Common Side Effects

Adult Swim, the leader in adult animation and #1 destination for young adults, has greenlit “Common Side Effects,” it was announced at Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The half-hour comedy series delves into the complex reactions to the revelation of the mysterious elixir of life. “Common Side Effects” was created by Joe Bennett and Steve Hely and is executive produced by “King of the Hill” creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and produced by Final Frontier & Le Cube.

“Common Side Effects” follows former high school lab partners Marshall and Frances who begin to unravel a conspiracy involving big pharma and the federal government to suppress knowledge of a rare mushroom that may hold the key to curing all 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 Michael Ouweleen, president of Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and Boomerang. “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,” added Suzanna Makkos, executive vice president, original programming for Adult Swim and Max. “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.”

Listed in Variety’s 2022 list of “10 Animators to Watch,” Bennett will also debut a sci-fi animated series “Scavengers Reign” for Max, and his animated shorts were featured on FXX’s anthology series “Cake.” Hely was a co-executive producer for the HBO series “Veep,” and a producer/writer for “American Dad,” “The Office” and “30 Rock.”

“Common Side Effects” will be produced by Bandera Entertainment with Judge, Daniels and Bandera president Dustin Davis serving as executive producers.

Client: Green Street Pictures, Warner Bros Discovery
TV Series – 10 episodes x 22′
Service: Full Production
Pipeline: 2D Toom Boom Harmony