Exclusive: Meet The Producers Of TZGZ’s New Animated Lineup

On September 2nd, 2001 @ 10 pm ET, Cartoon Network would launch Adult Swim, a new network-within-a-network that focused on adult animation. Not only would Adult Swim revitalize interest in once-canceled franchises like Futurama and Family Guy, but the network would tidal wave a bevy of talent behind new animation franchises that have since become household names, regardless of renewal status. Ask anybody going to Comic-Con about Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Rick and Morty or Toonami (Adult Swim’s action-toon block), and you’ll just as likely run into someone in a costume from any one of those franchises. The channel has become an institution, largely unchallenged, for decades.

That’s not to say that the network hasn’t seen potential adversaries. At the start of the 2010’s, year after year, competing network presidents would announce plans to try and get into the adult animation business with mixed to nil results. The almighty John Landgraf of FX Networks has long searched for a counterpart to it’s popular Archer franchise, a series originally conceived by Adult Swim alumni Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, to no avail. Comedy Central has tried many times to find that true alternate to South Park, but often finds themselves with a lot of “one and done” franchises. Even Adult Swim sister network TBS had ordered four original series, two of which never saw airtime on the network and two that have since moved to other sister networks (Final Space to Adult Swim, Close Enough to HBO MAX).

Before the network’s rebrand to Syfy, the Sci Fi channel had a Saturday night action toon block of its own called “Saturday Anime” which was shelved in 2011 after an over twenty-year run. Eight years later, the Syfy network would embolden it’s focus on getting back into the adult animation game. It started with the network’s acquisition of Futurama, a sci-animated comedy that fits right at home with Syfy’s long-targeted audience. Ratings began to increase which saw the network order it’s first original animated comedy, Alien News Desk, a series with a bunch of promise considering Will Forte was the show’s star, but was unable to really take hold which subsequently led to the show’s cancellation. Fortunately, this speed bump didn’t deter Syfy, and several months later, the network put into motion what would eventually be it’s Saturday Night animation block in TZGZ.

While at first an original series not unlike Trip Tank that would showcase a number of shorts like SCIENCE, Don’t Feed the Humans, and others, TZGZ would be the de facto name of a late-night Saturday block featuring acquired series from Youtube, Amazon, or other seldom seen platforms now getting increased coverage on a linear network as opposed to getting buried in the mountain of content made available online. The hope was to see if any of these franchises could potentially be renewed or gain a following despite the fact that the entire block went up against Adult Swim’s Toonami lineup.

Syfy didn’t seem to mind the competition, and in actuality, further challenged the arrival of Rick and Morty season four on Sunday nights by acquiring the linear rights to DC Universe’s Harley Quinn series and parking the two franchises on the same night and time. Did it work? Rick and Morty saw a 40% drop in the ratings for the show’s fourth season whence compared to season three, and while it would seem foolhardy to claim that this programming battle was the primary reason, it certainly didn’t help Adult Swim any. Regardless, these successes by Syfy inspired the network to go ahead and double down by ordering four new original series and a bevy of new pilots. Like Adult Swim’s early years, Syfy could very well be positioned to launch a number of adult animation franchises that not only stand the test of time, but launch a brand within a network that could become a playground for original series for decades to come. As part of Syfy’s slate of original series coming this fall, the network has pulled back the covers on it’s four new franchises exclusively for Bubbleblabber so that you know what’s coming.

 

Syfy has ordered six quarter-hour episodes of original series Wild Life. Wild Life is an upcoming animated sitcom about a group of zoo animals who must try to stay sane and – more importantly – entertained in a post-apocalyptic world devoid of humans. The series comes from producers Adam Davies, Dylan Dawson and Alex Plapinger with Adam noting that the series originally stemmed from him draw-scratching a bunch of wild animals like cheetahs, koala bears, and soon the apocalyptic setting that gave way to what eventually became Wild Life.

Adam would soon team up with his fellow producers and introduce the series to Syfy for the pickup, “They really gave us a long leash to just be weird. I think we happened to fit that late night stoner ideology pretty well. They’ve been nothing but supportive and awesome people.” The cast features an eclectic mix of notables including Natalie Palamides, Baron Vaughn, Reggie Watts, John Paul Reynolds, Claudia O’Doherty, and SkittLeZ Ortiz in starring roles, says Adam Davies, “The cast that we got was really validating”.

