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Fans of genre-bending adult animated comedy, this is your lucky month. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, an eagerly anticipated new show that blends sci-fi, adult humor and hospital drama will premiere exclusively on Prime Video this February in more than 240 countries.
The show follows the lives of two besties — Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak, aliens and intergalactically renowned surgeons — as they try to combat everything from deep-space STIs to anxiety-eating parasites. Created by Emmy winner Cirocco Dunlap (Russian Doll, Baymax!, Waffles + Mochi) and Animal Pictures (run by Maya Rudolph, Danielle Renfrew Behrens and Natasha Lyonne), the series’ eight-episode first season was produced by Titmouse, Copa Studio and Mighty Animation.
Although the series is set in outer space with a cast of strange galactic creatures, Dunlap says she knew she wanted to keep the drama real and grounded so the audience could feel invested in the characters, tentacles and all. Ideally, viewers will recognize their problems as similar to ours.
Going for Earthling Emotions
“We couldn’t make this show with sexy aliens,” says a laughing Dunlap, who is also showrunner and executive producer on the series. “We wanted a sense of ‘grounded-ness,’ so we opted to find a style for the animation that felt more real. The writing is really emotionally honest, and the main characters are trying to live their lives and work out their problems as they talk to each other. So, they’re not human and they’re aliens, but we wanted them to have nuanced expressions, so this way they feel Earthy.”
She adds, “I think our animators, our studios did this really well. They worked so hard on it, and it helps when things on the show get ridiculous. When you have tentacles everywhere, it helps if you have this sense of real drama so it doesn’t feel like you’re lost somewhere. It feels like there’s something anchoring you to real emotions and story. And if you’ve got this thing anchoring you, then you can also go to ridiculous heights in the animation.”
‘You see the characters with their real emotions in this strange world, and it’s still this funny sci-fi show that we hope people will see and find relatable.’
— Creator, showrunner & exec producer Cirocco Dunlap
Dunlap’s inspirations for the series range from such sci-fi classics as Star Trek and Alien to beloved hospital dramas like Grey’s Anatomy. She believes she was able to blend the two genres through animation — given all the wild images in the show’s vision of outer space — in a way that probably wouldn’t have worked in live action.
“Our two main characters are having the conversations we all have with a good friend that we might work with,” says Dunlap. “They’re talking about their hopes and fears and trying to get through their lives, but at the same time they’re these aliens who are doctors who have to find a way to deal with the latest thing that comes in the hospital. So, we want it to have that kind of quality.”
Co-producer and production designer Robin Eisenberg brought in unusual source ideas for her character designs. She found her inspiration for the alien looks in the strangest beings on Earth.
“I think [the look of the show’s characters] was definitely inspired by a lot of actual creatures that we would find in the deep sea,” says Eisenberg. “We would just look at nature images and then sort of combine them. I’ve done alien-looking creatures in the past and they’re sort of humanoid aliens, and I’ve done more animal type of aliens for some music videos and other projects.”
She says they tried to push the alien qualities of all the characters. “We would look at deep-sea fish and then add something like bioluminescent lights on the head and all the other details you see in the characters,” says the designer. “Then we would give it [to] other people on the team, so it was definitely just so much fun to see what everybody came up with. We were also looking for a color palette that would have this sense of fun but wasn’t too soft [or] delicate, so you see these purples and fun colors because we want it to reflect the comedy in the series, too.”
Dunlap and Eisenberg were also set on a look that was engaging — but not pretty — in a galaxy that was distressed and worn. They didn’t want a shiny chrome background for the characters. “This is a place where aliens live and work, so it has to feel real even if it’s in space,” says Dunlap.
Eisenberg agrees. “It was a big part of the production design that we paid a lot of attention to the details of everything,” she notes. “So, in each vending machine we have tiny little bits of tape on things so that you know it’s been repaired. We felt like the more attention to detail we can get in the show, the more the world is going to feel lived in, so we wanted to really find these little details and, like, scuff marks on things. We were really excited about medical posters that you see in the show.”
Along with the distinct, playful visuals, the series has a dream voice cast. Keke Palmer stars as Dr. Klak, Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once) voices Dr. Sleech, Maya Rudolph is Dr. Vlam, Sam Smith plays Dr. Azel, Natasha Lyonne is Nurse Tup and Golden Globe winner Kieran Culkin (Succession) is the voice of Dr. Plowp.
“Yeah, they’re perfect,” says Dunlap. “I can’t get over the main cast, but then you’ve got the guest cast, and they were just incredible too. We’ve got Tracee Ellis Ross, and John Waters comes in for an episode. I just feel blown away. I think a lot of actors are really open to doing voice work. It’s been amazing to work with all of them.”
The show is scored by Wendy & Lisa, who rose to fame as key collaborators with Prince. This isn’t their first time working on a TV series; The pair received an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for their work on Nurse Jackie. This time around, though, they were asked to develop the kind of music that would work for both a sci-fi series and a hospital drama.
“We were so lucky to be able to work with them,” says Dunlap. “Everything they did brought out new things in our stories, and their music was exactly what we needed and fit so well with the show.”
Loving the Aliens
Dunlap looks back on the work that was done for the first season and feels they were able to put together an incredibly strong team to create the show. She also hopes viewers will see themselves and their own lives in her alien lead characters.
“It’s kind of cool that the show ends up being about anxiety,” says Dunlap. “There are so many people living with anxiety, and our show gets really heavily into living with a severe sort of anxiety or clinical anxiety and the desperation many people have to try to fix that, which is never really possible. You realize you can only really manage it. But you see the characters with their real emotions in this strange world, and it’s still this funny sci-fi show that we hope people will see and find relatable.”
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy premieres Friday, February 23 on Prime Video. A second season is already in the works.
