It is a black comedy[1] created by Brad Peyton, and combines clay animation with voice work by Stacey DePass, Adam Reid, Dwayne Hill, Julie Lemieux, Peter Cugno, and Andrew Sabiston.
The storylines of the thirteen episodes that aired during this timeframe center on the many attempts of fictional mutant children living in an orphanage to get adopted.
Princess Lucy, a grey, fat, and warty orphan, is the main character, and the plot begins with her arrival at the orphanage.
Beforehand, columnist Randall Denley had written that "I suspect [it] will be the highlight of the evening," noting the series had been described as "wondrous and fiendishly humorous.
And if I can drop a giant pair of scissors through an orphan's head and cause people to laugh, then I've done my small part for public broadcasting.
The series was continued with twelve more episodes:[7] Themes explored include "social issues, pop culture references and humour.
[8] The fourth episode, called "The Perfect Lesson",[7] sees the orphans trying to perform a play to impress visiting prospective parents.
The ninth episode is "A Tale of Almost Unbearable Sadness,"[7] which is focussed on declining morale in the orphanage and exploration of the dangerous forest.
[11] The twelfth and second last episode is called "A Frightful Flu,"[7] and in it Aldous entrusts care for the ailing orphans to a witch.
The final episode, "Silver Screen Lucy" or "The Sweet Stink of Success,"[7] is about the orphans making short films to impress a prospective parent, but he ends up adopting Nanny Goodapple and Beasly and Byron, leaving the orphanage to Aldous.
The show was created by Brad Peyton of Newfoundland and Labrador, who explained that he identified himself as a "freak" growing up, and was thus motivated to try "celebrating flawed characters" in his work; he also employed stereotypical views of orphanages in the series.
[5] The producers chose the type of animation due to Peyton's personal interest in it, although he later claimed that a day's work could lead to seconds' worth of material.
[4] A factory was needed with 8 to 10 teams, with some of the animators having previously worked on the Tim Burton film Corpse Bride.
[1] Each character's figure had a number of add-on lips to express various sounds, and their eyes and eyebrows were also adjusted frequently during production.
"[5] He had also said that What It's Like Being Alone was meant to attract university and high school students as an audience, and he felt that these people did not ordinarily watch the CBC.
CBC critic Stephen Cole commented that What It's Like Being Alone has "arguably the most surreal opening sequence in TV history" with a shift in view from a black and white Canadian flag to the orphan characters.
"[12] Bill Brioux of the Toronto Sun commented that in combining a feel one would usually expect from Tim Burton with elements of Sesame Street, What It's Like Being Alone would probably not appeal fully to any demographic, despite its originality.