The producers tease that Wild Life will feature a bit of a mix between episodic and serial elements that should keep viewers wanting to come back for more each and every week but also viewing for those “late-night stoners”, “For me, the pleasure of the show is that it is super warm hearted sweet in this really fucked up environment that keeps creeping into the edges and like you’re constantly in the middle of going aw, then ew, and finally aw again” Dawson continues to note, “ That’s the arc of this show. Whenever we get an animatic or something, I also like to do a sober pass and a stoned pass. It has to pass both. “

Hell Den is one of the few franchises that premiered on a different network (in this case, Shout TV) that would find a second life because of Syfy’s TZGZ audience. And while we didn’t grade the first season very high (Score: 5/10), the second season sounds like it’s going to offer oodles of improvement.

For those that don’t know, Hell Den takes place after an Uber-Apocalypse wipes out civilization, only one person miraculously survives: 12 year-old Andrew. With the last working TV and VCR in existence, he invites a motley group of apocalyptic creatures into his house to watch weird cartoons and old movies. Hell Den combines original animation of our characters with old live-action and animated clips re-dubbed by the Dr. God troupe in this new, unique, and very warped twist on sketch comedy.

Now coming off of an Emmy win for Brainwashed by Toons, Neil Garguilo   is set to bring his second of Hell Den to Syfy this fall, “I would say that the backbone of the series is the same from inception, but it has morphed a little bit now that we’re doing our second season on TZGZ because now we’re working with not just public domain information, but also old TSA films, old educational films, a lot of live action home movies. We’re doing a slightly longer form of sketch comedy and not just 5 to 10 second shorts like in the first version. Another difference in the upcoming season is the manner in which the show was produced as a result of complications set forth by COVID-19. As opposed to the show’s first season where everyone was able to almost do a DVD recorded commentary, the second season was produced remotely. “Because of COVID, we’ve switched to remote production. As a result, we are no longer in the same room sitting down watching the videos.

We are doing it on Zoom, which means we are coming in with a little more preparation and have to do a bit more of a review each time. But there’s still tons of riffing, and what you’re imagining doing with your friends is very much what we do. You know, everyone who is a writer on the show is a friend and has been a friend for years. A lot of friends from the improv and sketch comedy worlds have come on as guest writers in season two, and their contributions were magical.”

Joining series regulars like Sean Cowhig, Neil Garguilo, Brian James O’Connell, David Park and Justin Ware are promising guest stars Matthew Lillard, Katie Leclerc, Maria Bamford, and Kevin Heffernan. And don’t worry, the sketches will be just as crazy this season, “ there is something coming in season two that makes me laugh so hard every single time and I will tease the fact that it has to do with puppets of a children’s television show and how puppets can really teach kids the lessons of the streets, especially drug dealing. ”

Neil couldn’t help but showcase his emotions when talking about Hell Den coming to a more stable network like Syfy, “we’re so excited to be on Syfy for the TZGZ block. Ultimately, this is exactly where we wanted to be.“

 

After a brief sabbatical, two-time Emmy winning producer for Robot Chicken, Douglas Goldstein is back in late-night animation with a new franchise called Devil May Care. In the upcoming series, the Devil ( voiced by Alan Tudyk) hires a social media coordinator (Asif Ali) to rebrand Hell as the ultimate place to live, and the two form the most unlikely of friendships. Seven episodes of the quarter-hour series are on the way with Titmouse producing and Fred Tatasciore, Pamela Adlon and Stephanie Beatriz all a part of the cast.

Like the other producers, Syfy has been a dream to work with for Douglas, “Syfy has been incredibly supportive. what they are concerned about most is that the characters and their motivations and their relationships to each other are clear, which is great because you should understand the characters up front. “

Devil May Care might be one of the more ambitious series when it comes to the concept which had been thought about for quite some time, “ I was thinking about how we always attach the most dramatic interpretations to things when really, they’re just dumb and mundane if you know the whole story. And that in turn got me thinking about the whole idea of heaven and hell. To us it seems dramatic, but what if in reality it’s just dumb and mundane, that heaven is simply filled with that God just thinks is cool, and hell with whatever he finds lame, stupid or repulsive.

Then we thought, who gets to run such a place, and who would be in there, what would their daily lives be like? These were the first steps to creating the characters. And the funny thing is, I had intended on keeping that dynamic a secret and let people figure it out for themselves. But as I kept working with people on the episodes they kept asking me, wait so how does this work? At which I’m like, look you’ll find out someday just be patient, and it just got to the point where it’s like, you know, it’s fine. I can’t, I can’t take it anymore. So I redid my plans for the fourth episode, which now explains the whole world and reveals everything I just said. So the complainers won.”

