Beginning as a comic strip from Breathed that appeared in the University of Texas' student newspaper, The Academia Waltz, in 1980, he was invited by The Washington Post to offer up the strip in national newspaper syndication. It ran until 1989, and was resurrected by Breathed in 2015 as a strip on Facebook. The concept behind all of it was to use oddball residents — a combination of humans and animals, among them Opus the penguin and Bill the Cat — of a small Midwest town to tackle issues of the day in twisted, but always funny, ways. This Fox series will be the first adaptation into another medium.
Breathed, who serves as executive producer and writer, mused, "At the end of Alien, we watched cuddly Sigourney Weaver go down for a long peaceful snooze in cryogentic hyper-sleep after getting chased around by a saliva-spewing maniac, only to be wakened decades later into a world stuffed with far worse. Fox and I have done the identical thing to Opus and the rest of the Bloom County gang, may they forgive us."
Added Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn, "I was introduction to the brilliance of Berkeley Breathed and Bloom County as a teenager. His signature blend of satire, politics and sentiment hooked me. Plus, I love Opus. Today, Berkeley's smart and hilarious take on American culture is more relevant than ever. And, together with Bento Box [the animators], we're thrilled to bring his unique ensemble of characters and social commentary to broadcat television."