The streaming home for DC Comics and Cartoon Network favorites is ramping up its adult animation content. According to Deadline, HBO Max has ordered at least three new animated series with an additional five shows in the works. It has also handed a two-season renewal to JG Quintel’s (Regular Show) Close Enough.
Quintel’s Close Enough explores the obscure lives of a married couple, their daughter, and divorced friends in Los Angeles. The series stars Quintel as Josh, Gabrielle Walsh (The Hive, Small Shots) as Emily, Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth, The League) as Alex, Kimiko Glenn (Orange Is the New Black, Can You Keep a Secret?) as Bridgette, Jessica DiCicco (Loud House, Puppy Dog Pals) as Candice, Danielle Brooks (Social Distance, Clemency) as Pearle, and James Adomian (The President Show, Love After Love) as Randy. Season two of the show premieres on February 25.
“It is a tremendous privilege to build on the 100 year plus legacy of ‘cartoons’ at this company. We can draw a straight line from our hundreds of childhood hours spent watching Bugs outwit Elmer to the current slate of adult animated projects we are building here at HBO Max and we think fans will agree,” Suzanna Makkos, EVP, Original Comedy and Adult Animation, HBO Max said via Deadline. “We are proud to introduce this distinctive group of series from wide range of diverse creators that will form a first stop destination for animation lovers everywhere,” Makkos said via Deadline.
According to Deadline, the WarnerMedia streamer has ordered two seasons of Clone High, a series that imagined historical figures as high schoolers. The animated series was created by Phil Lord (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie), Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasson, Scrubs) for MTV back in 2002. Lord and Miller will write and serve as executive producers along with Lawrence. The series will be produced by MTV Entertainment Studios. Original series writer Erica Rivinoja (Trolls, Girls Trip) will serve as showrunner.
Mindy Kaling (Never Have I Ever, The Mindy Project) is set to star and executive produce Velma, Deadline reports. The series will tell the origins of Velma Dinkley, one-fifth of the Mystery Inc. team from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Warner Bros. Animation will produce with Charlie Grandy (Champions, Guys with Kids), Howard Klein (Late Night, Awaydays), and Sam Register (Teen Titans, The Looney Tunes Show) as executive producers with Kaling.
The third series in the making is the workplace comedy, Fired on Mars. According to Deadline, Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island, Saturday Night Live) will star and executive produce with Carson Mell (Saguaro, Electric Literature No. 5) and Dave Sirus (Mail Order, Stand Up & Deliver). Set at a startup tech company on the red planet, the series comes from creators Nate Sherman (Bridesmaids, This Is 40) and Nick Vokey (Wet City, Short Ends).
Several other projects are in the pipeline for the streaming service, according to Deadline. They include Hello Paul from Sean Solomon (Lucas Bros Moving Co, Jermaine Fowler: Give Em Hell Kid); Obi, based on the Instagram comic created by artist Obi Arisukwu and Arthur Harris (The Last OG); Brendan Walter (Spell, Wrinkles the Clown) and Greg Yagolnitzer’s (Corporate Animals, Everything All At Once) Uncanny Valley; and, an adaptation of the espionage comic series, Cover, written by Brain Micahel Bendis (Daredevil, House of M) and David Mack (Kabuki: The Alchemy, Dream Logic).