After an impressive debut, one of the most popular animated shows on Network Television has already been renewed and the show's characters are based on South Jersey.

From South Jersey, brothers Adam and Craig Malamut are natives of Cherry Hill and they created the animated comedy show Universal Basic Guys.  Debuting on FOX with over Four Million live viewers, making this new show the most-watched animated debut of the past decade.

The new show features numerous references familiar to people who live in the Tri-State region of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.  Also, the characters on the show are well-known stereotypes of people that you are familiar with if you have lived in South Jersey or the Philadelphia area.

What Is This New Animated Show About?

Universal Basic Guys' main characters are brothers Mark and Hank Hoagies who lose their jobs at the local Hot Dog Factory due to technological advances. The brothers live in the fictional town of Glantontown, located next to the famous South Jersey Pinelands.

The Hoagies Brothers now receive $3,000 a month because they are unemployed. The show follows their adventures as guys have more money and time on their hands than they know what to do with.

In the first four episodes of the show feature references to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Jersey Devil, The Poconos, and characters using plenty of unique dialogue to the tri-state region.  In a recent interview, the Malamut Brothers explained that many of the fictional personalities in the show are based on caricatures of people they heard listening to Philadelphia Sports Talk Radio.

Universal Basic Guys features characters who live in fictional South Jersey town
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Television Publicity
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According to Nielsen Ratings, Universal Basic Guys average 1.679 Million Live Viewers each week on FOX at 9 pm. For comparison, The Simpsons live average viewership on FOX in the last three years is 1.552 Million.  So this new show is on par with one of the most popular animated comedy shows of all time.

Adam and Craig Malamut are self-taught animators and best known for their Sports Emmy-nominated and Grand Clio-winning hit web series Game of Zones on Bleacher Report. Along with new episodes each Sunday Night at 9 pm on FOX, you can stream Universal Basic Guys anytime on Hulu.

Universal Basic Guys has already been renewed for a second season so audiences will get more laughs while following the adventures of Mark and Hank Hoagies. Only time will tell if The Hoagies will join this list of the Best Fictional Characters from New Jersey:

The Best Fictional Characters From New Jersey

While New Jersey is surrounded by two of the most famous cities in the United States, there are some incredible people with connections to The Garden State. Yes, Rocky Balboa is from Philadelphia and Spider-Man is from Queens, New York but New Jersey has some great characters who have a history with NJ.

Check out out list below to see if your favorite characters made our list:

Gallery Credit: Josh Hennig/Townsquare Media

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