Q: What was the inspiration behind Baby Blues?
Jerry: About 19 years ago, Rick and I were trying out all kinds of ideas for a new comic strip. Nothing we came up with was any good, but like the John Lennon line, "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans", real events conspired to create a unexpected opportunity. All the while Rick and I were working on ideas for The Great American Comic Strip, Rick and his wife, Sukey were busy dealing with their second baby, who was, um... a handful. The more time I spent hearing his stories of parenthood, the clearer it became to me that this was a couple who was dealing with a force much more powerful (and noisier) than themselves. After rejecting the twelfth or thirteenth stupid comic strip premise we'd come up with, I looked at Rick's unshaven face, pablum-stained t-shirt and wrinkly jeans and said, "Hey. What about a strip about a couple with a new baby?" [1]
Q: Where do you get your ideas for the strip?
Jerry: The ideas come from everywhere. Our own experiences, stories we hear from friends, and just good old warped imagination.
Rick: As I mentioned earlier, our families are a great source, but it doesn’t stop there. We observe a lot of friends and strangers and many readers have written us. They don’t usually translate directly into gags, but mostly serve as germs for ideas. I find that airports and shopping mall food courts are great places for inspiration. [2]
Q: Do you take ideas from your own family life?
Rick: Absolutely, as much as possible. In the first few years of the strip, before Jerry had kids, a great deal was taken from my family. We both shamelessly exploit our families for gags. Our wives are good sources of gag material, too, suggesting things from time to time. [2]
Q: What funny things have happened in your family that you haven’t shared in the strip?
Jerry: I’ve had to have a useable idea for every day of the year for the entire 18 years baby Blues has been in syndication. Not only do I use every possible funny thing that happens in my family, I use everything from Rick’s family, my neighbors’ families and any talkative strangers I come across. [2]
[1] Baby Blues: Interview with comic strip creators, Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
http://www.thisfullhouse.com/this_full_house/2008/10/baby-blues-inte.html
[2] An Interview w/ Baby Blues-THE COMIC STRIP
http://wearethatfamily.com/2008/12/interview-w-baby-blues-comic-strip/
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