Deadline reports that Adult Swim has ordered a half-hour animated series from Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Daria), Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Office), Joe Bennett (Scavengers, From God’s Mouth to Your Ears), and Steve Hely (Animal Practice, American Dad!). The series was announced at Annecy International Film Festival on Friday and was created by Bennett and Hely.
Common Side Effects will follow former high school lab partners Frances and Marshall, who unravel a conspiracy theory that involves big pharma and the federal government to suppress the knowledge about a rare mushroom that could possibly hold the key to curing all of the world’s diseases.
“Tonally, this is like nothing else in animation right now, so we knew immediately that Common Side Effects belonged on Adult Swim,” said president of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and Boomerang, Michael Ouweleen (Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Badgirl), according to Deadline. “Mike, Greg and this entire team have such deep pedigrees in the comedy and animation worlds, and this new series will tackle everything from government corruption to the pharmaceutical industry through their unique and hilarious perspectives.”
“From the moment we heard the idea for Common Side Effects we knew it was the perfect tone for our animation brand,” said executive vice president, original programming for Adult Swim and Max, Suzanna Makkos, also according to Deadline. “The series is based on a thought-provoking idea that is totally original and brought to life with complicated, larger than life characters. We look forward to introducing this special show to the world.”
Common Side Effects is produced by Judge and Daniels’ Bandera Entertainment and is executive produced by Judge, Daniels, and Bandera president Dustin Davis (America’s Next Top Model, American Idol).
Hely co-executive produced Veep on HBO as well as produced and wrote for 30 Rock, American Dad, and The Office.
Bennett is a co-creator of Max’s upcoming animated sci-fi series Scavengers Reign.