Jan 7, 2017

ABC Preparing Debut of "Imaginary Mary," a Hybrid Live-Action and CGI Series

This week, ABC released new photos from its midseason alternative series "Imaginary Mary." The show is a quirky hybrid of live action and CG, with Patrick Osborne, director of Disney's Oscar-winning "Feast" and the currently Oscar-nominated Google movie "Pearl," on board.

Starring Jenna Elfman ("Dharma & Greg," "Friends with Benefits") as Alice, a "fiercely independent career woman." Mary, voiced by Rachel Dratch ("Saturday Night Live"), is a CG character designed by Osborn, who also serves as executive producer of the series.

The character can be seen in the trailer below, which includes footage from the pilot, but here's something to keep in mind: last fall, Deadline reported that ABC is in the process of retooling this CG character. Notably, the photos released by ABC this week show only the live-action actors and not the updated "Mary":

ABC has reduced the first season order from 13 episodes to 9 episodes, but this is due to the fact that incorporating CG animated characters into a live-action series This is probably due to the longer production time required to incorporate CG animated characters into a live-action series. (FOX's "Son of Zorn," another recent series that integrates live action and animation, ended up with a nine-episode first season.)

The idea for the series came from the production team behind the ABC sitcom "The Goldbergs": Adam F. Goldberg (writer/executive producer), David Galassio (writer/executive producer), and Doug Robinson (executive producer). The pilot is directed by Shawn Levy ("Night at the Museum," "Cheaper by the Dozen"), who also serves as executive producer; ABC Studios is co-producing with Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison.