Common Side Effects

Common Side Effects
Genre	Adult animation Comedy Mystery fiction Conspiracy thriller Drama
Created by	Joseph Bennett Steve Hely
Voices of	Dave King Emily Pendergast Mike Judge Martha Kelly Joseph Lee Anderson
Composer	Nicolas Snyder
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	3
Production
Executive producers	Joseph Bennett Steve Hely Mike Judge Greg Daniels Dustin Davis James Merrill Sean Buckelew Benjy Brooke Kelly Crews Suzanna Makkos
Producers	Max Minor Susan Shi
Editor	Tony Christopherson
Running time	23–26 minutes
Production companies	Green Street Pictures Bandera Entertainment Tell Me More Williams Street
Original release
Network	Adult Swim
Release	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02) – present

Common Side Effects is an American adult animated television series created by Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.

The series was first premiered at Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2024, but was publicly announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 26, 2024. The series officially premiered on February 2, 2025.

Premise

The show follows two high school friends, Marshall and Frances, who reconnect and discover the Blue Angel Mushroom, a legendary mystery in the mushroom community that acts as a drug that can allegedly cure all illnesses. In the process, they also uncover a conspiracy involving Reutical Pharmaceuticals, Inc., one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and the government to suppress all knowledge of said drug.

Characters

Main

• Marshall Cuso (voiced by Dave King) is the knowledgable, cautious protagonist of the series and was friends with Frances in high school. He is an accomplished expert in fungi who has done charity work in foreign countries and is sly in run-ins with the DEA.
• Frances Applewhite (voiced by Emily Pendergast) is Rick's executive assistant and Marshall's high school labmate and friend. Though initially hesitant about the effects of the Blue Angel, she eventually sees the monetary value in the mushrooms and is motivated to try and get them to Rick to take care of her mother, who was recently diagnosed with dementia.
• Agents Copano (voiced by Joseph Lee Anderson) and Harrington (voiced by Martha Kelly) are nonchalant best friends who work for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Kelly describes Harrington as "goofy but is very pragmatic about [her] job.", while Anderson describes Copano as someone who is "big on conspiracy theories" and who likes to "connect dots when they probably should not be connected."
• Rick Kruger (voiced by Mike Judge) is the incompetent chief executive officer of Reutical and the show's antagonist who enjoys farming simulator video games, often playing in improper settings such as work and formal events.

Recurring

• Nick (voiced by Ben Feldman) Frances' lackadaisical, often oblivious boyfriend who loves VR gaming.
• Jonas Backstein (voiced by Danny Huston) is a powerful board member of Reutical, with heavy insider ties to the federal government, and focused on destroying Marshall and the mushrooms.
• Cecily (voiced by Sydney Poitier) is a politician who is backed financially by Jonas in hopes she’ll do his bidding in the interest of Reutical.
• Hildy (voiced by Sue Rose) is Marshall's idiosyncratic, mycologist mentor.
• Zane (voiced by Alan Resnick) is Marshall’s half-brother, who loves psychedelics and runs a pet store.
• Sonia Applewhite (voiced by Lin Shaye) is Frances' mother who has been diagnosed with dementia, and is Frances' main motivation for acquiring the Blue Angel mushroom.
• Amelia (voiced by Shannon Woodward) is the laid-back mycologist hired by the DEA to gather information on the Blue Angel, also acting as a single mother and caretaker to her ill son, Wyatt.

Additional/Guest voices

• Shalita Grant as Female DEA Agent / Susan
• Bob Stephenson as Connor / Samurai
• Timothy Simons as DEA Dispatcher
• Andy Daly as Mysterious Passenger

