Wild Life is an American adult animated sitcom created by Adam Davies that premiered on September 26, 2020 on Syfy's late-night programming block, TZGZ.[1] It is an animated show about a gang of zoo critters living free and hanging out after the end of the world. The season one finale aired on October 31.[2]

Wild Life
GenreAdult animation
Animated sitcom
Created byAdam Davies
Written byAdam Davies
Dylan Dawson
Alex Plapinger
Directed byGriffith Kimmins
Creative directorEvan Viera
Voices of
ComposerAlex Plapinger
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Adam Davies
  • Dylan Dawson
  • Alex Plapinger
  • David Carrico
  • Adam Paulsen
  • Isaac Krauss
  • Dave Newberg
ProducerDave Newberg
Animators
  • Nick Bane
  • Victoria Giacomazzi
  • Sebastian Leverette
  • Tessa Lowe
  • Karli Medler
  • Forrest E Norris III
  • Daran Sudric
  • Dante Tumminello
  • Zachary Wells
EditorJeff Picarello
Running time15 minutes
Production companiesNice Try.
Octopie Network
Valparaiso Pictures
TZGZ Productions
Original release
NetworkSyfy
ReleaseSeptember 26 (2020-09-26) –
October 31, 2020 (2020-10-31)

Plot

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Wild Life is "a show about animal friends just trying to stay alive after the apocalypse. Together, they come up with elaborate schemes to entertain themselves and pretty much just keep from going insane".[3]

Cast and characters

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Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
U.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Bad Water"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerSeptember 26, 2020 (2020-09-26)TBA0.177[4]
The critters have to go to the mall to save the zoo!
2"We Bot a Zoo"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerOctober 3, 2020 (2020-10-03)TBA0.109[5]
Darby makes everyone robot versions of themselves.
3"Zook Club"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerOctober 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)TBA0.128[6]
Debbie takes over Glenn's beloved book club.
4"Doug The Bear"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerOctober 17, 2020 (2020-10-17)TBA0.098[7]
The zoo crew gets obsessed with tennis and befriend a cool bear.
5"Broadcast Zoos"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerOctober 24, 2020 (2020-10-24)TBA0.199[8]
The critters find an abandoned broadcast studio and starts making shows.
6"A River Runs Zoo It"Griffith KimminsAdam Davies, Dylan Dawson & Alex PlapingerOctober 31, 2020 (2020-10-31)TBA0.135[9]
The critters go tubing on the river and Marny meets a fellow dolphin.

Production

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Development

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Wild Life was announced as part of the first efforts of Syfy to create original programming for its TZGZ block, with a 15-minute pilot ordered in January 2020.[10] In April of the same year, the pilot was greenlit to series, with Syfy ordering five 15-minute episodes.[3]

According to show creator Adam Davies, the idea, born in 2016, came from his love for animals, but also thinking there's a tension between them and humans, wanting to give them a voice because of that. The selection of animals as the main cast came when Davies started drawing cheetah spots to process trauma (which would become Glenn), with the rest of the cast and setting coming as a "subconscious thing".[11]

Two inspirations for the show, according to executive producer Dylan Dawson, are comic strip Calvin and Hobbes and stop-motion series Creature Comforts.[11]

Crew

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The series is produced by Valparaiso Pictures, with animation outsourced to Octopie.[12][11] According to executive producer Alex Plapinger, the number of people who worked on the show are between 40 and 50, with a lot of people working in various areas of production.[13] The animation is done on Adobe Animate.[14]

Cast

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The main cast was announced the same day the pilot was greenlit to series, conformed by Natalie Palamides, Baron Vaughn, Reggie Watts, John Paul Reynolds, Claudia O'Doherty and SkittLeZ Ortiz.[3]

Release

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The first sneak peek of the show was released during Comic-Con on July 24, 2020, alongside a panel with members of the crew and cast.[15] The series premiered on September 26, 2020, alongside the debut of Magical Girl Friendship Squad.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Petski, Denise (August 20, 2020). "'Magical Girl Friendship Squad' & 'Wild Life' Get Premiere Dates On Syfy's TZGZ Adult Animation Block". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  2. ^ Bullard, Benjamin (October 30, 2020). "TZGZ: Dolphins do dystopia in exclusive sneak peek at SYFY's 'Wild Life' season finale". Syfy. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Andreeva, Nellie (April 23, 2020). "Syfy's TZGZ Late-Night Animation Block Picks Up 3 New Series, Orders 2 Pilots". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.26.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  5. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.3.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.10.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals &; Network Finals: 10.17.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.24.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Saturday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.31.2020 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 17, 2020). "Syfy Ramps Up Animation Push With First Original Series & Pilot Orders For New TZGZ Block". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Murphy, Jackson (September 23, 2020). "INTERVIEW: "Wild Life" Team Ready To Roar In Animation Jungle". Animation Scoop. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  12. ^ "Work".
  13. ^ Brinkhof, Tim (September 24, 2020). "Exclusive: Wild Life Interview With Executive Producers Adam Davies, Dylan Dawson and Alex Plapinger". BubbleBlabber. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  14. ^ Zahed, Ramin (October 1, 2020). "SYFY TZGZ: A New Home for Grown-Up Animation". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  15. ^ "SYFY: TZGZ's Adult Animated Originals--Comic-Con@Home 2020". YouTube. Comic Con. July 24, 2020. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020. See 20:59-33:32 in this video.
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