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The Birches
In General
Voiced By: Fred Armisen (Elliot), Maya Rudolph (Diane), Kat Dennings (Leah), Jon Daly (Judd)
Nick's family, consisting of his father Elliot, mother Diane, older sister Leah, and older brother Judd.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Nick and Judd often feel this way, and for good reason. Elliot and Diane are quirky to put it mildly, and they openly display that quirkiness around Nick's friends. Elliot even dropped his pants at an amusement park to show solidarity with Nick when the latter got pantsed while hanging from a zipline, has gone into heavy detail about his romantic and sexual life to Nick, and his response to Judd telling him that his breath smelled like pussy was that it didn't smell like it yet.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Elliot and Diane are very much suffocating to their children with their love, so standing up to them and setting up boundaries is apparently a rite of passage in the Birch family, so much so that they eventually expect it to happen with Nick. Though Nick feels bad, Leah reassures him that they all did it and is just part of setting up boundaries in their family and no one seem to hold anything against the other afterwards.
- Demoted to Extra: Both Elliot and Diane get very little screen time in season 4.
- Foil: Diane and Elliot are direct foils to Jessi's and Andrew's parents.
- They are very sex positive and eager to teach their prepubescent son about sex and his body, being extremely open minded, and their sex life is very fulfilling. The Gloubermans, on the other hand, are very awkward about sex, having a hard time or even outright denying to teach or talk with Andrew about sex and have accused him of being a deviant for even being curious about sex and accusing him of being a molester after Missy initiated an unwelcome advance on him, with a sex life that's lukewarm at best.
- Diane and Elliot are very much still as in love after all these years together, with Elliot being introduced thanking Diane for the life they have. Their sex life is active and fulfilling, they don't have any fights and are a constant presence in their children's lives. Shannon and Greg's romance died years ago and are stuck with each other now, with Shannon even cheating on Greg with another woman. Their constant fights inevitably cause problems to Jessi, who has to watch the breakdown of her parent's marriage and being in the crossfire of their constant fighting.
- Good Parents: While embarrassing, Elliot and Diane have done a good job raising Nick. The Shame Wizard mentions that it's harder to get to Nick because his parents gave him a notably high self-esteem.
- Happily Married: Diane and Elliot are still very much in love and have an active sex life still. They often mentioned how their sex life is going great.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: While Diane is no Tomboy by any means, she is nowhere near as effeminate as her husband, Elliot.
- Open-Minded Parent: At one point, they assume Nick is struggling with his sexuality. Elliot assures him he can try things and implies he tried things before without being gay. Both also are outright happy to welcome him as gay if he finds out to be so.Nick: Dad, I'm not worried I might be gay!
Diane: Honey, it's fine if you are.
Elliot: It's better.
Diane: Besides, you could do a lot worse than Andrew Glouberman. - Sibling Yin-Yang: Nick's two older siblings Judd and Leah. A look at their individual character tropes below outlines their night and day natures.
- Too Much Information: Elliot and Diane can get very...detailed when discussing sexuality, particularly their own experiences, with Nick and his friends.
Elliot
Dr. Elliot Birch, né William MacGregor
Voiced By: Fred Armisen
Nick's eccentric, yet lovable, father.
- Abusive Parents: Elliot's father Seamus was a violent, sexist asshole who only showed affection to Elliot when coaching him in the combat sport of Scottish Nipple Twisting (yes, seriously), eventually driving Elliot to the point of horribly injuring an opponent. Elliot left home and has refused to even talk about his father until season 6.
- Berserk Button: Don't ask about his father or his childhood. He's been trying to put that behind him for years.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Elliot struggles to even pretend to be angry until Val mentions that he should listen to his wife in their conversation about communication in sex, calling her by her first name. We see his first words to ever not be nice, encouraging, or weirdly off-putting.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Averted. In the first episode, Elliot admits his dick isn't very big, but he understands Diane's body and feelings to please her better than anyone else. Diane then mentions that she dated men with bigger dicks that were just uncomfortable for her. In a bizarrely sweet way, they describe themselves as this:Diane: Your father's penis was my glass slipper.
- Bumbling Dad: Subverted. While Nick tends to be embarrassed by his father and he's definitely the quirkier of his parents, Elliot is actually well-adjusted, smart, and dependable.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Elliot is pretty strange, but he's a highly competent doctor and is probably the most well-adjusted character in the entire cast.
- Camp Straight: He's rather flamboyant and kind of a weirdo, but has a passionate sex life with his wife, to whom he's Happily Married. Does have a penchant for cross-dressing, in particular wearing Diane's robe and slippers, as well as dressing up as a female magician's assistant for Jay. Diane does not seem to mind.
- Gosh Darn It to Heck!: He struggles to even pretend to be angry.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: Oh, so very much. Elliot is extremely effeminate, very open about his emotions, shows almost no signs of aggression, and makes it no secret just how much he loves his children and wife.
- Karma Houdini: Played for Laughs. In order to save his son from the embarrassment of being exposed in front of his entire class, Elliot diverts the attention by dropping his pants in front of a bunch of minors. Yes, he does get arrested, but seems to have been released without any kind of charges of indecent exposure.
- Mysterious Past: Nick and his siblings know very little about Elliot's youth before he met their mother. When Nick tries asking, Elliot shows an uncharacteristic level of outrage.
- Nice Guy: Elliot is incredibly soft-spoken and supportive, always wanting to be there for Nick and guiding him through the life lessons he has to face.
- Open-Minded Parent: Perhaps a little too open-minded. Some of his discussions with Nick and other kids can get uncomfortably candid.
- The Pollyanna: Relentlessly positive about everyone and everything. Even his (incredibly mild) complaints and criticisms are cushioned between gushing praise and adoration. Sometimes the "criticisms" are actually just glowing compliments stated with an (unconvincingly) furrowed brow.Diane: How did the garage door get smashed, Nick!?
Nick: I don't know what you're talking about.
Elliot: (bangs fist on table) How did you get to be such a beautiful son?!
Nick: (smugly) I get it from my beautiful father.
[Elliot runs away crying because he's so touched] - Precision F-Strike: Elliot, the soft-spoken and incapable of fake anger guy releases his threatening first F bomb to Val after the latter calls Diane by her first name.Elliot: Val, you're a very sweet boy, but keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth.
- Teeny Weenie: He is completely at peace with having a below-average penis unlike Nick's situation, and so is his wife. Diane has compared it to Cinderella's glass slipper.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He used to be a product of his father's psychotic upbringing. After twisting a kid's nipples clean off his chest, Elliot had an epiphany and decided to be a Nice Guy from then on.
Diane
Diane Birch
Voiced By: Maya Rudolph
Nick's overzealous and affectionate mother.
