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IFC is set to premiere its new animated coming-of-age comedy series Out There this February.
The show’s creator Ryan Quincy, who is a two-time Emmy-winning animation director and producer of South Park, will voice the main character, Chad Stevens.
Out There chronicles the coming-of-age misadventures of socially awkward Chad (Quincy), his little brother Jay (Kate Micucci) and his best friend, Chris (Justin Roiland). Living in the small town of Holford, the boys wander its surreal, bleak landscape waiting out their last few years of adolescence. Along the way, viewers meet Chad’s conservative parents, Wayne (John DiMaggio) and Rose (Megan Mullally), as well as Chris’s single mother, Joanie (Pamela Adlon) and her disastrous boyfriend, Terry (Fred Armisen). They also meet the object of Chad’s affection, Sharla (Linda Cardellini).
Quincy, Roiland, Dimaggio, Micucci and Cardellini were all on hand to talk about the show at this weeks TCA (Television Critics Association).
Quincy said that the longer time frame he is afforded to produce individual episodes on the show has been a positive change, but that as his hands are in "all of the pies," it's still a brutal schedule. (South Park famously produces one episode in six days.)
With Out There, he wanted to have the ability to "fine tune and not have a limited style of animation, so that characters would be able to walk with two legs and don’t just bounce around."
Out There has a distinct tone, as well. Quincy wanted to create a show that moved at a slower pace than some of the other animated series on tap these days.
"The first episode is called the Great Escape," he said. "And it is an escape from rapid zingers and move into more of a slow burn that I think that people can relate to more, and will resonate more."
Quincy calls the show a cathartic therapy session for him to reconcile the trials of childhood.
"It has a Wonder Years and Christmas Story feel to it," Roiland says.
Linda Cardellini, who has already played out adolescent angst on television in the (deservedly) critically beloved Freaks and Geeks said:
"It reminded me of what Lindsay Weir (her character on Freaks and Geeks) said in the first episode of that series, 'I hate High School.' If you're a popular person or unpopular you have a hard time getting to know yourself as a teenager, but Sharla a little more optimistic and more adjusted that Lindsey was."
"Out There is a kindred spirit with Freaks and Geeks and coming of age shows, so having her presence is a nice connective tissue to this show," Quincy added.
There is a distinctive aesthetic to the characters on Out There which separates it out from the pack, as well. Quincy says the look of the animation is a choice he made in order to convey the idea that the characters look on the outside as they feel on the inside.
"If they looked like humans they wouldn't have the same umph. I was influenced by Dr, Seuss and so on, and am more interested in characters with claws and cat faces and so on." Adding, "But these are very human stories."
Out There will premiere in February on IFC, head over to the network site to take a look at the trailer for the series.
The show’s creator Ryan Quincy, who is a two-time Emmy-winning animation director and producer of South Park, will voice the main character, Chad Stevens.
Out There chronicles the coming-of-age misadventures of socially awkward Chad (Quincy), his little brother Jay (Kate Micucci) and his best friend, Chris (Justin Roiland). Living in the small town of Holford, the boys wander its surreal, bleak landscape waiting out their last few years of adolescence. Along the way, viewers meet Chad’s conservative parents, Wayne (John DiMaggio) and Rose (Megan Mullally), as well as Chris’s single mother, Joanie (Pamela Adlon) and her disastrous boyfriend, Terry (Fred Armisen). They also meet the object of Chad’s affection, Sharla (Linda Cardellini).
Quincy, Roiland, Dimaggio, Micucci and Cardellini were all on hand to talk about the show at this weeks TCA (Television Critics Association).
Quincy said that the longer time frame he is afforded to produce individual episodes on the show has been a positive change, but that as his hands are in "all of the pies," it's still a brutal schedule. (South Park famously produces one episode in six days.)
With Out There, he wanted to have the ability to "fine tune and not have a limited style of animation, so that characters would be able to walk with two legs and don’t just bounce around."
Out There has a distinct tone, as well. Quincy wanted to create a show that moved at a slower pace than some of the other animated series on tap these days.
"The first episode is called the Great Escape," he said. "And it is an escape from rapid zingers and move into more of a slow burn that I think that people can relate to more, and will resonate more."
Quincy calls the show a cathartic therapy session for him to reconcile the trials of childhood.
"It has a Wonder Years and Christmas Story feel to it," Roiland says.
Linda Cardellini, who has already played out adolescent angst on television in the (deservedly) critically beloved Freaks and Geeks said:
"It reminded me of what Lindsay Weir (her character on Freaks and Geeks) said in the first episode of that series, 'I hate High School.' If you're a popular person or unpopular you have a hard time getting to know yourself as a teenager, but Sharla a little more optimistic and more adjusted that Lindsey was."
"Out There is a kindred spirit with Freaks and Geeks and coming of age shows, so having her presence is a nice connective tissue to this show," Quincy added.
There is a distinctive aesthetic to the characters on Out There which separates it out from the pack, as well. Quincy says the look of the animation is a choice he made in order to convey the idea that the characters look on the outside as they feel on the inside.
"If they looked like humans they wouldn't have the same umph. I was influenced by Dr, Seuss and so on, and am more interested in characters with claws and cat faces and so on." Adding, "But these are very human stories."
Out There will premiere in February on IFC, head over to the network site to take a look at the trailer for the series.
