'The Multivorce': CBS All Access Developing 'Rick And Morty'-Style Animated Comedy From 'Family Guy' Producer
When you've got a pitch like "Marriage Story mixed with Rick and Morty," you're bound to receive some attention, or at least a few raised eyebrows. But with the adult animation scene becoming increasingly crowded and bizarre, attention is what a new CBS All Access animated series needs. That streaming service is developing The Multivorce, an animated comedy from Kirker Butler (Family Guy) and Scott Mosier (The Grinch) that joins the streaming platform's crowing collection of adult animated shows.
Deadline reports that CBS All Access is looking to get their own Rick and Morty-style animated show with an adult animated series from Butler and Mosier, titled The Multivorce. But rather than an old kook and a young kid, it's a "seemingly normal American family" going through a rather cosmic divorce. Here is the logline per Deadline:
The Multivorce is a half-hour animated comedy about the Gundersons, a seemingly normal American family: mother, father, [and] three kids dealing with the complicated realities of divorce. However, instead of the kids having to spend every other weekend at their father's shitty bachelor apartment across town, they spend every other weekend with their warrior queen mother in her very exciting (and often very dangerous) kingdom somewhere in the Multivorce.
The Marriage Story comparison is pretty hilarious, as the only similarity to Noah Baumbach 2019 drama starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver is obviously the divorce premise, and maybe the dad's shitty apartment. But hey, it's a catchy elevator pitch that certainly gets people's attention. A lot of adult animated shows want to be Rick and Morty, but how many shows want to be Rick and Morty crossed with an Oscar-nominated critical darling? Just The Multivorce (which is being referred to without the hyphen despite the above logo).
The Multivorce hails from Aaron Kaplan's Kapital Entertainment and CBS TV Studios and is created by Butler, a former Family Guy producer and writer, and Mosier, who aside from his work on The Grinch, is best known for his frequent collaborations with Kevin Smith. Mosier has worked with Smith on Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, Clerks II, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Butler and Mosier also executive produce with Kapital's Kaplan and Dana Honor.
The pick-up of The Multivorce comes as CBS All Access ramps up its adult animation titles, with shows like Tooning Out the News and the newly launched Star Trek: Lower Decks injecting a raunchy edge into the platform. Still, CBS All Access will have to do some work to shed CBS' reputation as a stiff, traditional network.