- Almighty Mom: Whenever Diane gets angry, pretty much everyone knows best to avoid her.
- Beware the Nice Ones: In the season 3 episode Obsessed, she goes bat-shit insane when she loses her patience with Nick’s dependence on his otherwise bad influential cell phone Cellsea and brutally murders her after Andrew admits to the two stealing and crashing her car.
- Characterization Marches On: Initially a very overbearing mother, Diane's attitude straightens out towards Nick as the two of them start to come into conflict together as Nick progresses through puberty.
- She's become less tolerant of Andrew throughout the seasons, likely because of his increasingly depraved (and disgusting) behavior, Diane is no longer as patient nor friendly towards him as she was in the first season.
- Cruel to Be Kind: While smashing Nick's phone was a bit over the top, she clearly saw how addicted Nick was getting and needed to put a stop to it once and for all.
- Cute and Psycho: One of the nicest, gentlest mothers in the series, and perhaps the scariest when enraged as she's not afraid to resort to violence or going ice-cold on her own children if they piss her off enough. It's probably reasonable to say that she's where Judd gets it from.
- Housewife: Diane is a stay-at-home mother, which is understandable given their family's affluence. She is prone to try to mother any of Nick's friends that come by as well. Jay actually has a hidden camera in her kitchen because he loves to watch her cook (his own mother usually feeds her children fast food).
- Mama Bear: When the normally sweet Diane finds out that Jessi dumped Nick she is enraged and snarls that she wants to "rip that little bitch to pieces".
- My Beloved Smother: While she and Elliot are very touchy-feely with Nick, Diane is especially attached. She talks about wanting to "put him back up there" ("there" being her womb) and giving him lip kisses when he's already 12. She also gets sad when Nick tries to put some distance between them, as well as facing the fact that she'll soon have an empty nest.
- Parental Substitute: When Nick tries to distance himself from his mother, she starts to fill the temporary void in her life by acting like a mother figure for Jay. Given how horrible his home life is, it's hard to find argument with this.
- Straight Man and Wise Guy: The Straight Man in comparison to Elliot, who's an obvious Wise Guy.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She's absolutely furious with Elliot for letting Leah share a room with Val during their ski trip in season 5, though it's less about the issue itself, which she still isn't happy about, and more that he didn't even discuss it with her first.
- She's also the one to call Nick out for his selfish and abusive behavior in season 3 and 5.
Leah
Leah Birch
Voiced By: Kat Dennings (seasons 1-4), Chloe Fineman (season 5-present)
Nick's older, more-experienced sister.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: In Season 5, Leah starts dating Jay's cruel, juvenile delinquent older brother Val.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Averted for the most part. Leah is very mature and respectful of her parents most of the time, but does occasionally show signs of rebellion and attitude. However, as she rightly points out, coming into conflict with one's parents are completely normal for any child.
- Cool Big Sis: Leah is helpful, friendly and open minded. She likes to help Nick both in his relationships and understanding a lot of things about teens and puberty.
- Demoted to Extra: In season 4, she has only one speaking role in "The New Me" as a lifeguard, possibly due to Dennings' schedule conflict shooting WandaVision.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Leak is blonde and one of the nicer recurring characters.
- Male Gaze: Andrew notices how good she looks in a swimsuit.
- Morality Pet: She begins dating Jay's older brother Val, who thus far has shown to be a sadistic, misogynistic homophobe, and while he was still cruel to Nick, Val seemed to be a much kinder and awkward person around Leah, especially when they decide to have sex for the first time and even takes her father's advice on listening to her so they could both satisfy and pleasure each other.
- Nice Girl: She's shown to be a pretty good sister to Nick, even helping him better understand women in season one.
- Not So Above It All: Leah is usually the most sensible member of the Birch family, the exceptions being organising a wild party with her classmates when Elliot and Diane leave the house for the night and initially choosing the ill-advised pull-out contraceptive method in The Planned Parenthood Show.
- Pink Means Feminine: Leah wears a magenta maxi skirt as part of her usual outfit. She also wears a pink dress during the birth control sketch of the Planned Parenthood episode.
Judd
Judd Birch
Voiced By: Jon Daly
Nick and Leah's intense older brother.
- Aloof Big Brother: Subverted. He acts cold and aloof towards his younger siblings and even says he doesn't care what happens to them. When push comes to shove, however, he is shown to always be there for them whenever they need him and even admits to Nick in private that he loves him and wants him to succeed in his life. Not being a Big Brother Bully like Jay's older brothers also helps.
- Big Brother Bully: Judd doesn't hate Nick, but at the same time he has no qualms about training his raccoon army to attack Nick in his sleep.
- Big Brother Instinct: For all his attitude, he's actually shown to be a fairly good brother to Nick and is usually there for him when no one else is.
- Bomb Throwing Anarchist: Judd seems to be a lighter flavor of this, he's working on a manifesto, crawls through the walls and ceiling of the home to spy on his family members, and slashed all the car tires in the neighborhood for no reason. During the family ski trip in Season 5, he insists on sleeping by himself in the woods instead of at the hotel.
- Chick Magnet: Judd is shown setting up a romantic Valentine's dinner with his date with the help of raccoon waiters. He was later seen in the accompaniment of another love interest. Jessi had a huge crush on him, to the point of stealing one of his shirts. And a season 7 episode shows all of Leah's friends finding Judd attractive and making it clear to him.
- Creepy Monotone: He always speaks in a growling monotone voice.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Judd is an Emo Teen who dresses in black and while he may come off as a jerk, which in all fairness he is, he's still a good guy deep down.
- Demoted to Extra: Only gets two speaking roles in Season 4: promoting his future raccoon cult in "Nick Starr" and insulting his father in "What Are You Gonna Do?".
- Emo Teen: Mostly wears black and acts kind of angry and creepy, like countless other teenagers. But he doesn't actually behave violently towards people, unlike Jay's older brothers.
- Gag Penis: According to a line from Elliot in season 5, Judd is far more well-endowed than his father and brother.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Judd is ambiguously Ax-Crazy, but he looks out for his siblings whenever they need him. Even when Nick told Judd he thought he hated him, Judd was quick to turn down the notion.Judd: I don't hate you, you're my brother. I just want the world to burn... and for you to get your dick wet.
- Nick and Andrew eventually discover that Judd is close friends with a single mother and seems to get along really well with her kid.
- Judd is ambiguously Ax-Crazy, but he looks out for his siblings whenever they need him. Even when Nick told Judd he thought he hated him, Judd was quick to turn down the notion.
- Mr. Fanservice: In "No Nut November", he is seen shirtless due to having recently showered. This is enough to appease both Jessi and Connie very much.
- Perpetual Frowner: His default expression seems to be an irritated scowl. Even when he smiles, it's more like a Slasher Smile.
