Scandal and intrigue at the North Pole means there’s a twisted power struggle afoot for the venerable red suit, in the edgy-new animated comedy from Yeti Farm Creative.
For fans of SYFY’s Sunday evening late-night adult animation block, TZGZ, Christmas comes early this year with the announcement of a new animated comedy, The Pole, starring Bobby Moynihan and Jillian Bell. The previously announced SYFY original pilot has just been picked up for a 6-episode season scheduled to debut in 2021.
Nicole Byer was also just added as a series regular, along with recurring cast members SungWon Cho, Colin Jost, Tim Simons and Sasheer Zamata.
In The Pole, after a scandal involving “Saint” Nick (Moynihan) rocks the holly jolly foundations of the North Pole, all hell breaks loose as the future of Christmas turns into a twisted power struggle for the Red Suit. As Nick, the 20th to wear the Suit, struggles with the age-old question of naughty vs. nice, his wife Mrs. Claus, aka Gretchen (Bell), works to keep the political machine that is toy production afloat. It isn’t easy as they juggle the factory elves, including Nick’s head elf Matilda (Byer) and the political activist Helenor (Zamata), as well as parenting two sons – Nick’s mini-me Harry (Cho) and the crown prince, Jack (Simons), who’s not only next in line for the Suit, but also looking to rebrand it. Reporting on all the drama in THE POLE? Cocoa (Jost), host of the North Pole News Network Program, “Morning Cocoa.”
The show is from Kelowna, British Columbia-based Yeti Farm Creative (Hotel Transylvania Season 2, Pete the Cat Season 2). The quarter-hour series is created and executive produced by Matthew Bass (Writer, Future Man) and Theodore Bressman (Writer, Future Man, Writer/EP, Jungleland), who also serve as showrunners. Mark Gordon (Producer, Grey’s Anatomy, Ray Donovan) also executive produces, as well as Frank Saperstein (EP, Counterfeit Cat, Producer, Ren & Stimpy) and Jay Surridge from Yeti Farm Creative.
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.
In case you’re wondering, “TZGZ” comes after “SYFY.” The Pole joins the network’s current programming slate, which 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.
