Adult Swim Orders 'Common Side Effects' From Creators of King of the Hill

At this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Adult Swim announced it ordered a new animated series titled 'Common Side Effects,' a half-hour comedy that delves into the complex reactions to the revelation of the mysterious elixir of life.

Joe Bennett and Steve Hely created the series, and it is executive produced by King of the Hill creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.

'Common Side Effects' follows former high school lab partners Marshall and Frances who begin to unravel a conspiracy involving big pharma and the federal government to suppress knowledge of a rare mushroom that may hold the key to curing all the world’s diseases.

“From the moment we heard the idea for ‘Common Side Effects’ we knew it was the perfect tone for our animation brand,” added Suzanna Makkos, executive vice president, of original programming for Adult Swim and Max. “The series is based on a thought-provoking idea that is totally original and brought to life with complicated, larger-than-life characters. We look forward to introducing this special show to the world.”

Listed in Variety’s 2022 list of “10 Animators to Watch,” Bennett will also debut a sci-fi animated series 'Scavengers Reign' for Max, and his animated shorts were featured on FXX’s anthology series Cake. Hely was a co-executive producer for the HBO series Veep and a producer/writer for American Dad, The Office, and 30 Rock.

'Common Side Effects' will be produced by Bandera Entertainment with Judge, Daniels and Bandera's president Dustin Davis serving as executive producers. Bandera is currently in production on new episodes of King of the Hill, which will air on Hulu.