‘Truly, I’m a fan’: Blake Anderson dishes on Tubi’s 1st animated series ‘The Freak Brothers’
LOS ANGELES - FOX’s free streaming service Tubi has snagged its first original animated series, "Freak Brothers," and its premiere pilot has quickly become the most-watched episode on the platform.
The series, which premiered Nov. 21, follows three hippie stoners who smoke a magical strain of weed in 1969 and fall into a 50-year slumber, only to wake up in the 2020s, where they must adjust to life in present-day San Francisco.
The show features a star-studded cast including aid-back Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek (Woody Harrelson), paranoid idealist Phineas T. Phreakers (Pete Davidson), man-child Fat Freddy Freekowtski (John Goodman), and his sarcastic cat Kitty (Tiffany Haddish), who all find themselves locked up by the San Francisco Police Department.
THE FREAK BROTHERS: After learning that the mystical Swami Bhajan holds the secret to the "ultimate high," Franklin, Phineas, Freddy, & Kitty go to Woodstock to find him in the "Pilot" episode of THE FREAK BROTHERS, which begins streaming Nov. 14
There, these old-school stoners meet a new generation of weed connoisseurs Chuck (Adam Devine) and Charlie (Blake Anderson).
Based on Gilbert Shelton’s cult classic 1960s comic, "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers," Anderson told FOX Television Stations he was a fan of the series prior to working on the project.
"Truly, I’m a fan," Anderson shared. "If you go back and read the comics, they’re still so funny and relevant to today."
RELATED: WATCH: ‘The Freak Brothers’ find themselves in jail in this clip
"It’s so important as a fan, because I know there are so many other fans from the past — to just get it right and do it justice, and never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that we would get John Goodman, Woody Harrelson, Pete Davidson, Tiffany Haddish to voice these characters, so when I hear their voices put to these characters it’s truly like the pages came to life — exactly how I imagined it in my head — so that feels so fulfilling and cool, and just to, like, say I had a part in that, it’s awesome," Anderson continued.
Anderson is perhaps best known for his role as co-creator, writer, producer, and star of the hit Comedy Central series "Workaholics."
"It’s crazy, because that was my first job, and I got to do it with my best friends," Anderson revealed of his time working on "Workaholics," which lasted seven seasons. "But, it was really a sink or swim thing, where we were thrown into so much responsibility with truly having no experience, so almost everything I learned about the industry was, for better or worse, from that show."
He continued, "It was, kind of, a dream job that I’ve been able to keep building off of, and the fact that I’m still making content and stuff with my best friend Adam is just living the dream. Couldn’t be happier and more grateful."
THE FREAK BROTHERS: After learning that the mystical Swami Bhajan holds the secret to the "ultimate high," Franklin, Phineas, Freddy, & Kitty go to Woodstock to find him in the "Pilot" episode of THE FREAK BROTHERS, which begins streaming Nov
The first few episodes of "The Freak Brothers" are streaming now (for free!) on Tubi. New episodes of the eight-part series debut on Sundays.
"I hope it’s bringing families together — stoners of all generations — stoners of all generations come together and laugh," Anderson added.
These blazing hot stoner comedies are streaming (for free) on Tubi
Oliver, Stoned (2015): When the world’s biggest stoner loses an expensive car, he has to steal an ice cream truck and round up his wacky friends to get it back. Who knows? He might just find himself — and some love — along the way. Rated TV-MA. 92 minutes. Dir: Tom Morris. Featuring: Seth Cassell, Brea Grant, Robert Curtis Brown, Ryan Malgarini.
Cheech & Chong: Puff Puff Laugh (2010): Original stoner icons Cheech & Chong host this hilarious comedy special filmed at Just for Laughs in Montreal, the largest international comedy festival in the world. Rated TV-MA. 45 minutes. Dir: Shelagh O'Brien. Featuring: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Bill Burr, Jay Malone, Noel Fielding.
Highway (2012): This rollicking road trip comedy follows two stoner brothers on the hunt for a "marijuana nirvana." Let the uncouth hijinks begin! Rated R. 77 minutes. Dir: Coke Daniels. Featuring: Devin The Dude, Lil Duval, Gary Owen, Erik Estrada, Keith David.
About Tubi: Tubi has more than 35,000 movies and television series from over 250 content partners, including every major studio, in addition to the largest offering of free live local and national news channels in streaming. The platform gives fans of entertainment, news and sports an easy way to discover new content that is available completely free.
Tubi is available on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, Cox Contour, and on OTT devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S, and soon on Hisense TVs globally. Consumers can also watch Tubi content on the web at http://www.tubi.tv/.
Tubi is owned by the FOX Corporation.
About the writer: Stephanie Weaver is a Los Angeles-based journalist. She is a host of the national streaming show, LiveNOW from FOX, and is a digital reporter for FOX TV. Find her on Facebook and Instagram at @StephWeaverTV.