Sarah Chalke to Lead Netflix Adult Animated Comedy ‘Paradise, P.D.’ as Genre Primed to Explode

As expected, animation is becoming the hottest genre among the streaming giants.

On Wednesday, Netflix announced a 10-episode, straight-to-series order for Paradise, P.D., with Sarah Chalke (Rick and Morty) set to lead the voice cast for the adult animated show.

Set to premiere this year, Paradise, P.D. hails from Waco O’Guin and Roger Black, the creators of Comedy Central’s Brickleberry. The project is being produced by Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Bento Box Animation (Brickleberry, Bob’s Burgers) for Netflix.

Here’s how the show is described: “They’re bad cops. Not bad like no nonsense. Not bad like cool. Bad like shitty. Paradise P.D.: They’re the worst responders. From the creators of Brickleberry comes this take on a small-town police department.”

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In addition to Chalke, the voice cast features Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies), Cedric Yarbrough (Speechless), Dave Herman (Brickleberry, Bob’s Burgers), Tom Kenny (Spongebob Squarepants), Kyle Kinane (The Standups) and Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Squidbillies).

Paradise, P.D. becomes the latest adult animated comedy to land a straight-to-series order as streaming giants including Netflix, Amazon and Apple are all making aggressive plays in the genre. At Netflix, it joins the recently announced Tuca and Bertie, starring Tiffany Haddish, and a roster that already includes critical favorites Big Mouth and BoJack Horseman. Apple recently made waves with a two-season order for Central Park, from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard and Josh Gad (after Fox passed on the series, sources say). The animated musical features a star-studded voice cast that also includes Stanley Tucci, Kathryn Hahn, Daveed Diggs, Kristen Bell and Titus Burgess. And Amazon is also diving into the adult animation drama, teaming with BoJack creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg (also behind Netflix’s Tuca) for Undone, its first half-hour animated comedy series.

Adult animation, sources say, is poised to explode as the next hot genre as Netflix and fellow streamers look for the next big thing after aggressive plays in scripted and stand-up comedy, among others. While animated series can be a challenging nut to crack creatively, outside of The Simpsons and its expensive voice cast, they are more financially attractive than scripted fare, where salaries for top stars continue to escalate. Animation also transcends demographics and is useful in streamers’ bids to have something for everyone.

Of particular note right now is the fact that animation king Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad) has a year remaining on his deal with 20th Century Fox Television and has been rumored to be a target for a Netflix mega-deal.