'The New Yorker' cartoonist Charlie Hankin is teaming up with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios on a 2D comedy series for the network’s growing TZGZ late-night adult animation block.
Writer, actor, and The New Yorker cartoonist Charlie Hankin is teaming up with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios on a new SYFY animated series, The Summoner, the latest original project coming soon to the network’s growing TZGZ late-night adult animation block.
The 2D animated series is based on Hankin’s short film about Rory and his challenging roommate. Rory, in his 20s and living on his own for the first time, has found himself in a small 2-bedroom with the Summoner, a magical alien with the power to summon any object to his present location. This sounds potentially useful, but it isn’t—the Summoner has a tenuous grasp of English and only summons the most useless shit.
The Summoner has been greenlit for a straight-to-series order of 10 three-minute episodes expected to air in the TZGZ block next year; the show is executive produced by Seth Green, Hankin, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters.
As an actor, Hankin has been in I Love Dick, The Last OG, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and others. He is also half of the sketch duo and filmmaking team Good Cop Great Cop, who have been making short films together for over a decade. Together, they have developed pilots with both TBS and Comedy Central. You can view his library of original animations here.
“We’ve been a fan of Charlie’s work for The New Yorker for quite some time,” said Stoopid Buddy Stoodios co-founder Senreich. “We love the offbeat, observational humor of his comics, and can’t wait to bring his singular voice and design sensibilities into the world of animation as part of the TZGZ line-up.”
“The Summoner is a perfect example of how we’re experimenting with content for TZGZ by continuing to add smart stories from unique voices, but also playing with different formats and new animation styles, like Charlie’s distinctive hand-drawn look,” said Jon Cotton, VP, Short-Form Animation & Alternative Formats for SYFY. “Working with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios on this project was a no-brainer, given their track record for creating some of the buzziest adult animation out there.”
Airing every Saturday at midnight-ish on SYFY, TZGZ is a 90-minute block of adult comedic, animated, genre-based programming of varying lengths. Since its 2019 debut, the block has grown +7% in the 18-49 demo vs prior year and continues to bring younger viewers to the network.
Check out the crazy TZGZ lineup trailer below:
In case you’re wondering, “TZGZ” comes after “SYFY.” Their current programming slate is as follows:
- 5 Original Series
- Devil May Care, Wild Life, Magical Girl Friendship Squad, The Summoner and Hell Den (Season 2)
- 11 Acquired Series
- Alien’s Guide to Earth, Brogan: Master of Castles, Cyanide and Happiness, Dallas and Robo, Don’t Feed the Humans, Dr. Havoc’s Diary, Gary and his Demons, Hell Den (Season 1), Purgatony, Science!, and Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins (short-form version)
- 5 Original Pilots
- Chronicles of Frank, The Black Hole, The Pole, Plutonians (working title), and Psycho Psalms
Source: SYFY
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