- Pest Controller: He's training an army of raccoons.
- So Proud of You: After watching Elliot punch Seamus in the face, Judd is very impressed and proud of him. He even seems to be surprised of the feeling himself.Judd: Dad, I...love you?!
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Judd has been engaging in antisocial behavior for most of his life, going as far as to gleefully lighting his sister's pigtails on fire when he was six.
- Vague Age: Judd lives at home and isn't mentioned to be attending any school, but he is apparently old enough to buy alcohol for his sister's party. Averted in season 7, where it's made clear that he's still a teenager as he attends Bridgeton High School.
Seamus McGregor
Seamus McGregor
Voiced by: Peter Capaldi
Elliot's abusive, estranged father.
- Hate Sink: In addition to being an abusive father to Elliot, Seamus is rude, sexist, and generally awful to be around. More than that, he shows no redeeming characteristics whatsoever and ends the season exactly the same as he began it.
- Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Was obsessed with an obscure form of Scottish fighting that revolved around nipple twisting, and is disgusted with the person Elliot has grown into.
- The Pig-Pen: Like a lot of shut-ins, Seamus' house is absolutely disgusting.
- Put on a Bus: By Season 7 he's been put in a retirement home.
- So Proud of You: Is very proud when Elliot gets sick of his crap and punches him in the face, knocking out a tooth in the process.
The Gloubermans
In General
Voiced By: Richard Kind & Paula Pell
Andrew's family, consisting of his father Marty and mother Barbara.
- Awful Wedded Life: Downplayed, as Marty describes himself as an "angrily married man". Despite this, he does genuinely love Barbara and she reciprocates, but they easily get on each other's nerves.
- In Season 6 Marty's treatment of Barbara finally takes its toll and she leaves him. It takes a Freaky Friday-style episode to fix things.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: For all that Marty and Barbara bicker, its shown that they are still very much in love with each other, even if Marty's intensity often gets in the way of showing it as openly or as often as Elliot does to Diane.Marty: First of all, I forgot my watch, second of all, I love you, Barbara.
- Parental Neglect: They barely seem to notice or care that Andrew eats and sleeps at the Birch house almost as much as he does at home. Barbara usually allows Marty's abuse of Andrew to stand unchallenged. Marty did not even say goodbye to Andrew before he thought he was leaving for summer camp!
Marty
Martin 'Marty' Glouberman
Voiced By: Richard Kind
Andrew's loud, obnoxious father.
- Abusive Parents: He consistently sides against his son in almost any dispute and yells at him frequently. Also, he physically restrained Andrew while waxing his mustache against Andrew's will. Despite being painful and humiliating for Andrew, Marty seemed very pleased afterward. It never appears to have even occurred to him that, given Andrew's age, he could have just taught him to shave — as very, very few men wax their facial hair.
- Played for Laughs when Andrew was born, and Barbara asked Marty if he liked "Andrew" as a name for their son. Marty tried it out by seeing how it felt yelling it in anger, and decided it worked.
- All Jews Are Cheapskates: Marty is a very frugal man to put it mildly.
- Artistic License – Religion: Marty loves scallops (which are shellfish) and eats them extremely often, almost in any outing despite his reaction to them and nobody appears to notice that Jews don't eat shellfish, not even his own family or Jessi's equally Jewish family who even serves them at her Bat Mitzvah.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: In "Girls Get Horny Too", Marty accuses a guy in Shark Tank of somehow getting into his head and stealing his illuminated toilet seat idea, much to the (sexual) frustration of Barbara. Turns out, he wasn't completely off. Maurice says at the end of the episode that he took note of it while hanging around Marty and he let it slip to the guy that eventually took it to Shark Tank.
- Eyepatch After Time Skip: At the end of season three, Marty, for some reason, sports an eyepatch, and it is not commented upon until the very last shot before the credits.
- Fan Disservice: Marty's balls are a frequent source of vulgar humour. Even Maurice is grossed out by their size and weight, noting that the weight of his testes causes his scrotum to be unnaturally smooth. When Andrew is trying to avoid ejaculating, he pictures his father's gigantic balls.
- Freudian Excuse: "Florida" shows his father and his brother (both assholes and all around terrible people), which explains a lot of his behaviour, and his poor relationship with his son.
- Freudian Threat: He threatens Andrew with castration more and more in recent seasons. While Andrew is having a steamy Zoom call with Bernie, he barges in with a screwdriver and says "your penis or your door". Later, when he catches Andrew at Nick's "hookup house", he threatens to "finish what the mohel started".
- Hates Everyone Equally: When Andrew asked him about women, Marty answered that he can't stand women, then specified that he doesn't like men either, and frankly, doesn't care for people in general.
- Hidden Depths: Over the course of Thanksgiving Andrew figures out that Marty is still grieving his father's death and put so much effort into his turkey because it's how he expresses love to his family. When Andrew and Marty have a "Freaky Friday" Flip, Marty reveals that he does have genuine feelings for Barbara but is unable to say them to her face.
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Befitting his cheapness and practical nature, his favorite hobby is breaking down and flattening cardboard boxes to make them easier to store. He also enjoys sucking on peach pits while he's taking a dump.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Marty is a short-tempered slob who's constantly on the attack, and thinks nothing of publicly shaming his only son during a basketball game. Despite this, he's really not such a bad guy; he does care for his family, loves his wife and thinks well of friends like Elliot. In a flashback, it's shown he met his future wife when she rear-ended him. He gets out and starts yelling at her. Barbara, who was returning home from a very emotionally taxing experience, breaks down into tears. Marty instantly stops shouting and comforts her, even rubbing her back when this total stranger collapses weeping into his arms.
- Jewish Complaining: He does this a lot. Andrew hits the nail on the head by describing him as a "one-star Yelp review come to life". Hell, he even kvetches during the title sequence of "Florida".
- Odd Friendship: He immediately hits it off with Lola due to their similar abrasive personalities and weird, aggressive quirks. Along with their mutual despise for Ashton Kutcher for his attempt at replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men.
- With Elliot, Nick's father. The two are basically complete opposites in every way, but Marty still defends him after Nick yells at him, pointing out that, yes, Elliot is a bit of a weirdo, and a lot of his traits annoys Marty, but he knows who he is, which is more than you can say about most people.
- Only Sane Man: Due to being so ruthlessly pragmatic (although he makes an exception for scallops) Marty is often a surprisingly sensible albeit outraged voice of reason, especially among the adult characters. Of note is his appearance in "Guy Town" where he sets about noting all the building violations in Greg's new apartment, tells Greg exactly what he's expected to do to put his life together, gives Nick a short but effective speech about appreciating the weird but loving Elliott, fearlessly threatens Guy Bilzerian into releasing Greg from his lease (with some help from Caleb) and giving Nick the best advice about Gina of everyone he's asked.
