Sanjay and Craig is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell, and Andreas Trolf for Nickelodeon. Produced by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, the series revolves around Sanjay, voiced by Maulik Pancholy, and his best friend Craig, voiced by Chris Hardwick, a talking snake.
The series was first pitched in 2009 and officially began production in June 2012, a few months after the pilot was completed. The series first aired on Nickelodeon on May 25, 2013. The series was renewed for a second season on September 12, 2013, that began airing on July 12, 2014, and for a third season on June 11, 2014, that premiered on September 7, 2015. Hardwick confirmed on Twitter on June 10, 2016, that the series had officially finished production. The series ended on July 29, 2016, with the half-hour special episode "Booyah for Bollywood", having aired three seasons and 60 episodes.. Reruns were continued on Nicktoons until March 31, 2022.
Plot The series follows Sanjay Patel and Craig Slithers as they have comedic adventures around the town of Lundgren, often involving their parents Vijay and Darlene. Sanjay also helps Craig as he tries to keep his ability to talk a secret while avoiding their snake-terrified neighbor Mr. Leslie Noodman.
Episodes
Characters Sanjay Patel (voiced by Maulik Pancholy) is a half-Indian, half-European American 12-year-old boy who goes on adventures with his best friend, Craig. He has a crush on Belle Pepper, who works at his favorite place to hang out, The Frycade. Sanjay attends Stuntman School and idolizes Remington Tufflips, a washed-up action movie star from the 1980s. Sanjay struggles to fit in most of the time and always enjoys his time with Craig, despite being annoyed by his occasional arrogance at times. Sanjay is named after the character of the same name from the Showtime dark comedy-drama series Weeds, whom Pancholy had portrayed in live-action from 2005 to 2012. Craig Slithers (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is Sanjay's pet snake whom he met in a pet store. Craig is a so-called "master of disguise" — whether he is a doctor, a lawyer, or a beauty pageant queen, no one ever recognizes him. Only a few people know Craig can talk; Sanjay and his close friends keep it a secret. Despite being brought from a pet store, Craig does not like to be called just a pet and sometimes gets a little arrogant and overconfident in himself, which usually never ends very well for him. Vijay Patel (voiced by Kunal Nayyar) is Sanjay's father and owns a clearance store in the neighborhood. He has invented various mechanicals, such as a party-obsessed, dancing robot, the Partybot. He also knows that Sanjay's pet snake Craig can talk. Darlene Patel (voiced by Hari Leigh in the pilot and later voiced by Grey DeLisle onwards) is Sanjay's Caucasian mother who works at a hospital as a registered nurse and a surgeon. She often tells Sanjay stories about her work. She also knows Sanjay's pet snake Craig can talk. She is rarely seen without her surgical scrubs. Belle Pepper (voiced by Nika Futterman) is an attractive, redheaded 16-year-old girl who works at the Frycade, Sanjay and Craig's favorite place to hang out. Sanjay has a crush on her, yet when he attempts to talk to her, it does not work out. Though she is a good friend of Sanjay, she rarely shows any signs of seeing him as her boyfriend, unlike Megan, who shows her passion constantly. Hector Flanagan (voiced by Matt Jones) is Sanjay and Craig's weird, eyepatch-wearing friend of Hispanic-Irish blood. He can annoy them at times and has a crush on Megan. He also has never thrown up in his life, but when Sanjay and Craig get him to look at his own butt, he eventually does vomit. Megan Sparkles (voiced by Linda Cardellini) is Sanjay and Craig's enthusiastic and overachieving friend who takes part in beauty pageants. Megan is a frequent beauty pageant winner who can get carried away at times, but loves helping Sanjay. She has an unrequited crush on Sanjay, although Sanjay does care about her as a friend. Mr. Leslie Noodman (voiced by Tony Hale) is Sanjay and Craig's psychotic neighbor who dislikes snakes. He has a pathological fear of them because of a prank his father pulled on him when he was young (his father actually pulls many pranks on him, thus, he dislikes his father). He loves his cat, Lady Butterscotch, but is Sanjay and Craig's number one enemy. He cares deeply for his award-winning blueberries and likes to use his shovel as a weapon. He seems to be aware about Craig and would go to great lengths to threaten him. Lady Butterscotch (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) is Mr. Noodman's pet cat. Noodman appears to really admire her. As revealed in "Butt's Up", she was originally owned by Darlene, until Noodman took her away during a game of Butt's Up. Remington Tufflips (voiced by Chris D'Elia, credited as "Remington Tufflips") is a washed-up action movie star from the 1980s who Sanjay and Craig idolize. To them, he is the raddest guy to ever walk on the face of the Earth. Despite his has-been status, Tufflips' ego and arrogance have swelled over the years, along with his waistline. To Sanjay and Craig, he is still the king of cool, in their adoring eyes. Although he is Sanjay and Craig's ultimate hero, he usually fails to remember their names. In "Street Dogg", Tufflips was formerly a rapper before his movie career, and was in a band with Street Dogg (a parody of Snoop Dogg). In "Booyah for Bollywood", it is revealed that his real name was "Remington TuffFist", in which Sanjay and Craig (as well as TuffFist himself) were calling him his wrong name the whole time. His design was inspired by Elvis Presley. The Dicksons (Sandy (voiced by Hari Leigh in the pilot and later voiced by Grey DeLisle onwards), Scabs (voiced by Chris Hardwick in the pilot and later voiced by Grey DeLisle onwards) and Brenda voiced by Grey DeLisle, Baby Richard voiced by Nolan North) are three siblings who have a hard rock