Jul 13, 2019

TV Roundup: 'The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers', 'The Flintstones', 'You're Not A Monster'

A handful of animated series have been announced for development, production, and distribution.

WTG Enterprises has commissioned an animated adaptation of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (pictured above), an underground comic created by Gilbert Shelton in 1968 about three drunken hippies and their cat who have dark and trippy adventures of three drunken hippies and their cat. Initially published in underground newspapers, it later gained a wide readership through comic books. One critic called the characters "the Marx Brothers of marijuana"; WTG Enterprises has said the show stays true to the irreverent adult humor of the comics.

The branding and licensing company, which purchased the property last year, has assembled a stellar team to produce the show:

A series of eight 22-minute episodes aimed at adults will be produced and will debut in early 2020. A few years ago, it was reported that the British studio Celluloid Dreams would be adapting the comic into a stop-motion film. The footage was also released online, but the project appears to have been shelved.

The talent behind the project will talk about it at Comic-Con International: Friday, July 19 at 7 pm (Room 6 BCF).

Sixty years after it first aired on ABC, this iconic show is about to be revived once again. The characters, who have been popular for decades, have been largely dormant in recent years, but have reappeared from time to time in projects such as the direct-to-video production "The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown!" and the 2016 DC Comics limited series He has been featured in. Seth MacFarlane ("Family Guy") attempted to reboot the series in 2011, but his version never went into production.

Little is known about this new project except that Variety reports: "In the early stages of development, [and] a primetime adult comedy based on an original idea featuring characters from The Flintstones described as an animated series."

There is no indication yet of a network or release date. Warner Bros. will co-produce the series with Brownstone, which signed a production deal in 2015. Brownstone is run by Hollywood power couple Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman. Banks will direct, write, co-produce, and star in the next film, Charlie's Angels.

IMDB, the leading online movie database, is solidifying its foray into original programming with its first scripted - and first animated - series, You're Not a Monster. The elevator pitch is something like "Frasier with Monsters:" Kelsey Grammer voices a psychiatrist-turned-vampire who mentors his great-grandson Max, who is also a therapist. Frankenstein, Medusa, and the Invisible Man all make appearances.

"You're Not a Monster" is created and written by Frank Loesser, who has won several Emmy Awards for "The Colbert Report." Lesser previously wrote the book "Sad Monsters," which is available on his website under the title "Undead and ... . humorous stories about unloved people," and is described as "a humorous tale about the unloved. It is not clear to what extent the show is an adaptation of the book; it is being produced for IMDB by Bold Soul Studios, Glamnet, and Ranker. Lily Stuart Streiff will direct animation. In addition to Grammer, the cast includes Eric Stonestreet, Aparna Nancherla, Ellie Kemper, and Patton Oswalt.

The first season, which will premiere in the fall, will consist of ten episodes, each four to five minutes long. This reflects the growing enthusiasm for very short-form series intended for on-the-go viewing. The most notable venture in this type of "snarkable content" is Quibi, a streaming platform developed by Hollywood mega-producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, which is scheduled to launch next spring.

IMDB will unveil a trailer for the series next week at IMDBoat at Comic-Con International: San Diego.