The Truth is Out There, and Lizzy Caplan, Christian Slater and Clark Duke will find it in Netflix’s “Inside Job,” a new conspiracy theory office comedy animated series from “Gravity Falls” writer Shion Takeuchi and creator Alex Hirsch, both of whom have development deals with the streamer.
In an announcement made during Netflix’s Adult Animation Studio Focus at the Annecy Animation Festival, Takeuchi and Hirsch also revealed a supporting cast of A-list voice acting and live-action talent including Andrew Daly (“Veep,” “Big Mouth”), Bobby Lee (“MADtv,” “Borderlands”), John DiMaggio (“Futurama,” “Adventure Time”), Tisha Campbell (“Empire,” “Harley Quinn”) and conspiracy theory nut go-to Brett Gelman (“Stranger Things,” “Fleabag”).
Not venturing too far from the sweet spot that Takeuchi and Hirsch perfected with “Gravity Falls,” “Inside Job” will play in the supernatural fringes of our world and feature creatures, narratives and visuals ripped right from the conspiracy tabloid headlines of supermarket checkout lanes.
“Inside Job” unspools in the offices of Cognito Inc., an organization within the shadow government, and follows anti-social tech genius Reagan Ridley (Caplen) who, with her partner Brett Hand (Duke), works to uncover the infinite secrets of the world hidden in the shadows.
“The people behind it are a bunch of dumbass goofballs like any other office,” Takeuchi described. “Despite being somewhat misanthropic, Reagan really wants to help humanity, make a difference in the world and bring order to the chaos.”
Despite her optimism, Reagan faces constant hurdles on the way to her dream promotion including her unhinged, tin foil hat-wearing father (Slater) and irresponsible coworkers.
Although the show plays with popular conspiracy theories, its creators were careful to point out that it’s all in fun, leaving often polemical actual theories to the internet.
“There needs to be an asterisk in this day and age because there are lots of things we’d never like to promote being true. We always try to find our own way into a conspiracy theory, the classic ones. We never say that what you heard on the internet somewhere is exactly how the theory was perpetrated,” Takeuchi explained.
Hirsch is more interested in telling the stories he grew up seeing on shows like the “X-Files,” delivered in a more playful way.
“There was a kitschiness and playfulness to it. A ‘90s culture digesting what happened in the ’60s and ’70s and putting a fun spin on it,” he said.
Just as Takeuchi and Hirsch were lamentably letting viewers know that no footage of the series is available to tease yet, Slaters’ animated, blurred-out father character interrupted the feed with a fuzzy, foulmouthed handheld video recording in which he teased all manner of crazy narratives before being violently shut down by secret agents.
Shion Takeuchi
Credit: Netflix