Mr. Birchum

Mr. Birchum is an American adult animated sitcom created by Adam Carolla and developed by him, Nate Adams, and Mike Lynch for DailyWire+. Produced by Chassy Media, the series premiered on May 12, 2024.^[2] Carolla stars as the titular character, alongside a voice cast including Megyn Kelly, Alonzo Bodden, Tyler Fischer, Brett Cooper, Kyle Dunnigan, Marisol Ramirez, James Arnold Taylor, Melissa Greenspan, Brandon Tyler Harris, Roseanne Barr, Jay Mohr, and Patrick Warburton.

Carolla originated the character of Dick Birchum in the 1990s where he featured on KROQ-FM, later voicing him in the series Crank Yankers.^[3]

The series chronicles the lives of the Birchum family, Richard (Adam Carolla), Wendi (Megyn Kelly), Eddie (Kyle Dunnigan) and Jeanie (Brett Cooper). Each episode is a social commentary on modern American culture from a politically conservative viewpoint as Richard attempts to keep life in his hometown simple.

• Adam Carolla as Richard Birchum, a woodshop teacher who was originally a substitute, but he took the full-time position to secure health coverage for his family.
  • Adam Carolla also voices himself in a cameo appearance in the episode "This Means War-ranty", in which Richard confuses him for Gilbert Gottfried.
• Megyn Kelly as Wendi Birchum, a realtor and Jeanie's mother.
• Alonzo Bodden as Don Gage, Richard's best friend, a Navy veteran, and the auto shop teacher who got Richard his teaching job.
• Tyler Fischer as Elliot Karponzi, a political correctness officer and Star Wars fan who dislikes Richard. Many speculate this character is visually based on leftist YouTube personality Vaush.
• Brett Cooper as Jeanie Birchum, Wendi's daughter and Richard's stepdaughter. She idolizes her stepdad and dreams of being a professional contractor.
• Kyle Dunnigan as Eddie Birchum, Richard's son and a professional gamer and YouTuber.
• Marisol Ramirez
• James Arnold Taylor as Brad
• Melissa Greenspan as Bentley
• Brandon Tyler Harris
• Roseanne Barr as Principal Pam Bortles
• Jay Mohr as Coach Murphy
• Patrick Warburton as Burly Man

• Rob Riggle as Gunderson (in "Thank You for Your Meal Service")
• Sage Steele as Deena Gage (in "Thank You for Your Meal Service")
• Danny Trejo as Switchblade (in "Oh, the Humanity")

In 2011, Adam Carolla pitched a spinoff series to Crank Yankers to Fox that would center on his character Dick Birchum, but the series was not picked up.^[4][5]

Sage Steele replaced Candace Owens in the cast after Owens departed from the Daily Wire after a period of tension resulting from her criticism of the Gaza war.^[1]

Joel Keller in Decider wrote, "SKIP IT. Mr. Birchum has potential to be a decent adult animated series if it gets away from the cliched Karponzi character and Birchum's fight against 'wokeness', whatever that is, and just concentrates on characters amongst his family and coworkers that are already well-developed. We just wish that part of the show was funnier."^[6]

On Bubbleblabber, John Schwarz concluded, "Overall, Mr. Birchum embodies the spirit of what made the Birchum character likable on Crank Yankers and when he was a regular feature on KROQ-FM, but plain-jane scripting and an attempt to cater to an audience rather than try to challenge said audience falls flat, and as such, is a subpar effort to the other animated comedies Mr. Birchum attempts to emulate."^[7]

Tyler Hummel for The Pamphleteer wrote, "Adam Carolla has a nominal amount of talent and clout left to make things happen. But given that the reaction to the show has been universally negative outside of the fanbase, it shows that Nashville's biggest conservative content creators have a long way to go."^[8]

Although the series received largely negative reviews, it later developed a cult following within LGBTQ audiences. Some fans created fan art and reimagined storylines that paired the show’s main character, Mr. Birchum, with Elliot Karponzi.^[9]

• Official website
• Mr. Birchum at IMDb