'Common Side Effects,' the latest animated series from Adult Swim, revolves around Marshall, who discovers a mushroom that cures all ailments. This discovery leads to chaos as shadowy figures, DEA agents, and Big Pharma thugs pursue him, questioning his sanity. Co-creators Joe Bennett and Steve Hely aim for a balance of absurdity and realism, drawing from varied influences like Coen brothers films and personal experiences to craft relatable character designs. The intent is to enrich the narrative's depth through lively, relatable animations, reflecting the complexity of conspiracy thrillers.
We've always talked about Coen brothers movies being a really nice sort of North Star for us. You can have these really hilarious moments and then all of a sudden somebody gets shot in the face.
To anchor that, Bennett... wanted the characters to look like people. (He laughs and acknowledges that these character designs are a little more on the bobblehead side of the spectrum of characters he creates.)
We talked to people in the pharma business. We pulled from all over... documentaries, life experiences, Hely told Polygon. The Insider, Erin Brockovich, Grisham movies, The X Files.
You're talking to [somebody] a lot of times their pupils are always scanning your face, just always moving around and scanning. That just feels like a little quirky thing that we don't really think about much.
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