The Hard Times of RJ Berger is an American television sitcom created by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith for MTV.
The show's central character is RJ Berger (Paul Iacono), an unpopular sophomore at the fictional Pinkerton High School in Ohio who is macrophallically-endowed.
Berger's love interest is Jenny Swanson (Amber Lancaster), a cheerleader who is involved with Max Owens (Jayson Blair), a popular jock and bully.
The show is presented as a coming-of-age story and has been described by Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith as a blend of the television series The Wonder Years and the film Superbad.
MTV renewed The Hard Times of RJ Berger for a second season, which premiered on March 24, 2011 and concluded on May 30, 2011, but canceled the show that August.
The Tale of RJ was described by The New York Times as "a short homage to Boogie Nights, about a well-endowed nerd" played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
[2] MTV executives were interested in developing scripted television series around the time Katzenberg and Grahame-Smith made their short film.
It was described as "an irreverent half-hour coming-of-age series" in which unpopular fifteen-year-old RJ Berger becomes infamous when his "anatomical gift" is revealed to his school.
Even when we're not directing an episode, we have a couple directors that we really enjoy working with, on the series, and we're still involved, still bouncing things off the actors, and we're definitely making our presence felt, at all times, on set.
[6] In regards to the content of the series, Grahame-Smith said that "it's an elevated, comedic world that this kid [RJ Berger] lives in, and he's surrounded by these absurd characters.
RJ refuses and shows a video depicting how cruelly the jocks run the school in an attempt to turn votes against Max.
Max retaliates by buying everyone copies of The Beatles: Rock Band and brings out his "second cousin by marriage" Travis Barker to impress students.
RJ struggles to find a gift and decides to buy Jenny an expensive present so his mother suggests he work for Mrs. Robbins as a handyman.
His work is extremely demanding and Miles gets angry at RJ for missing a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark after promising he would go with him.
Everyone in the gym, including Coach Sinclair, starts to freak out from the drugs and attempts to flee the school but can not due to the doors being locked.
At school, Lily and her new boyfriend Hamilton have tickets to the Weezer concert that's coming into town and RJ thinks that is the perfect way to get Amy to notice him.
The Hard Times of RJ Berger was described—by its creators and critics alike—as a cross between the teen-oriented television comedy-drama The Wonder Years (1988–1993) and the comedy film Superbad (2007).
"[28] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "[a]side from a few novel details, MTV's latest is a by-the-book geek sex comedy for the Apatow Generation.