- Papa Wolf: Usually averted, but zig-zagged in the Season 3 opening episode 'Girls are Angry Too' he is even more pissed when Jay accidentally harms Andrew in Woodshop class and is quick to threaten Guy for it. Nonetheless, he still manages to call Andrew an idiot in front of all the others in the room.
- What prompts him and Skip to fight is Skip calling Andrew a pervert, because only Marty can call his son a pervert.
- Potty Failure: As a result of his love of scallops, despite being violently allergic to them, he's ruined several pairs of pants, as well as pairs of shoes from the resulting diarrhea.
- Shadow Archetype: While it's not given a lot focus, it's revealed that Marty embodies all of Andrew's worst qualities.
- Sibling Rivalry: With his brother Skip.
- So Proud of You: When Andrew hits him in the season 4 finale, Marty admits it's the first time he felt proud of his son.
- Supreme Chef: He cooks a turkey so well Andrew has no problem eating it out of the trash, while happily acknowledging that, "That balding rage-volcano cooks a mean turkey."
- Took a Level in Kindness: Somewhat. In season 3 he's nicer and more patient with Barbara, but he still treats Andrew the same.
- Trademark Favorite Food: He loves scallops, even though they give him violent diarrhea.Waiter: Would you like some scallops, sir?
Marty: That's a very complicated question.
Barbara
Barbara Glouberman
Voiced By: Paula Pell
Andrew's overburdened but well-meaning mother.
- A Day in the Limelight: She gets her own subplot in the season 3 episode, "Florida", where she is hounded by a witch-like creature known as the Menopause Banshee.
- Morality Pet: While she's not immune to Marty's temper and frequently gets into arguments with him, she's the only person he shows his softer side to and the only person he can show any affection to.
- Nice Girl: At least in comparison to Marty. Barbara loves Andrew and at least makes some effort to teach Andrew about puberty.
- Parents as People: Barbara eventually gets fed up with Marty yelling at her for next to no reason and walks out on him. She only comes back when she finds out that Marty was dangerously negligent of Andrew.
Lewis
Lewis Glouberman
Voiced By: Judd Hirsch
Andrew's zeyde (grandfather).
- Abusive Parents:
- To Marty and Skip, whom Lewis gleefully pits against one another at every opportunity for his own amusement.
- His ghost may or may not have persuaded Andrew into jacking off in front of his corpse in order to get him caught in the act by the attendees of his funeral.
- Killed Off for Real: Dies of old age in season 4, with his funeral making up the plot of "The Funeral".
- Phony Veteran: Tries to lecture Marty about what happened if you were late during the Korean War. Barbara immediately calls him out on the fact that he never served in Korea, leading to him admitting that he saw it on the History Channel.
- Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He is rude to guests, tries to goad his sons into fighting for his entertainment and is completely ungrateful to Marty for his help in paying for Lewis's retirement home.
- Too Much Information: Has no problem with deliberately grossing out Nick by telling him that he will be sleeping on the living room floor where Lewis does his morning stretches — in the nude.
Skip
Skip Glouberman
Voiced By: David Cross
Marty's brother and Andrew's uncle.
- Basement-Dweller: Sleeps on his father's couch in a retirement complex most nights and does not have a full-time job. But...
- Cool Car: Drives a sporty convertible.
- Papa Wolf: He gets pissed when he sees Andrew making out with Cherry, and rightfully calls him a pervert which leads to him getting into a fist-fight with Marty over the situation.
- Sibling Rivalry: With Marty. Within seconds of reuniting, he's challenging Marty to a wrestling match.
Cherry
Cherry Maraschino
Portrayed By: Julie Klausner
Formerly Cheryl Glouberman, Andrew's attractive cousin in Florida.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Aside from her attitude in general, Cherry makes it pretty clear that she relishes shocking the family by making out with Andrew and getting caught doing so. Indeed, given that she sends him a cleavage pic once he gets home to New York it is pretty clear that she was not at all chastened by getting caught by her father, grandfather and uncle.
- Country Cousin: She's a lot more of a stereotypical redneck than her cousin Andrew. That being said, she's not quite in Deep South territory as she's only from Florida.
- Fiery Redhead: Downplayed. Cherry intentionally engages in mind games in order to confuse and irritate Andrew, going as far as trying to initiate sexual activity with him and acting repulsed when he calls her out on it.
- Kissing Cousins: Engages in sexual activities with Andrew, who is thoroughly confused by the whole thing.
- Ms. Fanservice: Wears skimpy clothes with a choker. She also sends Andrew a selfie where she's flaunting her cleavage.
- She's All Grown Up: And considering his fluctuating hormones, Andrew can't help but notice.
- Stage Names: Her actual name is Cheryl Glouberman, but she calls herself "Cherry Maraschino" because it sounds cooler for her "competitive vaping" career.
The Glasers
In General
Voiced By: Seth Morris (Greg) & Jessica Chaffin (Shannon)
Jessi's family, consisting of her father Greg and mother Shannon.
- Affectionate Nickname: Greg's nickname for Jessi is Jellybean, and Shannon's nickname for Jessi is Jessibear.
- Amicably Divorced: Downplayed. Since the divorce, Shannon makes it clear that she doesn't miss Greg. However, they at least manage to keep things civil and don't fight over sharing custody with Jessi.
- Awful Wedded Life: Greg and Shannon's marriage devolved into this. They often jab at each other for no reason, fight all the time and clearly dislike each other at this point. Played for Drama, as the two of them are incredibly miserable and Jessi's home life becomes worse and worse because her parents' hatred for each other sometimes get in the way of the fact they both genuinely love her.
- Celebrity Resemblance: They have a dog that looks like (and is later voiced by) Nathan Fillion.
- Dead Sparks: They used to be happy and in love, but now their relationship is this.
- Happily Married: They were this, a long time ago. Over the years, they drifted apart due to Shannon's advancing career and Greg's stagnation, becoming continuously lazy and high all the time.
- Lousy Lovers Are Losers: Invoked; Greg and Shannon have been in a Sexless Marriage for some time, which eventually results in Shannon cheating on Greg with another woman, but Shannon fully admits it's not really Greg's fault per se. They started out as a young, loving couple in their 20's, but never bothered to explore their physical relationship beyond that, meaning that they simply grew bored with each other.Shannon: We were bad at it (sex) together.
- Parents as People: They both genuinely love Jessi and try to do best by her, but Greg's slacker stoner nature lead to Shannon being the sole provider of the family, causing them to resent and argue with each other constantly. Shannon is revealed to be cheating on Greg with their Cantor, and the second season has them falling out and Greg moving out, with all the negative effects on Jessi shown in detail.
