IFC Upfront 2012: 'Over There'

IFC, not long ago the private hub of indie and international film enthusiasts, has since evolved into the Stateside home of all manners of offbeat comedy for U.S. cable television. The network has been around for nearly two decades, but has only recently solidified a serious venture into the territory of original programming, and so enters the 2012 calendar year with a strong wind at its back. This past week, IFC's programming directors held the cable channel's first ever Upfront event. At said event, IFC announced the greenlight of its first original animated television series, Out There.

IFC's lineup is comprised of contemporary dark comedy, awkward situational humor, and other programming geared specifically toward adults looking for something a little bit "off." The network's relationship with animation has likewise included a respectful affection for everything ranging from alternative web content to Japanese animation. IFC has broadcast anime, in the past, along the lines of Speed Grapher, Witchblade, and Basilisk. But IFC is more than a year into a new era, meaning that its approach to cartoon content will be making the necessary adjustments as well.

Out There, announced last week, will be an animated series about a kid, his buddies, and their never-ending battle against the anarchy of adolescence. The series is the creation of Ryan Quincy, who will be familiar to animation enthusiasts for his years of service to the boys of South Park.

According to IFC, Out There has been greenlit for ten half-hour episodes.

"This past year, our first as an ad-supported network, has been an amazing one for IFC," Jennifer Caserta, Executive Vice President & General Manager, IFC, commented. "Original series [..] connected with audiences and have helped to further establish the network as the premier destination for fresh, original programming that celebrates what's off-kilter in the world of comedy."

Quincy's Out There is currently scheduled to debut in January 2013. In the cartoon, Chad, his little brother Jay, and his best friend, Chris, live in an out-of-the-way small town where all the pains of growing up are equally terrible and terrifying. Love, puberty, social ostracism.... it's all part of being stuck in that familiar state of wretchedness between childhood and adulthood. Quincy himself having served as an animator, technical supervisor, producer, and likely many other things for Parker and Stone's South Park, has a good idea of how to look at the limbo of adolescence from myriad perspectives.

The adventures of Chad and the gang will be animated by 20th Century FOX Television. The studio already has an intriguing and busy year ahead given how FOX fastidiously pledged, back in January, to construct its very own Saturday night adult animation segment [recent A.I. news: "FOX Declares for Sat. Night Animation" (01/2012)], with the aid of Nick Weidenfeld and Hend Baghdady. FOX currently provides the animation production for various Seth MacFarlane-guided cartoons (Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, The Flintstones).