Psi Cops (French: Psi Cops: Escouade Paranormale) is a Canadian adult animated television series that premiered on Adult Swim in Canada on June 5, 2023. The series is created by and starring Bart Batchelor and Chris Nielsen, who previously hosted Night Sweats and co-created the web series World Doctors and Daddy and the Big Boy for Mondo Media. Psi Cops is the first original series made specifically for the Canadian Adult Swim network, as previous originals were initially made for either Teletoon at Night or Télétoon la nuit.
| Psi Cops | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adult animation |
| Created by | Bart Batchelor Chris Nielsen |
| Voices of | Bart Batchelor Chris Nielsen Tina Grant |
| Theme music composer | Virginia Kilbertus |
| Opening theme | "Psi Cops Theme" |
| Ending theme | "Psi Cops Theme" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Bart Batchelor Chris Nielsen David Alpert Chris Ferguson Brian Kavanaugh-Jones Catherine Winder Robert Kirkman Jonas Diamond |
| Producers | Krista Kelloway Sophie Caird |
| Animator | Smiley Guy Studios |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network |
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| Release | June 5, 2023 – present |
The series follows Kydd (Nielsen) and Felixx (Batchelor), the top detectives at the paranormal investigation agency Psi Cops, solving supernatural mysteries in spite of their overall incompetence. The series was later picked up by the American Adult Swim block which began airing the show on July 8, 2024.[1] The series has yet to be renewed for a second season.
Psi Cops is produced by Wind Sun Sky Entertainment, Skybound Galactic and Oddfellows Labs in association with Corus Entertainment, with animation support by Smiley Guy Studios. Sony Pictures Television serves as a distributor to the series.
Cast
editMain
edit- Chris Nielsen as Kydd, Felix's best friend and one of the two field agents for Psi Cops.
- Bart Batchelor as Felixx, Kydd's best friend and one of the two field agents for Psi Cops.[2]
- Tina Grant as Chief Beef, the founder and chief of Psi Cops.
Supporting
edit- Tiana Jung as Bitsie
- Dejan Loyola as Eric
- Brian Drummond as Stone Faceman
- Julie Lemieux as Shirls
Guest
edit- Jeff Shorkey as Dad
- Ronald Dario as Old Man
- Ryan Bell as Jakes
- Rryla McIntosh as Anna
- Dan Code as Lippy Boy
- Tabitha St. Germain as Sniper Spy
- Kathleen Barr as Head Official
- Liza Huget as Haggard Sailor Lady
- Christina Sicoli as Farmer
- Doron Bell as Bartender
Episodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | American air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Alien Autopsy" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 5, 2023 | July 8, 2024 |
| 2 | 2 | "Bloody Mary" | Bart Batchelor, Chris Nielsen & Christine Bortolin | June 5, 2023 | July 15, 2024 |
| 3 | 3 | "Breeder" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 12, 2023 | July 15, 2024 |
| 4 | 4 | "Small Townies" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 12, 2023 | July 22, 2024 |
| 5 | 5 | "Faith Healer" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 19, 2023 | July 22, 2024 |
| 6 | 6 | "Mutant Snake" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 19, 2023 | July 29, 2024 |
| 7 | 7 | "Shape Shifter" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 26, 2023 | July 29, 2024 |
| 8 | 8 | "Chupacabra" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | June 26, 2023 | August 5, 2024 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Facility" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 3, 2023 | July 8, 2024 |
| 10 | 10 | "Kyddnapped" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 3, 2023 | August 5, 2024 |
| 11 | 11 | "Crop Circles" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 10, 2023 | August 12, 2024 |
| 12 | 12 | "Invisible Man" | Bart Batchelor, Chris Nielsen & Nima Gholamipour | July 10, 2023 | August 12, 2024 |
| 13 | 13 | "Paperwork" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 17, 2023 | August 19, 2024 |
| 14 | 14 | "Old Witchy Hag" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 17, 2023 | August 19, 2024 |
| 15 | 15 | "Monster Under the Bed" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 24, 2023 | August 26, 2024 |
| 16 | 16 | "The Shadows of Death" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | July 24, 2023 | August 26, 2024 |
| 17 | 17 | "Illuminaughty" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 7, 2023 | September 2, 2024 |
| 18 | 18 | "Stake Out" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 7, 2023 | September 2, 2024 |
| 19 | 19 | "The Djinn" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 14, 2023 | September 9, 2024 |
| 20 | 20 | "Poppet" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 14, 2023 | September 9, 2024 |
| 21 | 21 | "Murder House" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 21, 2023 | September 16, 2024 |
| 22 | 22 | "Undead Soldier" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 21, 2023 | September 16, 2024 |
| 23 | 23 | "The Cave - Part 1" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 28, 2023 | September 23, 2024 |
| 24 | 24 | "The Cave - Part 2" | Bart Batchelor & Chris Nielsen | August 28, 2023 | September 23, 2024 |
Production
editThe series was first pitched after David Alpert, the CEO of Skybound Entertainment, discovered World Doctors and asked creators Bart Batchelor and Chris Nielsen for a "genre" version of the series. The duo pitched several ideas before hitting on the idea of "[The X-Files'] Mulder and Scully, but replaced with two morons." Batchelor states that it took 6 years from those initial pitches for the series to be officially greenlit by Corus.[3]
Scripts for the series are unusually long, with Batchelor stating that he and Nielsen can write as much as 45 pages for a single 11 minute episode's script, before trimming it down to around 26 or 27 pages. The show's animation is produced by Smiley Guy Studios in Toronto, using a mix of Daz 3D, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Animate to animate fully 3D models mainly on a 2D plane that can be turned into full 3D for action scenes.[4]
Broadcast
editPsi Cops premiered on Adult Swim in Canada on June 4, 2023, with two back-to-back episodes at 12:30 a.m. ET, and it was available on the Global app and the StackTV package on Amazon Prime Video.[5] It also premiered on the Télétoon la nuit block on Télétoon under the title Psi Cops: Escouade Paranormale.
The series was first released in the United States on YouTube as part of the Throwback Toons channel (where it is no longer available), and later made a television debut on Cartoon Network's nighttime block Adult Swim at 12:00 a.m. ET on July 8, 2024.[1] It was also released exclusively on the Sony Liv streaming service in India. The distributor of the series was Sony Pictures Television.
References
edit- ^ a b "ADULT SWIM SETS U.S. PREMIERE DATE FOR SUPERNATIONAL ANIMATED COMEDY "PSI COPS"". Warner Bros. Discovery Pressroom. June 6, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ Miller, Phylecia (June 11, 2023). "'Psi Cops' Premiere Review | InBetweenDrafts". Retrieved September 25, 2024.
- ^ "'X-Files' for Dummies: The Incompetent Competence of 'Psi Cops'". Animation World Network. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "'Psi Cops' Masters: Meet Bart Batchelor and Chris Nielsen, the Duo Behind Adult Swim's New Comedy". Animation Magazine. July 19, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "DETECTIVE DUO TRY TO KEEP EVIL FORCES AWAY IN NEW CANADIAN ORIGINAL SERIES, PSI COPS, DEBUTING JUNE 4 ON ADULT SWIM AND STACKTV". Corus Entertainment. Retrieved September 22, 2024.