# J. G. Quintel
**J. G. Quintel** (James Garland Quintel, born 1982) is an American animator, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and voice actor, best known as the creator of the [Cartoon Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-network) series *Regular Show* (2010–2017) and the [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) adult animated series *Close Enough* (2020–2022)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/) • [2](https://closeenough.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel). He also voices the blue jay Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost in *Regular Show* and the lead character Josh Singleton in *Close Enough*[2](https://closeenough.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | James Garland Quintel[2](https://closeenough.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel) |
| Born | 1982, Hanford, California, USA[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/) |
| Education | California Institute of the Arts, character animation[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jg-quintel/bio/3000450637/) |
| Signature series | *Regular Show* (2010–2017, 244 episodes), creator, writer, and voice of Mordecai[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/) |
| Emmy | Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program, 2012, for the *Regular Show* episode "Eggscellent"[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jg-quintel) |
| Adult series | *Close Enough* (2020–2022, 24 episodes) on HBO Max, creator and voice of Josh[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/) |
| Family | Married Cassia Streb in 2010; three children[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/) |
## Early life and CalArts
Quintel was born in 1982 in [Hanford, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanford-california), to Terri (née Morris) and James Allen Quintel, and grew up there with a younger brother, Payton[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/) • [6](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/j.g.-quintel.html). He has described Hanford as a flat town with little to do while he was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, so he and his friends invented ways to entertain themselves; many of those experiences later became influences for episodes of *Regular Show*[7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/).
After high school he attended the [California Institute of the Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-institute-of-the-arts) (CalArts) in Valencia, California, graduating with a degree in character animation[7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jg-quintel/bio/3000450637/). At CalArts, Quintel and about 20 fellow students, including the future voice artist Sam Marin, ran a weekend exercise in which they threw a word into a hat, drew one out, and each made a short film from it in a 48-hour rush[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/) • [7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel). In the spring of 2005 this process produced his short film *The Naive Man from Lolliland*, about an ambassador who loses his cool during a benign encounter[7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel). The film won both the Producers Choice Award and the Student Animator Award at the 2005 Nextoons Nicktoons Film Festival[7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jg-quintel/bio/3000450637/). The CalArts shorts featured early versions of characters who later appeared in *Regular Show*, including prototypes of Mordecai, Benson, and Pops[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/).
## Cartoon Network career
Quintel's first industry exposure was a 2004 internship at Cartoon Network working on [Genndy Tartakovsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/genndy-tartakovsky)'s Emmy-winning *[Star Wars: Clone Wars](https://www.edgepedia.org/star-wars-clone-wars-2003-tv-series)* micro-series[7](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel) • [8](https://press.wbd.com/emea/ca/bio/jg-quintel). He then worked as a storyboard artist on the Emmy-winning series *Camp Lazlo* and served as creative director on *The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack* for two seasons[8](https://press.wbd.com/emea/ca/bio/jg-quintel). His directing on *Flapjack* earned an Annie Award nomination in 2010 for Directing in a Television Production[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/awards/) • [6](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/j.g.-quintel.html).
**Regular Show.** Quintel pitched *Regular Show* for a short-lived Cartoon Network block called Cartoonstitute; when the block was dropped, the series was picked up as a full series[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/). The [Warner Bros. Discovery](https://www.edgepedia.org/warner-bros-discovery) pressroom biography states that the pitch combined several characters Quintel had created at CalArts and that *Regular Show* was the first series greenlit from [Cartoon Network Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-network-studios)' Artists Program in 2008[8](https://press.wbd.com/emea/ca/bio/jg-quintel). The series ran from 2010 to 2017 across eight seasons and 244 episodes, with Quintel as creator, writer, executive producer, and the voice of Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/) • [10](https://supermutant-magic-academy.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel). It won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program in 2012 for the episode "Eggscellent", with Quintel credited as executive producer and writer, and received five further Emmy nominations between 2011 and 2015[5](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jg-quintel). The series also spawned *[Regular Show: The Movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/regular-show-the-movie)*, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2015[8](https://press.wbd.com/emea/ca/bio/jg-quintel).
Quintel has said he drew inspiration for the show from old British programs and the video game *ToeJam and Earl*, which he played obsessively, and that watching [Mike Judge](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-judge)'s *Beavis and Butt-head* helped him form the foundation for his own slacker pair[6](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/j.g.-quintel.html).
## Close Enough and later work
After *Regular Show* ended in 2017, Quintel moved into adult animation with *Close Enough*, an HBO Max series about a young couple, Josh and Emily, raising a daughter in Los Angeles; he created the series and voices Josh[2](https://closeenough.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel) • [11](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/jg-quintel-goes-running-big-kids-close-enough/1000). The series ran from 2020 to 2022 for 24 episodes[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/).
He has since returned to the *Regular Show* universe with the revival *[Regular Show: The Lost Tapes](https://www.edgepedia.org/regular-show-the-lost-tapes)* (2026), in which he again voices Mordecai and Hi-Five Ghost and serves as executive producer[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/) • [12](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/regular-show-creators-next-adult-swim-series-shares-first-look/). He is also co-creator, alongside the illustrator Jillian Tamaki, of *SuperMutant Magic Academy*, an animated adaptation of Tamaki's comic series set at a school for mutants and witches, produced for [Adult Swim](https://www.edgepedia.org/adult-swim)[10](https://supermutant-magic-academy.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel) • [12](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/regular-show-creators-next-adult-swim-series-shares-first-look/).
## Personal life
Quintel married Cassia Streb in 2010, and the couple have three children, including a daughter named Lynn[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/) • [6](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/j.g.-quintel.html).
## References
1. [J.G. Quintel, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/)
2. [JG Quintel, Close Enough Wiki](https://closeenough.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel)
3. [J.G. Quintel Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/bio/)
4. [J.G. Quintel Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jg-quintel/bio/3000450637/)
5. [JG Quintel, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/jg-quintel)
6. [JG Quintel, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/j.g.-quintel.html)
7. [J.G. Quintel, The Cartoon Network Wiki](https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/J.G._Quintel)
8. [JG Quintel Bio, Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom](https://press.wbd.com/emea/ca/bio/jg-quintel)
9. [J.G. Quintel Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3096205/awards/)
10. [JG Quintel, SuperMutant Magic Academy Wiki](https://supermutant-magic-academy.fandom.com/wiki/JG_Quintel)
11. [J.G. Quintel Goes Running with the Big Kids in 'Close Enough', Animation World Network](https://www.awn.com/animationworld/jg-quintel-goes-running-big-kids-close-enough/1000)
12. [Regular Show Creator's Next Adult Swim Series Shares First Look, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/anime/news/regular-show-creators-next-adult-swim-series-shares-first-look/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Television directors › Live-action scripted television directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license