Summary
- “Common Side Effects” is a slower burn than “Rick and Morty,” focusing on Earth-bound narratives and philosophical themes.
- The show follows a hippie who discovers a miracle cure, facing off against pharmaceutical big wigs and DEA operatives.
- Co-created by Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely, the show blends violence and comedy, offering a unique take on moral dilemmas akin to Coen Brothers films.
Like Max’s Common Side Effects, Rick and Morty was once a fledgling program on Adult Swim. Granted, that fledgling program became a smash hit after just a few episodes, but its initial beginnings were as humble as any violent psychedelic cartoon exploring multiple dimensions. Common Side Effects is seeing amazing reviews in its first season, just like Rick and Morty, as it currently sits 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Common Side Effects, from Silicon Valley‘s Mike Judge, is somewhat drier than Dan Harmon’s Rick and Morty. While the latter famously deals in rapid jokes-per-minute and galactic gross-out gags, Common Side Effects is a slower burn, more concerned with a season-arching narrative and Earth-bound shenanigans. For all their differences, both Adult Swim shows are essentially similar, both laugh-out-loud funny while offering harebrained depictions of some rather deep, fleshed-out philosophical themes.
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Common Side Effects Interview: Co-Creators Talk New Adult Swim Show
Steve Hely and Joseph Bennett talk about their new show Common Side Effects, from the characters and themes to real-life inspiration and more.
Less Burps, More Perps
There’s a crudeness to season one of Rick and Morty, when Rick still burped every sentence and wasn’t yet written as a god. Rick was a super smart (albeit super crazy) uncle who was haphazardly animated in sitcom stories about marriage, loss, and family. This grounded approach to Rick and Morty is where fans will draw the most parallels to Common Side Effects. Producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels (The Office) are experts at workplace monotony, a backdrop that permeates every second of Common Side Effects, no matter how mind-bending it gets.
Common Side Effects follows genius hippie Marshall Cuso (voiced by Dave King), who takes a while to prove he’s not Severance‘s Adam Scott. Cuso discovers a radiant blue mushroom in a secluded mountain forest, which turns out to be a miracle cure for nearly every physical ailment. Being the highly intelligent person he is, Cuso knows big pharma would never allow him to cultivate such a drug without their involvement. This conflict introduces a cast of pharmaceutical big wigs and DEA operatives, each more incompetent than the last, who doggedly trace Cuso’s whereabouts.
His mushroom is a natural wonder and becomes the most valuable substance in the world, similar to Rick’s portal fluid. In the event of a plane crash, Rick would simply shoot a portal in front of himself and fall into that before the plane plummeted to Earth. Cuso employs a more, well, reactionary method. In the series’ first episode, his small plane is shot down by big pharma grunts, so he eats a mushroom to survive it, but only after experiencing the painful horror of a plane crash. Cuso’s miracle drug analogs Rick’s portal gun: it’s a solution to many of the problems the show presents, while creating a host of conflicts on its own.
Whereas Rick is pursued by intergalactic agents for his portal gun design, Cuso is chased down by federal agents and shady guys with dead eyes and weird tattoos. That’s not to say most of the show’s characters don’t have vacant expressions. Soullessness seems to be consistent among the characters in Common Side Effects. Marshall Cuso is one of the only characters in the show whose expressions vary past menace and apathy, highlighting his broadened worldview as opposed to those who hunt him.
A-Team Writers, B-Team DEA
Common Side Effects is co-created by ace world-builder Joseph Bennett (Scavenger’s Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock). They tell a story about a well-meaning hippie who wants to freely share a miracle drug with the world, and present likely evils that would seek to stop him with a Coen Brothers-like levity. These pharmaceutical mobs and government co-conspirators are as scary as they would probably be in reality. The pharma heads are only concerned with the money they could make off sick humans instead of saving them, and the federal agents are as relentless as the real-life IRS.
Like with the Coen Brothers, violence and comedy color the ultra-high-stakes plot and despicable interests on display. One of the show’s funniest running bits is the ineptitude of its two DEA agents, Copano and Harrington, played by Young Rock‘s Joseph Lee Anderson and Baskets‘ Martha Kelly. The pair barely know what their assignment is through the first few episodes, let alone how to actually complete it. They’re more concerned with the song on the radio than the perp in the shack. Audiences can assume that even when they learn how big their case is, they’ll still mostly be worried about whose turn it is to buy coffee.
An Uncommon Television Show
Common Side Effects won’t gross you out every 30 seconds or travel to far away galaxies, but it will show some gnarly imagery at least once per episode and travels more inward — deeply inward. Rick and Morty fans, primarily fans of its first two seasons, will find a lot to like about Common Side Effects. Critics unanimously agree on its quality and the ride is a drug-fueled, spy-driven frolic through moral hangups and philosophical deep dives, just like Rick and Morty.
New episodes of Common Side Effects stream weekly on Adult Swim on Max.
Common Side Effects
- Release Date
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February 2, 2025
- Network
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Adult Swim
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Joseph Lee Anderson
Copano (voice)
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Martha Kelly
Harrington (voice)
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Emily Pendergast
Frances (voice)
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