Shannon
Shannon Glaser
Voiced By: Jessica Chaffin
Jessi's mother. A hard-working woman that tries to teach her daughter about women's place in the world.
- Ambiguously Bi: Shannon doesn't exactly know what she is anymore, having cheated on Greg with a woman. While a lot of people seem to assume she's lesbian, it's never cleared up whether or not she is still attracted to men. Her marriage to Greg was genuinely loving at one part, and it's implied that part of the reason they drifted apart was due to a lack of sex. It seems likely that Shannon is bisexual, but never had the chance to explore these feelings due to being married for such a long time.
- Education Mama: Weighs Jessi down with tremendous expectations for academic and career success. This is partly motivated by her Straw Feminism, as she seems to want Jessi to be successful more than she wants her to be happy. This does not help Jessi's depression and ironically Greg has to talk Shannon into putting less pressure on Jessi when Jessi has a bout of depression during annual standardized tests that have Shannon talking about her getting into Yale.
- Good Parents: While Shannon may not be perfect, she's still a devoted mother to Jessi. This starts to get shakier at the end of season 3, when she decides to move to New York without telling her until it's too late, which shows not only she has not learned nothing from her previous experiences with secrets and how her actions affected her family, but that she is prioritizing herself above her daughter. She finally rectifies her mistakes towards the end of season 4, where she admits that making Jessi move to the city was selfish and allows her to move in with Greg and go back to her old school.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Implied towards Greg's new girlfriend. When Jessi is about to visit her, Shannon tells her to make note of said girlfriend's looks, asking if she's actually pretty or just young.
- Hypocrite: Shannon is really pissy when she finds out that Greg has a new girlfriend. This is after they have divorced over Shannon having an affair with Dina while she and Greg were still married.
- Insecure Love Interest: Shannon feels as though she's less sexually attractive than Dina, which causes her to second-guess her behavior and fashion choices. Jessi deliberately invokes this in one of their arguments, saying that Dina has a perfect body and Shannon does not.
- It's All About Me: A lot of the family's conflicts can be traced to Shannon's selfishness and lack of communication. She cheated on her husband rather than make him go to marriage counseling and she decides to move to New York purely to make herself feel better while not telling Jessi until the wheels were in motion. She learns from her mistakes towards the end of season 4.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Shannon fell hard for Dina, who had no problem with having an adulterous affair with a married woman. Shannon also defended her relationship with Dina to both Greg and Jessi (and one time to Andrew and Nick). Then Dina dumped Shannon just because she wanted to be single when she went to an Ani DiFranco concert.
- Mama Bear: When she finds out that Jessi got high from some of Greg's "edibles", she is pissed at him and demands he leaves.
- Never My Fault: Despite loving Jessie and trying to be a good mother, she does not really take responsibility for her affair with Dina, and still defends her actions even considering the damage it has caused to her daughter and husband, nor does she ever apologize to Jessi and Greg. While it's true Greg leaves a lot to be desired as a husband, she doesn't seem to have made much of an effort to make him or their marriage improve. Later, when Dina unceremoniously dumps her to pursue other women, Shannon just camps out in bed and Jessi is the one who ends up having to comfort her.
- Parents as People: She loves Jessi and means well, but her own personal faults and troubles get in the way of being an effective mother.
- Straw Feminist: Jessi is able to pressure Shannon into buying her a red push-up bra simply by accusing her of being part of "The Patriarchy" if she doesn't. Shannon is so horrified that she cannot even come up with a counter-argument. Even though it turns out that she was right that Jessi was not ready for the negative attention that the bra would provoke in boys and girls alike. Shannon also denounces her ex-husband's new girlfriend as a "slut" for no good reason.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Deconstructed. Shannon is stuck in a miserable marriage with a useless partner who can't give her what she wants or needs and is completely lost about who she exactly is. But no matter how valid her own unhappiness is, and despite none of her acts coming from a place of malice, the choices she made still destroyed her family and left an especially deep emotional wound on her daughter.
- Vicariously Ambitious: She drives Jessi hard to succeed and excel...a little too hard, as she later acknowledges.
Greg
Greg Glaser
Voiced By: Seth Morris
Jessi's stoner father. He's a loving father though a not so great husband.
- Age-Gap Romance: Has this with Caitlin, his girlfriend after the divorce, who is stated to be twenty-five while he is presumably in his forties.
- Alliterative Name: Greg Glaser.
- Character Development: After the divorce, Greg actually takes control of his life in ways both good (getting his own place, getting a job at Trader Joe's, starting a new relationship) and good-ish (becoming a biker and making a big deal about being a biker).
- Good Parents: While his life choices aren't exactly the best, he has proven to be a good father to Jessi. He helps her get out of her slump during the ASSes, and manages to help Shannon realize how much pressure she's putting on Jessi and convinces her to cut their daughter some slack.
- Hidden Depths: While he might seem like an irresponsible slacker, he manages to prove his merit as a father when he scolds Jessi for shoplifting and refusing to tolerate her anger towards her mother. He also isn't afraid to admit that he was a bad husband who had been taking his wife for granted.
- After the divorce, he ends up finding an interest in cycling.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Greg looks very much like his voice actor, Seth Morris.
- Innocently Insensitive: Tells Jessi that he wants to "get things right this time" when his second daughter is born. While Greg means that he doesn't want to repeat his failings as a father to Jessi (i.e., going back to his old self), the comment feeds into Jessi's insecurities and makes her relationship with the new baby worse.
- It's All My Fault: He willingly accepts the fact that his wife cheating on him was his own fault. He reveals this when Jessi asks him why he isn't angry at her. He mentions to have not have had or looked for any work in years, letting Shannon take over the job of sustaining both himself and Jessi and quit trying to have sex with her for years.
- Jobless Parent Drama: A big part of the strain between him and Shannon has been his unwillingness to look for a job for several years.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: Greg is implied to have become outright impotent during the early seasons, likely due to his drug use, and was using erectile dysfunction pills until eventually giving up on that too. Once he and Shannon separate, and he kicks his pot habit, this trope is averted, as he winds up with a girlfriend that he's almost 20 years older, and ends up impregnating.
- Lonely Bachelor Pad: His original room at Guy Town was this trope in spades, as the entire building is essentially a shabby motel for divorced men. After he gets a real apartment, it's downplayed; it's not a great place, but compared to Guy Town, it's a mansion. At least this one has running water and actual outlets.
- Manchild: Deconstruction. While Greg may be a decent person and good father, he still has the mindset of an adult child — not having a job, making his wife handle all of the responsibilities, getting stoned most of the day, etc. It's one of the reasons his and Shannon's marriage becomes increasingly unstable. He does grow out of this after leaving the house, getting a place, a new job, becoming a cyclist and getting a new girlfriend.