The series features a who’s who voice cast with prominent veterans that always deliver, and when Doug talks about them, he makes it sound like he wrote these characters for them, “First off, Alan Tudyk—he can do almost any role. It’s almost like, why don’t you get the greatest guy in the world? But what he does with Devil…I really wanted to make sure that people understood that Devil is in charge, but in a very strange way. I mean, it takes a strange mind to love all the things that end up in hell. Seriously, it is not ironic; he thinks this is all great even though it’s the stuff that God just doesn’t want. He doesn’t know that and he’s really honest about it, so to be outrageous and serious at the same time is something Alan really nails. I joked with him; I said, you know, ever since you came on board, I feel like I don’t have to work that hard writing this anymore because you just do such a great job of it.

This is something that I enjoy saying to people, our devil is just Devil. He’s not The Devil. That’s just his name. And it’s one of the funny examples of how we are dramatically misinterpreting things like oh my God, The Devil! He is not evil in any way. When he was put in charge of hell, a long time ago, hell was just lava. And he was like okay, this is  the way God wants it. Okay, let’s do it and have some fun. And it took him thousands of years to realize that humans don’t like being dumped in lava, so he was like, oh shit, sorry guys! He’s like a Steve Jobs guy, if Steve Jobs worked on bad products.

Pamela Adlon voices Regina; she is a complicated character not only because she’s Devil’s wife, but also because she’s a succubus. She’s not sexually powerful in a way that relies on men to want her. She’s powerful in her own right. And Pamela is so strong and funny that she nails it.

Then there’s Beans, the fish-out-of-water, innocent character who works as Devil’s assistant. His voice actor, Asif Ali, does such a great job at being honest and confused and shocked and scared and taking things in stride with the way he expresses himself, and he really just is Beans in that way. I remember watching videos of a lot of different candidates, and as soon as I heard him speak, I said, oh shit, that’s him.  I think Beans has a tougher job because he still has to figure out every little thing he sees whereas God really just wants heaven to be a wonderful place where he can relax with everybody. Because of this, there’s not that much for the angels to do. Then the other main character is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz. She plays Gloria, the know-it-all-seen-it-all head demon of hell. She kicks around with characters whom she likes but is condescending toward the ones she doesn’t. Stephanie just had that attitude, she’s got a little bit of that Brooklyn-I-don’t-give-a-shit-tone in her voice.

As for President McKinley, who is Devil’s – I say left hand man instead of right hand because left is always more sinister. I love the idea that all politicians are in hell, of any kind. I was going through all the old presidents saying who might make a good assistant, you know, vice president for Devil. If you go to Wikipedia and look up President McKinley, his face, he looks crazy intense. Like he’s got a resting stare. We actually asked a few different voice actors what they would do with the character if they got the role and what Fred, the voice actor we settled on, did was just intimidating, yet in a way that you could tell he was a little bit of a blowhard.

So either people immediately matched what I had in my head when I heard them, or, as with Alan, it just occurred to me that, holy shit he could do stuff with this character that I never thought to do myself.” While it may seem we’re getting a typical heaven and hell story, the premise very much challenges these notions, “we’re never going to see God or heaven in the show. There’s one episode where we explain everything, but you don’t see them. This is not a story about the relationship between heaven and hell. It’s just about hell.”

 

One of the shorts that premiered on the TZGZ series was that of Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins. We raved with positive reviews and Syfy responded with a six episode order for a slightly reimagined series with a revamped look and cast. For those that don’t know, Magical Girl Friendship Squad is a female-driven anime comedy about two young women who are destined to save the Universe…as soon as they figure out how to pay their rent. The series was created by Kelsey Stephanides and produced by Cartuna, featuring producers of our 2018 “Best New Series” series Human Kind of, and features one of the most stacked casts you’ll find anywhere.

Quinta Brunson(“Alex”)  and Anna Akana(“Daisy”) are series regulars that will also include Ana Gasteyer(“Nut”) and Matteo Lane (“Corvin”). The recurring cast includes Christine Baranski(“Verus”), Manny Jacinto, Helen Hong, Eric Bauza and Sarah “Squirm” Sherman.

 

An impressive guest cast is also on tap with Jason Mantzoukas, Paget Brewster, Vella Lovell,  and Patti Harrison.  Stephanie Sheh, Taylor Ortega and Daisy Hobbs will also show up in the series.

 

According to Deadline, Brunson’s Alex is a matter-of-fact realist with a weakness for “mom stuff.” She plays it safe but can’t seem to catch a break in her career. Akana’s Daisy is a passionate slacker with a love of pop culture and an unwavering belief in herself. She refuses to be pinned down by a day job or a steady relationship. Gasteyer portrays Nut, a cute, scrappy and impatient little red panda who also happens to be the creator of our universe and will do whatever it takes to protect it. Lane is Corvin, Verus’s human henchman/executive assistant who is vain, witty and not great at the “hard work” part of his job.

