begins to pan outward on other characters. We watch as Ham joins a punk band, Beef begins to branch out and date, Honeybee attempts to infiltrate local politics, Moon hides the siblings’ report cards because he’s failing math, and Wolf joins a children of divorced parents support group. 

We start to see individual relationships between characters become solidified throughout the season. My personal favorite pairing is Honeybee and Moon. Who would have thought that the youngest Tobin child and the newest addition to the Tobin family could get along so well? Watching these two characters bond has been one of my favorite parts of the show. 

The Great North is one of my favorite animated comedies currently on the air. It’s a great addition to the Fox lineup, especially when it’s aired alongside Bob’s Burgers. Two wholesome, hilarious, eccentric families just trying to make it in this world. I believe we need more of that.

The Great North can provide that as long as it zooms out and continues to showcase its wide variety of worthy characters.

The Great North airs Sunday nights on FOX and is available to stream on Hulu.