- It's worth noting said girlfriend is 25-years-old, so while he's still clinging to his youth, it's not as self-destructive as it used to be. The two also seem to be well-suited (to the point that Shannon remarks on it), and are expecting a child as of Season 5.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Throughout Season 2, he comes to the realization that he hasn't been a good husband. When Jessi gets into his edibles, he's horrified and moves out in penance.
- Papa Wolf: It takes his creepy roommate hitting on Jessi to convince Greg not to move into Guy Town.
- The Slacker: Greg has not had a job in years and prefers to spend his time hanging out listening to 90's music and getting stoned. The overall appearance was of an adult child living in his mother's basement, only in this case it was his wife's (until she divorced him). Marty Glouberman explicitly calls him out on this when he moves into Guy Town.
- The Stoner: Jessi outright states he spends most of his time high. He doesn't hide it, even vaping at Jessi's bat mitzvah. He seems to have dropped the habit and cleaned up his act in season 3.
- Trademark Favorite Food: His trademark favorite grocery store is Trader Joe's. So much so that he gets a job and meets his new girlfriend there.
Caitlin (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Caitlin Grafton
Voiced By: Jenny Slate
Greg's 26-year-old girlfriend, and the mother of Jessi's younger half-sister.
- Age-Gap Romance: Caitlin is twenty-six years old and is in a relationship with Greg, a middle-aged man with a teenaged daughter.
- A Day in the Limelight: A segment of "Vagina Shame" is dedicated to her - specifically, her distress about having to have her baby by C-section.
- Fan Disservice: Caitlin's lactating breasts are shown in their heaving, veiny glory.
- Good Stepmother: Caitlin and Greg are not married, but she tries to fill this role in Jessi's life, reassuring her about her role as a big sister and offering her assistance and comfort when she has a yeast infection.
- Nice Girl: Caitlin is a very friendly, sweet-natured woman who does her best to have a good relationship with Jessi, even when the latter showed nothing but disdain for her. It’s this kindness that eventually wins out in the end, and the two begin to genuinely bond when Caitlin helps Jessi through her first yeast infection with no judgment.
- Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Caitlin is creeped out when she notices Jessi staring at her breasts while she's feeding.
- Shiksa Goddess: Caitlin is Unitarian and in a relationship with Greg, who is Jewish. This is downplayed, however, since it's only mentioned when Greg puts up a Christmas tree in their apartment (in order to make Caitlin feel more at home).
- Unknown Rival: Shannon dislikes her intensely, while Caitlin seems to bear no ill will towards her.
The Bilzerians
In General
Voiced By: Jason Mantzoukas (Guy), Heather Lawless (Jenna), Mark Duplass (Val) & Paul Scheer (Kurt)
Jay's family, consisting of his father, mother, two older brothers, and his dog.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: Their home is more akin to a cave of feral animals than a suburban dwelling. Val and Kurt are sadistic, bullying little beasts, Jenna is an alcoholic and Guy is the worst of them all: a misogynistic, sleazy creep who doesn't possess a shred of remorse for his horrid actions.
- Took a Level in Kindness: They all have one when Jay renovates their home into a more comfortable and stable environment. They're all quite impressed with what he's done and actually compliment him on doing a good job. Val and Kurt even stop bullying him and actually play with him in the finale.
Guy
Guy Bilzerian
Voiced By: Jason Mantzoukas
Jay's father, a local divorce lawyer.
- Abusive Parents: At least one of his law commercials has him outright state that he considers Jay a disappointment for his interest in magic tricks. By the end of the commercial it's revealed that the cameraman was in fact Jay.
- Amoral Attorney: He's a repulsive human being through and through, but is a fairly successful ambulance-chasing lawyer. A Running Gag involves someone saying something shockingly blunt, sleazy or amoral, only for it to be immediately revealed that they're quoting Guy's law commercials (possibly inadvertently). This means his commercials advertise with lines such as:She was your friend, then she was your lover, now she's your enemy.
Remember, they're not women, they're hookers.
All I wanted was a blowjob at a high school party.
Love dies. Let's bury the body together.
They're saying I'm a serial killer, but I'm just a chronic masturbator.
I just wanted to touch myself in public. Is that so wrong?
Hey, man, a mouth's a mouth.
DNA is a hoax created by gay scientists.
Women are supposed to be, like, seals: totally smooth, good with balls, and always clapping for you. - Bald of Evil: He might appear to have a thick head of hair, but it's a toupee concealing a shiny dome.
- Big Damn Heroes: Yes, really. When Andrew is accused of being the Ponytail Killer/Prowler/Person/Something due to a series of very unfortunate coincidences and thrown into jail, Guy shows up and manages to prove his innocence... At the cost of a video of him throwing a bunch of jizz-filled socks in a dumpster going viral.
- The Caligula: In Guy Town he has an impossibly lavish room and lives out his fantasy of being treated like a king, while all the other tenants are stuck in dark and dirty bedsits that have fallen into noticeable disrepair.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: He does not approve of Jay doing magic, to the point of outright saying it in one of his law commercials.
- Hypocrite:
- In the above-mentioned commercial, he performs a sleight-of-hand trick with a coin, just before making the comment that doing (stage) magic makes Jay a disappointment to him.
- Has a very negative attitude towards Planned Parenthood and has taught Jay to refer to it as an "abortion factory". He also takes his secretary there fairly regularly precisely because he keeps knocking her up and doesn't want her to actually bring a pregnancy to term.
- Jerkass: Guy is an aggressive, smug bully and an embodiment of toxic masculinity.
- Last Episode, New Character: Gets mentioned a lot throughout the first season, but only appears during the cold open of a late episode (that's otherwise completely unrelated to him), and only appears playing a significant role in the season 1 finale, where he serves as Andrew's unlikely savior. Come season 2, he makes several appearances, and has a significant role... As a minor villain setting a negative, misogynistic example for the boys (specially Jay, predictably).
- Omnidisciplinary Lawyer: In the first episode, Jessi says that Jay's dad is a "D.U.I. lawyer", but later in the series he is also shown to handle divorce law and criminal defense. Many of his commercial quotes (see above) suggest that he defends a lot of sex offenders. He possibly does corporate law, as he represented the manufacturer of Cotton Candy Brandy in an unspecified case.
- Pet the Dog:
- He does manage to clear Andrew's name when he's accused of being the Ponytail Killer.
- When he sees how hard Jay worked to clean up their miserable house, he assures his son that he's a "worthy Bilzerian".
- Phrase Catcher: "Stop quoting [your/my dads/my friends etc.] law commercials!"
- Politically Incorrect Villain: He has a very uncharitable view of women, seeing them purely as tools for his own pleasure to be picked up or discarded on his own whims.
