Aubrey Plaza leads Little Demon as Laura Feinberg, an overworked and beleaguered mother of the spawn of the devil. With her co-star and supporting actor family of DeVitos, viewers and fans thought FX had a sure-fire win! But what happened to Little Demon?
Little Demon centers around Chrissy Feinberg (played by Lucy DeVito – Danny's daughter), a 13-year-old girl who discovers she's the Antichrist and his demonic powers after experiencing her first period. Although contemporary viewers were initially enthralled with the originality of this new FX enterprise, the series was pulled from Disney+ on May 26, 2023, and we'll break down the reasons why.
The Devil As a Good Guy?
Why is Little Demon a bad show? Well, it's not. Yet, if creators plan a comedy centered around Satan – it's possible that the series' language, gore, and nudity may be a bit off-putting at first to many viewers – especially those just hopping aboard. But many enthusiasts eventually grew used to it. Despite all that, the show does manage to display quite a bit of heart. The humor is pretty good (although sometimes predictable), and the universe it takes place in could have proven incredibly interesting to the scholarly, Gnostic, traditional Christian crowd.
The problem is poor interaction. Stiff. Dutiful, not joyful. Despite Aubrey Plaza and Danny DeVito (every great once-in-a-while) and their incredible father/daughter relationship – the chemistry of the show doesn't work. If the jokes are fine, the settings are fine, and the acting is fine, the only thing that can sink the ship is the choice of actors and how they interact.
This is where chemistry is crucial – more than that: critical! Little Demon only has Aubrey and Danny to lean on here, considering the supporting cast is dutiful but not believable. No chemistry equals no emotional investment on the part of the viewer.
So, Where's Danny DeVito?
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And speaking of Danny, can someone tell him to show up? Billed almost exclusively in some advertising campaigns on FX as 'Danny DeVito's next comedy' with co-creator of Rick and Morty, the lovable half-pint crank hardly ever shows up! Where's Danny?
Little Demon took a bit of time to introduce Satan (the devil, Beelzebub, Lord of Darkness – Danny DeVito) – the ultimate used-car salesman and con man – as the absentee lover of Aubrey's character, Laura. And admittedly, even the direst critics were won over by Danny and Lucy, especially their interactions as the devil and the AntiChrist but more as father and daughter.
But the problem is – it's not enough. Danny DeVito's incredibly tight filming and voice-acting schedule split his time between grinder sandwich commercials, his charity events, and filming for upcoming It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia episodes. Considering the man has serious health issues and can only work 4 hours per day – we're lucky we got Danny at all.
Yet that is not the fault of the fan, and the enthusiasts – as well as casual viewers – shouldn't be punished because Danny is barely in the show. Executive producers and show-runners should have billed another equally beloved actor, had Danny perform more, or built up the DeVito connection less in advertising.
Animation Vs. Comedic Intention – Explanation, Please?
What else happened to Little Demon? The series, much like mid-series 2000s Futurama, occasionally suffered from a deluge of poorly animated scenes – if not entire episodes. But when the animation worked? Sadly, in those episodes, the plotting and dialogue never match the visual creativity on display in Little Demon.
Little Demon often goes for the extreme joke but too rarely finds a suitable punchline – more like punching bags (such as the ever-tortured Erwin). Stand-up comics call this 'punching down' – like making fun of homeless people. Really, really funny, right? Perhaps if one is an especially cruel ten-year-old. Otherwise? Eh, maybe not so much.
With a quirky combination of heart, gross-out (and cruel) humor, exotic and sometimes crappy animation as well as blatantly anti-Christian motifs, it's no wonder why Little Demon was billed as something special when in reality, it was something only half-realized. Also, despite praise from fans and critics, certain Christian groups took issue with the series, angered that a Disney-owned show would promote this type of mentality. This is the reason why FX has stopped production, and Disney+ pulled the plug back in May of this year.
Yet as the first two episodes revealed, it became quite clear the most contemptible personality in the series wasn't the devil. Metaphorically, the 'Godhead' figure of Little Demon wasn't supposed to be some touchy-feely higher authority full of love. The purpose of Little Demon was to vicariously espouse the concept that not all 'good' guys are that good, and not all 'bad' guys are that bad.
Perhaps preachy, perhaps well-informed, either way – Little Demon would have been successful if the show had found its focus, its animation concept, and its Danny.