Comedy Centrals FREAK SHOW, an animated half-hour narrative featuring a band of freak show performers who also happen to be second-rate superheroes, debuts on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006, at 10:30 pm. The seven-episode series is based on an idea by David Cross (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, MR. SHOW) and H. Jon Benjamin (DR. KATZ: PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST, HOME MOVIES). Encore presentations to air Wednesday at 12:30 am, Friday at 12:30 am and Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday at midnight.
FREAK SHOW chronicles the adventures and misadventures of the illustrious Freak Squad, a band of carnival freaks secretly employed to undertake low-priority missions for the Pentagon. Whether its covertly rolling back the mileage on the President's Trans-Am or reading the meter at an embassy in a dangerous war-torn country, Freak Squad is on it. In their down time, they retreat to their alternate lives as performers in America's last independently owned traveling freak show where, amidst the squabbles of any dysfunctional family, they try to save the business from the greedy clutches of Freak-Mart, a corporate behemoth intent on destroying them at any cost.
The Freak Squad is comprised of: Tuck and Benny, The Siamese Twins (special power: separation); The Bearded Clam (special power: blinding bitch juice); The World's Tallest Nebraskan (special power: can shrink up to six inches); Primi, The Premature Baby (special power: pinpoint projectile vomiting); and Log Cabin Republican (special power: transformation into Burly Bear). Cross and Benjamin provide character voices along with Will Arnett, Todd Barry, Janeane Garofalo, Jon Glaser, Kristen Schaal and Brian Stack.
In the debut episode, the Freak Squad is called upon to travel to a remote island under embargo by the United States and controlled by the evil General M'Dinka Magoobi. The mission: to replenish the President's store of his favorite perry nuts, which can only be found on Magoobi's island. Using their individual and combined powers, the Freak Squad escapes the clutches of General Magoobi and nearly save the President from going without his favorite snack. Future plot lines include the Pentagon ordering the Freak Squad to roll back the odometer on the President's Trans Am so it is sold at the highest possible price and Squad members defeating a family of nuclear tourists that threaten Times Square.
Credits for FREAK SHOW include Cross and Benjamin as exec producers. Lou Wallach and Dan Powell serve as execs in charge of production for Comedy Central.
Radical Axis (AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, SQUIDBILLIES) handles all aspects of production from the initial audio records to the final delivery of the closed-captioned master. Much of the actual series production work was completed at the Radical Axis studio in Atlanta, including designs, storyboarding, animation, editing and sound design.
We are excited to have this opportunity to work with Comedy Central, David Cross and Jon Benjamin, said Scott Fry, Radical Axis ceo/creative director. This project has already been great fun to work on and we are looking forward to working closely with Cross, Benjamin and Comedy Central in bringing FREAKS to life.
"Radical Axis is to animation what the Guttenberg Bible is to publishing, said Cross. In short, one of the most significant, groundbreaking inventions in history that will move us forward and out of these dark ages. That, and they're funny too."
Benjamin added, "RadicalAxis has been stirring dark and crushingly chic animation in its cauldron for years, and I'm just thrilled to cross worlds with the confident opulence of these style alchemists and romance peddlers, if only for a fleeting moment."
"We love what we've seen so far from Radical Axis and recognize that they are incredibly talented and have become players in the world of animation," said Wallach. "When you look at the diverse body of work and characters they've been involved with since 2000, you know there's no better team to working with when you're dealing with a bunch of Freaks."
Comedy Central, the only all-comedy network, is seen in more than 88 million homes in the U.S. Comedy Central is owned by Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks. For more information, visit www.comedycentral.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