band called the "Tuff Skulls". Their names are Sandy, Scabs, and Baby Richard. Sanjay and Craig appear to really like the Dicksons' music, and although the Dicksons look like bullies, they are mostly indifferent to Sanjay and Craig's adoration and would never intentionally harm them, though they can be very aggressive at times. Their mother, Brenda, only communicates through grunting and snorting, but as revealed in "Enter Sandman", she can actually talk, but only when her children aren't around. Ronnie Slithers (voiced by Nolan North) is a wealthy corn snake who is revealed to be Craig's long-lost brother and first appeared in "A Tail of Two Slithers". Ronnie's cruel tendencies have led Sanjay and Craig to believe that they are no longer the best of friends. He later joins Sanjay's side by revealing to his soldiers that he is a snake, and later gets returned to the pet shop, where he formerly lived with Craig before Sanjay found him. Ronnie makes a return in the series finale, "Booyah for Bollywood", where it is revealed that after his last encounter with his brother, Ronnie decided to live in India throughout a shipping box after feeling hopeless in finding a new owner. During his life in India, Ronnie learns to control his anger by practicing Yoga and Meditation, and later becomes a movie director. Penny Pepper (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the owner of The Frycade and Belle's father. Penny makes the wings at the Frycade and is very good friends with the Patels. He is known for having hooks for hands and there was never an explanation on how he lost them. Chicken Chuck (voiced by Nolan North) is a frequent visitor to "The Frycade" and longtime friend of Penny since childhood. He was ranked #1 on the wall of wings before Tyson took his spot. He also works at a Car Wash called "Splash 'N' Dash", as shown in "Old Farts". In "Middle Shame" it's revealed that Chuck is his last name and Chicken is his first. In the same episode it is revealed that Chuck was raised by chickens in a farm and was once a guitarist rock star named "KOR" as revealed in "Guitar Zeroes". Chuck was originally a recurring background character in the first season often used for gags before his character was refined in the episode "Hot Sauce Boss" where we was established as Penny's best friend and later had more focus in the second and third seasons. Huggle Bunny is a carnival entertainer. He is considered to be mysterious by many. The town of Lundgren celebrates a Christmas-like holiday centered around him, which they name "Huggle Day". Tyson (voiced by David Hornsby) is a very rude and sarcastic young man who speaks in a British accent, and is Sanjay's primary rival for Belle's affections. He carries a scooter in his pants and often tries to ruin Sanjay's fun. Sam Lastnamè (voiced by Tania Gunadi) is a former member of the Butts Up Club and Sanjay's newest friend. She first appeared in the episode "Butts Up", and also appeared in "Street Dogg", "Huggle Day", "The Sanjay and Craig Stunt School Special", "JJ and Greg", and "Booyah for Bollywood" in background roles. She makes a full return in "GUTS Busters" where she to competes on the game show GUTS. Farmer Larry (voiced by Toby Huss) is a farmer at Blueberry Farm. He helps Sanjay and Craig make blueberry jam to keep Mr. Noodman from calling the pound in the episode "Dog Wave". He is also the current owner of Sanjay's former dog "Barfy". Barfy (vocal effects provided by Fred Tatasciore) is a purple barfing dog that Sanjay wants to adopt. He entered the contest to win Barfy for free 100 times; the plan was successful, but it also backfired, as Sanjay ended up winning not only Barfy but also 99 other dogs. Barfy was given to Farmer Larry because Mr. Noodman would harass the purple dog and also because Farmer Larry needed some blueberry dogs. Barfy returns in the episode "Barfy's Babies", when she gave birth the three puppies named Barfy Jr., Lil' Beef, and Puppy. Dolph Lundgren (voiced by himself) is the founder of the town the series takes place in. He made his first appearance on-screen in the episode "Huggle Day", where he tries to search for Huggle Bunny and reveals to Sanjay and Craig on how he really founded Lundgren and Huggle Day. Before the events of the series, he has become lost and cold in the middle of snowstorm during a hike before being saved by Huggle Bunny who gave him some shelter. Chido (voiced by Natasha Lyonne in "Bike-o Psycho", later voiced by Pamela Adlon) is a sarcastic and tough red-headed girl who owns a bike named "Glutte". She also makes paper hats and also plays electric guitar as a hobby. Chido made her first appearance in the episode "Bike-o Psycho". In "Combo Attack", Megan befriended her and they both formed a band together called "Character Select". Stasi Stuntman (voiced by Janet Varney) is an academic overachieving 12-year-old girl who attends Stuntman School, which is founded by her parents "The Flying Stuntman". While Stasi shows pride in being a stunt girl, she admits she's only one because her overbearing parents wanted her to be one and wants to live her dream of being a stand-up comedian. She made her first appearance in "The Sanjay and Craig Stunt School Special" and makes a cameo at the end of "Booyah for Bollywood". Maximum Dennis (voiced by Nolan North, credited as "Maximum Dennis") is a popular American Tough Guy. Sanjay and Craig once disguised as him in order to beat Tyson, and to attract Belle. Noodman's father (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the cold-hearted father of Leslie Noodman. He enjoys making his son's life miserable by pranking him with his fear of snakes. He has a fear of cats especially Noodman's pet cat, Lady Butterscotch. Noodman's grandfather (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the grandfather of Noodman's father. Like his father's son, he enjoys pranking his son with his fear of cats. He only appears in the episode "Family Re-Noodman". He also has a fear of butterflies.