The Freak Brothers Animated Series Premieres Mini-Episode

Times are strange, man, and it takes some strange men, and one crazy cat, to make sense of it all. The Freak Brothers, which comes from the producers of Highly Gifted and King of the Hill, and was animated by Starburns Industries, aka Rick and Morty‘s alma mater, made its world premiere with a mini-episode that’s finger-licking good.

“In 1969, life in San Francisco consists of free love, communal living and political protest,” posits the Freak Brothers logline. “Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek (Woody Harrelson), Fat Freddy Freekowtski (John Goodman), Phineas T. Phreakers (Pete Davidson), and their mischievous, foul-mouthed cat, Kitty (Tiffany Haddish), spend their days dodging many things—the draft, the narcs, and steady employment—all while searching for an altered state of bliss. But after partaking of a genetically mutated strain of marijuana, the Freaks wake up 50 years later to discover a much different society. Quickly feeling like fish out of water in a high-tech world of fourth-wave feminism, extreme gentrification and intense political correctness, the Freaks learn how to navigate life in 2020—where, surprisingly, their precious cannabis is now legal.”

The producers will deliver eight 22-minute episodes, along with several mini-episodes. The premiere clip features John Di Domenico guest-starring as Donald Trump. The series was written and produced by Dave Krinsky and John Althschuler from Silicon Valley, and Highly Gifted’s Daniel Lehrer and Jeremy Lehrer. This series will be animated by Starburns Industries (Rick & Morty) and Pure Imagination Studios (The Simpsons).  

The showrunners are Alan Cohen and Alan Freedland, best known for their work on King of the Hill. Blake Anderson and Adam Devine (Workaholics) are executive producers. It is being co-executive produced by Jeffrey S. Edell. Jeffrey S. Udall, Mark Canton and Courtney Solomon, who produced the comic the series is based on, are also producing.

The series will also be executive produced by Gilbert Shelton, who created The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in 1968 when it ran in an underground Texas newspaper called the Rag. It centered on Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek, Phineas T. Phreak, Fat Freddy Freekowtski, and Fat Freddy’s frisky feline friend. They basically spend their time looking for the most blissful high and traversing bad trips and worse paranoia. Underground Comix, many of them self-published and sold inside or next to subculture magazines, were marketed for adults and didn’t hold themselves to the restrictions of the Comics Code. The first Freak Brothers comic was published in 1971. It has since been translated into 14 languages and sold more than 40 million comics worldwide.

The Freak Brothers is being shopped and will premiere this fall on an as-yet-announced network.