Syfy’s TZGZ Late-Night Animation Block Picks Up ‘Devil May Care’ To Series, Greenlights 3 Pilots

Nellie Andreeva
·4 min read

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EXCLUSIVE: Syfy continues the rapid slate expansion of its TZGZ weekly late-night animation block with one more series orders and three pilot greenlights.

TZGZ is going two-for-two with with its first internally developed animated pilots ordered in January, the 15-minute Wild Life and Devil May Care. Syfy has given a seven-episode series pickup to Devil May Care, starring Alan Tudyk (SyFy’s Resident Alien) and Asif Ali (BoJack Horseman). It follows the six-episode series order for Wild Life in April.

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The newly greenlighted 15-minute TZGZ pilots are The Chronicles of Frank, From ShadowMachine (Final Space, BoJack Horseman), The Black Hole from Starburns Industries (Rick and Morty, Moral Orel), and The Pole, from Yeti Farm Creative (Hotel Transylvania Season 2, Pete the Cat Season 2),

Airing on Syfy every Saturday at midnight-ish, TZGZ is a 90-minute block of adult comedic, animated, genre-based programming of varying lengths. Since its November 2019 debut, TZGZ has grown +7% in the 18-49 demo (Live+7) vs prior year, and continues to bring younger viewers to the network.

TZGZ started off as a block of acquired animated series anchored by Futurama repeats. Encouraged by the solid performance of the soft launch in attracting new young male audience to the network, Syfy in January took the next step, adding originals to the mix with the first series and pilot orders. Within five months, TZGZ has picked up a total of four new animated series, Magical Girl Friendship, Hell Den, Wild Life and Devil May Care, and seven pilots.

Unlike live-action series, animated shows have been largely unaffected by the coronavirus pandemic, with production continuing remotely.

In Devil May Care, the Devil (Tudyk) hires a social media coordinator (Ali) to rebrand Hell as the ultimate place to live, and the two form the most unlikely of friendships. Recurring roles are played by Fred Tatasciore, Pamela Adlon and Stephanie Beatriz.

Created and executive produced by Emmy-winner Douglas Goldstein (Robot Chicken), this 15-minute series is developed and executive produced by Amanda Miller at PSYOP in partnership with Titmouse. Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski and Ben Kalina from Titmouse are also executive producers.

Here are details about TZGZ’s newly picked up pilots:

From ShadowMachine, Chronicles Of Frank follows an overzealous squirrel that kidnaps an exterminator from the Bronx, transporting him to a magical realm where he must conquer the forces of evil and maybe win back his girlfriend. Ordered for a 15-minute pilot, Chronicles Of Frank is created and executive produced by Chris Osbrink (Writer/Director, Trip Tank), with ShadowMachine executive producers Corey Campodonico and Alex Bulkley.

In a galaxy far, far away there’s an epic war of the worlds where countless alien species will fight to the death – and The Black Hole is about the crappy dive bar where they drink. Picked up for a 15-minute pilot, The Black Hole from Starburns Industries, is written and executive produced by Dino Stamatopoulos (Creator, “Moral Orel”) and Michael Waldron (Producer, Rick and Morty). Paul Young (EP, Key & Peele), James A Fino (EP, Rick and Morty), Duke Johnson (Director, Anomalisa) and Nick Weidenfeld (President of Programming, Viceland) also executive produce.

Heavy is the belly that wears the suit in The Pole, a twisted, edgy comedy about the struggle for power on the North Pole. From Yeti Farm Creative, The Pole has been ordered for a 15-minute pilot. Created and executive produced by Matthew Bass (Writer, Future Man) and Theodore Bressman (Writer, Future Man). Mark Gordon (Producer, Ray Donovan) also executive produces, as well as Frank Saperstein and Jay Surridge from Yeti Farm Creative.

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