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	US viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Camille Bozec	Joe Bennett & Steve Hely	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02)	0.18
After being escorted out of a Reutical Pharmaceutical event and being recognized by Frances, Marshall tells her about a new drug he discovered that acts as a panacea. While Marshall shows the drug’s effect, a DEA agent takes photos of the two and brings it back to the DEA, who assign agents Copano and Harrington to surveil Marshall. The two talk at a coffee shop, where Marshall explains how he found this drug that comes from a mushroom that only grows in the Peruvian Highlands. He also states that Reutical has a plant up stream from the valley where the mushroom grows and is risking polluting the area. While Frances takes a call, Marshall becomes paranoid that he is being watched and followed and quickly leaves the coffee shop. Frances talks to her boss, Rick Kruger, CEO of Reutical, about a new drug she's been “exploring.” Marshall goes back to his house, where his security system is going off and the DEA conducts a raid on his home. Marshall escapes and calls Frances.
2	"Lakeshore Limited"	Sean Buckelew	Steve Hely	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02)	0.18
Connor, a Reutical employee working at the Peru facility, is meeting with Cecily, a politician who is financed by Reutical. Connor recounts discovering Marshall's use of the mushroom (revealed to be a blue angel mushroom) to a local child who had been injured and instantly cured. Cecily, unsure if the story's validity and what she should or can do about it, is confronted by Jonas Backstein, a Reutical board member, and Connor demonstrates the mushroom's ability. Cecily escalates the situation with in the government and Jonas hires bounty hunters to kill Marshall. Meanwhile, Marshall, still on the run, tries meeting with Frances and briefly sees his half-brother, Zane, to help Marshall's tortoise. Copano and Harrington begin to question why they are sent to stake out Marshall's home. Frances continues researching the blue angel to bring to Reutical, going to Marshall's house to learn more. Marshall, has evidence in his house destroyed, but ultimately burns the house down, with Frances narrowly escaping. The bounty hunters, hit Marshall's car, but he escapes after taking some blue angel mushrooms and takes the train out of town. Copano and Harrington arrive back at Marshall's house after picking up a mycologist to find it burned. Jonas gets confirmation that Marshall has escaped, and then has Connor shot in the head to ensure total destruction of the blue angel mushroom.
3	"Hildy"	Vincent Tsui	Emma Barrie	February 9, 2025 (2025-02-09)	0.14
On the train, the conductor announces a delay caused by a DEA agent with a K-9 to search Marshall's body. Meanwhile, an undercover DEA agent disguised as a passenger talks to Marshall, placing a hidden camera on the chair next to him. Marshall tells the passenger to keep moving, to which he complies, and Marshall escapes. Meanwhile, Frances, recovering from her trauma, drives to visit her mother, Sonia, in her facility. When she arrives, the receptionist, Susan, tells her that they want to move Sonia to a new building. Heartbroken by this news, Frances goes to her mother's space, and talks to her about the recent events, apologizing for not visiting earlier. Then, Frances finds an envelope from Marshall containing a Blue Angel mushroom, and an accompanying note. She then mixes it with Sonia's food, and feeds it to her, under the guise that it will heal her. It fails, and Frances, disappointed, emotionally apologizes to her and exits her room. She then arrives on a date with Nick, only to receive an anonymous call from Marshall at a subway station phone booth. She angrily tells him the mushroom he gave to Sonia failed, and that she no longer wants to be involved with him. With no mode of transport, Marshall rents a vehicle from a billboard ad to drive to the home of his mentor, Hildy. On the way, he notices someone get into a fatal car accident, and feeds him a mushroom. He arrives at Hildy's house to inform her about his possession of the Blue Angel. Skeptical, she questions him on how he found it and reveals that its properties come from natural adaptation to Reutical's environmental pollution. When Hildy realizes he is telling the truth, she asks him to show it. He reveals he left it in the vehicle, and she attempts to force it out of him, with no luck. Attempting to prove its effectiveness, she pulls a revolver out of a drawer and commits suicide. Panicked, Marshall finds his supply and feeds her a mushroom, it works, and Marshall tries to plan with her to grow more by a medical wastesite. She rejects the plan, claiming he is too irresponsible, and suggests leaving the mushrooms with her instead, to which he is hesitant. She responds by pulling her revolver on him, only for her to find the barrel emptied by Marshall, who quickly leaves. Later, it is revealed that the mushroom given to the car crash victim works and he survives. Additionally, Sonia sees the same figure that others given the Blue Angel see when it kicks in and greets it.
4	"Dumpsite"	TBA	TBA	February 16, 2025 (2025-02-16)	TBD
5	"Star-Tel-Lite"	TBA	TBA	February 23, 2025 (2025-02-23)	TBD
6	"In the System"	TBA	TBA	March 2, 2025 (2025-03-02)	TBD
7	"Blowfish"	TBA	TBA	March 9, 2025 (2025-03-09)	TBD
8	"Amelia & Wyatt"	TBA	TBA	March 16, 2025 (2025-03-16)	TBD
9	"Cliff's Edge"	TBA	TBA	March 23, 2025 (2025-03-23)	TBD
10	"Raid"	TBA	TBA	March 30, 2025 (2025-03-30)	TBD

External links

• Common Side Effects at IMDb