The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, a peculiar animated show about a couple aliens who are best friends and doctors, debuts on Prime Video February 23. Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak are renowned surgeons who take on a case that puts humankind itself in jeopardy.
The voice cast has some big names, with Kieran Culkin, Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne, Stephanie Hsu and Keke Palmer on board. Guest stars include John Waters, Bowen Yang and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Cirocco Dunlap is executive producer and showrunner. She worked with Lyonne on Russian Doll, and called The Second Best Hospital “a natural extension” of that quirky series, as another dark comedy with sci fi undertones.
Lyonne and Rudolph have a first-look deal with Amazon, and Dunlap spoke about pitching the show with the stars on either side of her. “It was one of the most incredible experiences–why am I speaking between these two forces?” Dunlap said.
Amazon gave it a green light. “They really believed in it from the beginning,” Dunlap said, “so we got lucky.”
Dunlap executive produces with Rudolph, Lyonne and Danielle Renfrew Behrens of Animal Pictures; Shannon Prynoski, Chris Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina from Titmouse; and Shauna McGarry.
Dunlap is a major sci fi fan. “Anything genre, surreal, absurdist, I’m drawn to,” she said.
She cites Futurama, Alien and The Left Hand of Darkness, a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, as influences on the show, along with Bojack Horseman outside of the sci fi world, for its mix of comedy and darkness.
Stephanie Hsu voices Dr. Sleech and Keke Palmer voices Dr. Klak. Asked about Hsu, who played Joy Wang and Jobu Tupaki in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dunlap noted her versatility and humor. “Anything you throw at her,” she said, “she’ll give it back to you ten different ways.”
As offbeat as The Second Best Hospital is, Dunlap said it is essentially a case-of-the-week show–with aliens. Every episode features a new sci fi malady, such as a character being stuck in a time loop.
“It’s a procedural at heart,” Dunlap said.
