The Kids of Hills Beach (Johnsonverse)

The Kids of Hills Beach is a series created by Belle Armstrong and Jenny Smith, and premiered on Cartoon Network on July 20, 2016. The show centers on eight kids: Larry J. Molina, played by Tim Johnson, Jimmy Oates, played by Jason Ritter, Maddie Burns, played by Chloe Johnson, Olga Trittle, played by Belle Armstrong, Becky Trittle, played by Jenny Smith, Michael Jeffries, played by Billy West, JD Jeffries, played by Mark Hamill, and Lonnie Frey, played by Hynden Walch, doing various everyday activities, and hanging out at Harvey's Diner (a parody of Howard Johnson's). The series takes place in the same universe as Detective Jenny, and the two shows sometimes crossover.

Development
During a class period in 2010, Belle and Jenny hurredly sketched out the eight kids out of boredom. They decided that the characters could be put to good use, and, when they got home, they started the comic series, under the revived Johnson Comics banner (reorganized from Chalke Comics), which was sold to Marvel by Phil Stacker during his mental breakdown towards the end of his tenure in 1991. They called the series "The Kids of Hills Beach", a series taking a slice-of-life approach similar to shows like Hey Arnold! and Doug. Their first issue, released in December 2010, sold very well, leading to a weekly series. In 2012, Belle and Jenny decided to make it a web series, also weekly, with episodes being produced in three to six days, similar to South Park, and the theme song being written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic, with Kevin Murphy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame also singing. The web series was a success, and in 2015, Belle's boyfriend, Larry's voice actor, and Johnson CEO Tim Johnson greenlit a TV series. Many of the plots from the first season were based on plots from the comics or the web series.