Baranski recurs as Verus, an icy and efficient omni-universal being like Nut who sees imperfection as weakness and is driven by destruction rather than creation. Jacinto is Coffee Dude, Alex’s coffee shop crush and the anti-bad boy. Instead of being dark, brooding or mysterious, he is calm, optimistic and incredibly average with a love for the simpler things in life. Hong and Bauza are Daisy’s mom and dad, both devout followers of the Church of The Savior’s Unthinkable Torment – a pro-suffering, highly specific religion which, unbeknownst to them, Daisy does not believe in. Sherman is Lulu, Alex and Daisy’s bitter landlord who has a disdain for anything “millennial” and no patience for late rent payments.

Jason Mantzoukas guests as The Emptier, the only being with the power to destroy entire universes, fueled by destruction as the cosmic embodiment of capitalism. Brewster is Gloriana, Nut’s smug omni-universal goddess sister with a strong desire to one-up everything Nut does, including universe creation. Lovell is CBD Monster, a dangerously relaxed monster with the ability to drain energy using dark magic and a lot of CBD. Loftus is Nightscreamr, the leader of a group of mysterious 1995 teenagers who all have an odd obsession with Nut. Harrison is The Mushroominations, an otherworldly parasite that latches onto mortals and barrages them with their deepest personal insecurities.

During the late 90s and early 2000s, magical girl shows took the world by storm. Promulgated by the Japanese property Sailor Moon, they generally centered on an all-female cast of evil-fighting do-gooders who protect the world from a combination of criminals, monsters and aliens by donning cute and colorful outfits that signify the awakening of their—you guessed it—magical powers. These programs meant a lot to girls, who could not identify with the G.I. Joes and Johnny Bravos of television. As popular as they are with younger audiences, however, they don’t have any adult-oriented equivalent. Seeking to change that, Kelsey Stephanides developed Magical Girl Friendship Squad.

“I definitely watched The Powerpuff Girls. Winx Club was also a big deal when I was younger” says Kelsey, “I also watched a lot of “boy shows” then, which were more action and comedy. While girls get a lot of shows made for them while they’re little, there aren’t a lot for when they grow up.”

Make no mistake, this show is for grownups, and Kelsey spent a lot of her early adult life pitching this series, “My story is definitely a bit unique in that Magical Girl Friendship Squad actually started out as a project that I made for one of my producing classes back in college. I very much happened to be in the right place at the right time. I first pitched the show back in 2015, when I was still in college, then we made the pilot series which we then pitched to more places. Only when they got picked up again by Syfy for their new programming block was I able to jump back into making my own stuff. It was very circumstantial.”

Magical Girl Friendship Squad can very much be a catalyst for an untapped reservoir of content for Syfy in that Adult Swim has famously shied away from female-produced adult animation during the Mike Lazzo years, thereby probably leaving a slew of hungry producers like Kelsey out there who have a different take on the art form, “I think we’re trying to promote girly, feminine energy and subvert the idea that in order for a girl to be powerful they must reject their femininity. The way that the magical girl genre compares to the superhero genre, it’s not about becoming muscular. As far as magical girls go, their alter egos look cute and colorful. We wanted to preserve that fun beauty of it.”

Male-produced adult animation has had a bunch of fun and success in poking fun at popular male-oriented tropes seen in the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, Back to the Future, etc., whereas it sounds like Magical Girl Friendship Squad will do something similar in the largely untapped paradoxical waters of a genre that may have been seen as sexist, “[The messages] can be both progressive and sexist depending on the execution. An important message of the original Sailor Moon is that the protagonist does not have to reject who she is in order to become a hero. I think it all depends on the context of the show. For instance, the characters in Totally Spies have gadgets built into their mirrors and lipstick. You could either see that as sexist, or them staying true to who they are because there are those types of people. Of course, on the flip side, some of these programs feature girls that are a little more tomboyish, but then have to become feminine in order to fight crime. While I don’t want to give anything away, I hope we address this issue in the Magical Girl Friendship Squad. ”

The future of adult animation on both Syfy and the NBC Universal suite of networks is looking bright. Earlier this year, Seth MacFarlane signed a new overall deal with the media conglomerate which has fans salivating at the Family Guy creator’s potential with a network that he’s already excited about. Even more recent is the announced relaunch of the G4 network, an announcement that, within minutes, saw classic series Code Monkeys one of the most trended topics in the country.

Syfy’s TZGZ battle vs Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim just getting started