The WB, 2001

Created by underground cartoonist Angus Oblong, The Oblongs depicts the warped world of a bizarre yet loving family of have-nots who live in a toxic valley and can't seem to beat the caste system of the beautiful people living high on the hill.

The animated cast includes the limb-less yet optimistic father, Bob Oblong; his adoring, addicted, bald wife Pickles; emotionally and behaviorally disturbed son Milo; conjoined twins Biff and Chip; and four-year-old daughter Beth.

Jean plays Pickles, whose marriage to Bob cost her her society friends from the hills, her sobriety and her hair -- but she is exceedingly happy with her family, cigarettes, alcohol and wigs nonetheless.

"Pickles was already drawn in Angus' head before I walked in the door," Jean recalls. "They showed me a picture when I went in to audition. I thought it was a riot. The hair, the dress, the body, everything just really made me laugh. Of course, the fact that her name is Pickles and her husband's name is Bob; it's such a wonderfully cheap laugh."

"I love the name The Oblongs because it fits -- they're not a perfect square or a perfect circle. They're a family that lives in the valley. They're the have-nots and the hill people are the beautiful people, the rich people. The valley is this toxic wasteland from the big factories owned by the rich people, and it's spawned a generation of people with some serious abnormalities. But I love the fact that the valley people, for the most part, especially the Oblongs, don't really point fingers and blame. They just get up every morning and look forward to the day and what it holds in store."

The Oblongs premiered on April Fools Day, but whether it was done to intentionally sink the series or because The WB was just ridiculously optimistic, the network decided to park it directly opposite the mega-hit The Simpsons, causing the show's almost immediate cancellation. In a brilliant move, The Cartoon Network picked up the series and aired the remaining episodes as part of their Adult Swim.

"Jean Smart is wonderfully brusque as Pickles, who reassures Milo that things always turn out O.K. She may have lost her social status, lost her hair and started drinking after marrying Bob and leaving the unpolluted hills for the valley, but, she says cheerfully, 'I found a great bar next to a wig store, and I get to wake up every morning next to the sweetest man in the world!' " -- Caryn James, New York Times