- Really Gets Around: He's got loads of bastard sons and is outraged when they all meet each other.
- Running Gag: When someone says something particularly sexual and sleazy (usually Jay), chances are someone answers with "Stop quoting your dad's [Guy's] law commercials!"
- Played with in the season 1 finale, where the man himself announces his entrance and subsequent heroic intervention with a twist on the phrase.Guy: Stop quoting my law commercials!
- Played with in the season 1 finale, where the man himself announces his entrance and subsequent heroic intervention with a twist on the phrase.
- Serial Killer: Treated as a joke most of the time. But in season six his wife reveals that she has written down where the unmarked graves are.
Jenna
Jenna "Jay's Mom" Bilzerian
Voiced By: Heather Lawless
Jay's alcoholic and neglectful mother.
- Alcoholic Mom: She's introduced drinking wine in a semi-stupor. Jay mentions she drinks so much she barely is able to function as a mother and Guy also mentions offhandedly (in his law commercial) that she has been institutionalized twice, so there might be a connection.
- Big Damn Heroes: She kills Badmitten when he was about to permanently override Coach Steve's mind.
- Catchphrase: In season 3, she gets "My name is Jay's Mom and I'm an alcoholic", which she says even when she's not at an AA meeting.
- Genius Ditz: Is barely conscious most of the time. But she is nonetheless aware of the very real possibility that her husband may literally murder her at some point. So she reveals to Jay that she has assembled a notebook detailing every crime that Guy has committed (including shell companies and unmarked graves) for use should he actually try to get rid of her.
- Parental Neglect: She spends so much time drunk she can barely care for her family. She feeds her kids by throwing take out on the table and letting them fight over it like animals while she goes back to drinking.
- Pet the Dog: She acts very kindly and patient towards Coach Steve, enough to be very understanding when he admits to being a virgin and sleeps with him. And through Coach Steve, she even acts somewhat more like a mother to Jay. Jay's happiness throughout the episode says it all.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Jenna cheats on her husband with Coach Steve, but it's hardly a mark against her considering how thoroughly awful Guy is.
- Took a Level in Kindness: In a weird way, anyway. Coach Steve helps make her a little more level-headed and she actually starts acting like a mom to Jay, allowing Jay to call her "Mom", actually remembering to pick him up from school (albeit a little drunk even then), even cooking him and Coach Steve a meal and showing concern over Jay's age before giving him Cotton Candy Brandy. Still, based on what she was like in Season 1, it's a pretty decent step up for her.
Val & Kurt
Val & Kurt Bilzerian
Voiced By: Mark Duplass (Val) & Paul Scheer (Kurt)
Jay's big brothers, who enjoy abusing him any chance they get.
- A Day in the Limelight: Val of all characters, gets his time in the sun when he dates Nick's sister Leah, and even gets an episode in Season 5 focusing primarily on their surprisingly positive relationship as they have sex for the first time.
- Big Brother Bully: Both of them are vicious little sociopaths.
- Hidden Depths: Val of all people, reveals himself to be a virgin when he begins dating Leah and even lets her know that he's a virgin before they decide to have sex for the first time. His claim turns out to be true as his inexperience shows when he and Leah have rather unsatisfying sex the first time.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Lampshaded and deconstructed, as Andrew and Nick discuss: they'll grow up telling the story about Val and Kurt as a funny anecdote only to one day realize their actions clearly constituted sexual abuse of children.
- Jerkass: This is honestly the nicest thing that can be said about them.
- Kick the Dog: One of them shot their old neighbor's dog in the eye with a slingshot, resulting in its death.
- Pet the Dog: Val, a sadistic bully to Jay and a misogynist, actually shows genuine kindness to his girlfriend Leah, and even shows true respect towards Nick's father Elliot, despite being perhaps the most effeminate man in the show.
- Speed Sex: Val's first time with Leah, though this wasn't exactly unexpected. After the two talk things out, as well as some advice from Elliot, their second time is more satisfying.
- Teens Are Monsters: Val and Kurt are sadistic homophobes who relentlessly bully and abuse Jay.
- Unexpected Virgin: For all his posturing and terrible sex advice to Jay, Val turns out to have been a virgin until season 5. It's not known if Kurt is one as well.
Feat. Ludacris
Featuring Ludacris
Voiced By: Jordan Peele
The Bilzerians' aggressive looking dog that is nicer than he first seems. Not actually voiced by Ludacris.
- Angry Guard Dog: For the Bilzerians. He's pretty damned vicious with anyone who isn't a Bilzerian and has to be kept on a chain. However, he seems to develop a fondness for Nick.
- Big Damn Heroes: Before Val and Kurt can torment Nick, Featuring Ludacris instantly comes to the rescue and even runs out with Nick to get him away from them.
- A Day in the Limelight: The Christmas special details his backstory: He was originally named Pretzel and belonged to an animal shelter worker who was killed by the Russian mob. After he killed most of the mobsters in revenge, Santa took a bullet for him his last act was to give him to Jay for Christmas.
- Hidden Depths: He's dealing with some serious self-image issues.
- Intellectual Animal: Played for dark humor, because he's self aware enough to have all the self-consciousness issues the idea of the self comes with. Like Brian Griffin without all the pretension.
- The Lost Lenore: He tells Nick that he was once in love with a neighborhood beagle until she was killed in an accident by Jay's brothers. Though this could be false since it's only mentioned when Nick was high off of edibles.
- Papa Wolf: He's protective of Jay. When Jay comes to terms with his bisexuality, Feat. Ludacris tearfully declares that he's proud of the little guy.
- Punny Name: He's a Pitbull named Featuring Ludacris.
- Talking Animal: Played with; he mostly barks before forming sentences. Nobody seems aware that he's speaking except for one time Val and Kurt react like they heard him giving a Big "NO!".
- Token Good Teammate: He is the only member of the Bilzerian’s who shows Jay any sort of respect, despite being a dog.
- Truth in Fiction: Featuring Ludacris is aware of his own existence and gets depressed when he looks in a mirror. Smart dogs can be self aware, which itself is commonly tested with a mirror. Intelligent dogs are also more prone to mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.
The Foreman-Greenwalds
Cyrus and Monica
Voiced By: Jordan Peele (Cyrus) & Chelsea Peretti (Monica)
Missy's loving father and mother.
- Good Parents: The two clearly love Missy. Her mother once helped Missy accept her body and not feel ashamed about it.
- Hippie Parents: While hippies may be a minor stretch, Cyrus and Monica do act pretty easy-going and laid-back.
- Maligned Mixed Marriage: Downplayed; the family on Cyrus' side is judgemental of the post-racial attitude they're operating on and how it has dampened his connection to his black heritage and subsequently disconnected Missy from that part of her identity.
- Nice Guy: They're both likeable and kind individuals and are excellent parents to Missy, albeit not without flaws.
- Open-Minded Parent: Missy's mother implied that she wouldn't mind if her daughter was bisexual and is apparently alright with the idea of her daughter masturbating. However, they seem to be uncomfortable with Missy trying to explore her black side.
- Papa Wolf: Downplayed as Cyrus is considerably more open-minded than most fathers, but he does want to protect Missy from harmful influences such as conformity and the restrictiveness of church.
- Straw Feminist: Averted. Missy's mother is the only character who manages to uphold feminist ideals without being hypocritical or belligerent.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Possibly with an element of Covert Pervert. Cyrus uses one of Monica's bras to collect radishes from the garden. He does not wear the bra. Say it Missy!
- The Whitest Black Guy: Cyrus. His family criticize him for it.
Lena and Quinta
Voiced by: Lena Waithe (Lena) & Quinta Brunson (Quinta)
Missy's cousins on her father's side. They teach Missy to embrace more of her black heritage.
- "Angry Black Man" Stereotype: Missy sees Lena as this, particularly when she has a Wakanda-inspired fantasy where Lena plays Killmonger to DeVon's T'Challa. Keep in mind that in the Black Panther movie, Killmonger hates all white people. Subverted in reality, as Lena is dating a white person and only takes issue with black people who don't embrace their heritage.
- Butch Lesbian: Lena is interested in women, and has a pretty masculine look with short hair and a preference for gender-neutral clothes.
-
The Danza: Share the same first name as their VA's - Everyone Has Standards: When Missy has a fight with her parents for not letting her embrace or get in touch with black culture, Lena and Quinta show support for her, but when she explodes at her white mother to stop "stealing their men", they both claim she went too far (the same couldn't be said of their mother). Just because they're proud of their race doesn't mean they're against interracial coupling.
- Hypocrite: Lena and DeVon get into a big debate questioning code-switching (later joined by the entire party), in which Lena defends that code-switching is corny and that she shouldn't have to tune down her culture for the sake of appearing non-threatening to white people. Immediately after, a white girl shows up to ask if she is still up for a date, at which point she code-switches to hit on her, but claims that is a totally different thing.
The Macdells
In General
Voiced by: Gary Cole (Edward), Julie White (Kimberly)
Matthew's family, consisting of his mother Kimberly, father Edward, younger sister Brittany, and three other siblings.
- Everything is Big in Texas: They are a Texan family, and it comes across strongly.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: The family has five kids, of whom Matthew seems to be the oldest.
- Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Edward is a tall, muscled, rugged-looking guy, while Kimberly is dressed like she's always expecting company.
- Noble Bigot: The parents don't try to be homophobic, but they're reluctant to tell their children that Matthew is gay because they're unable to view his orientation in a non-sexual light. He eventually calls them out on this and they later try educating their children in a way that won't cause too much of a fuss.
Kimberly Macdell
Voiced by: Julie White
Matthew's mother, a traditional housewife who struggles to accept her son's sexual orientation.
- Delayed Family Acceptance: Does not respond well to Matthew coming out, and warns him that his father will respond even worse. Luckily, she was wrong about that.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Her love of baking is evident, and is an important aspect of her relationship with Matthew. They even use baking as metaphors for sexuality.
- Good Old Ways: She calls herself old-fashioned to explain her reaction to Matthew's coming out.
- Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?: She tries to convince Matthew that he's confused and choosing to "bake with a boy," and that he could just as easily "make a beautiful cake" with a girl.
- Housewife: Engages in traditionally "feminine" domestic tasks like cooking, cleaning, and childcare, and even regularly wears a skirt and apron around the house like a 50s housewife.
- Mama Bear: Despite her strained relationship with Matthew, she snipes at another woman at the church bake-off who seems to be getting a little too smug about her son's sexuality.
- Parental Favoritism: Previously Matthew was her favorite, but now seems to have switched to Brittany after his coming out.
- Psychological Projection: Assumes her husband is just as conservative and old fashioned as herself. He's not, entirely.
- Silent Treatment: Becomes very cold and distant toward Matthew after the bombshell.
Edward Macdell
Voiced by: Gary Cole
Matthew's masculine yet surprisingly tolerant veteran father, who loves 90s sitcoms.
- Ambiguously Bi: There are some hints that he maybe a closet bisexual. While he does love his wife, he makes multiple remarks of being interested in the gay life style.
- Dad the Veteran: Is a Navy veteran, which is a big part of his identity. He has patriotic and military paraphernalia around the house, and Matthew even greets him with a salute and refers to him as "staff sergeant" when introducing him to Jessi.
- Everybody Knew Already: Well, at least he knew already, when Matthew comes out to him.
- Good Old Ways: Matthew's mother warns him that his father is like this, but while he still thinks of "personal talks" as being his wife's domain, he's actually very accepting of homosexuality. Now, deep-frying a turkey, on the other hand...
- Hidden Depths: Seems like a typical, masculine, ex-military Texan guy, but has no problem with his son's sexuality (though he doesn't seem too keen to dwell on it). He's also a big fan of Full House.
- Innocently Insensitive: After awkwardly and bluntly asking Jessi whether she's Jewish, he reassures her that he loves "traditional Jewish sitcoms" like The Nanny, Seinfeld, Mad About You, and Friends (because of Ross and Monica, he says). Jessi also mentions to Matthew that his father said he likes her because the Rapture can't happen without her people. He also feels the need to tell Jessi that "church" is like a synagogue for people who believe in God.
- Let Her Grow Up, Dear: Gender-flipped. It's Edward who's fine with the idea of his son having a boyfriend, while his wife struggles to accept it.
- Open-Minded Parent: Turns out to be far more accepting and understanding of his son's sexuality than Matthew's mother had led him to fear.
- Parents Know Their Children: Explains that he knew Matthew was gay back when he was still driving him to tap lessons.
- Permission to Speak Freely: Sometimes uses military jargon as a veteran, and says this verbatim to Matthew.
- Pop-Cultured Badass: A strong, tough-looking guy who relates almost anything back to TV shows from the 90s.
- Serious Business: Aunt Lydia deep-fried a Thanksgiving turkey once. That's why they don't see Aunt Lydia anymore...
Brittany Macdell
Voiced by: Julie White
Matthew's little sister.
- Cheerful Child: A completely normal-looking and -acting little girl, in contrast to Maury's over-the-top disgust with her appearance and behavior.
- Innocently Insensitive: Jessi sees something wrong with Brittany playing with cutlery and saying that forks can't marry other forks.
- Irrational Hatred: Maury comes to loathe her for taking Matthew's place as "the favorite." Literally anything she does is proof of her sheer awfulness in his eyes, no matter how mundane.
