''Dream Corp LLC'' is an American live-action/animated sitcom created by Daniel Stessen for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

. The series is an absurdist workplace comedy set in a run-down dream therapy facility located in a dilapidated strip mall. In each episode, a new desperate patient has their dreams recorded, analyzed, and, if necessary, adjusted, by Dr. Roberts ( Jon Gries) and his staff of misfits. The series is the first on Adult Swim to use

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, live-action film images were projected onto a glass panel and traced onto paper. This pr ...

. It premiered on October 23, 2016. On July 15, 2022, actor Jon Gries confirmed the series was cancelled after three seasons and claimed the show was sold to

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

. Preliminary discussions about a revival have occurred. Following cost cutting measures at Adult Swim's parent company,

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...

, ''Dream Corp LLC'' was completely removed from Adult Swim's website, social media accounts, and from digital stores, having been written off for taxes. The series left Hulu in 2024 and is no longer available legally.

Plot

''Dream Corp LLC'' is set in a run-down dream therapy facility located in a derelict strip mall which "operates on the fringes of medical science and legality". Desperate patients – all of them referred to only by number – have their dreams recorded and analyzed by Dr. Roberts and his staff. Roberts uses an unconventional method: he inserts himself into those surreal dreams to guide the patient to overcoming their problem, all while being watched and monitored by his colleagues, including the claw-handed technician Randy; Ahmed, a dope-smoking nurse; the sardonic robot T.E.R.R.Y.; Roberts' female psychology assistant (who changes every season); and a patient, 88, who has been co-opted to work for Roberts as part of his therapy, because he could not pay for it.

Cast

* Jon Gries as Dr. Roberts * Nick Rutherford as Patient 88 * Ahmed Bharoocha as Ahmed * Mark Proksch as Randy Blink *

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...

as T.E.R.R.Y. * Stephanie Allynne as Joey (season 1) * Megan Ferguson as Bea (season 2) *

Sunita Mani Sunita Mani (born December 13, 1986) is an American actress, dancer and comedian. She is best known for her television roles as Trenton in the USA Network drama ''Mr. Robot'' (2015–2017) and Arthie Premkumar in the Netflix comedy '' GLOW'' (2 ...

as Margot Daly (season 3)

Production

''Dream Corp LLC'' is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

created by Daniel Stessen, known for co-writing and directing ''The Gold Sparrow'', an animated short film released in 2013. Adult Swim commissioned a pilot based on Stessen's original idea for the series in May 2014, ahead of the network's upfront advertising meeting. The pilot featured guest stars

Bud Cort Walter Edward Cox (born March 29, 1948), known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor known for his unorthodox starring roles in Robert Altman's '' Brewster McCloud'' (1970), for which he was nominated for a Golden Laurel Award, and Ha ...

Baron Vaughn Baron Vaughn (born December 18, 1980) is an American comedian and actor, known for his portrayal of Nwabudike "Bud" Bergstein on the Netflix television series '' Grace and Frankie'' and Tom Servo on the 2017 revival of ''Mystery Science Theater 3 ...

, and Moises Arias. The series is produced by

Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, formerly known as Ghost Planet Industries, is an American animation and live action television production studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a unit of Warner Bros. ...

. ''Dream Corp LLC'' was ordered for a full season in November 2015, and the network made mention of the series in their 2016 upfront. The series is the first on Adult Swim to use

to achieve animation; this technique entails drawing over live-action footage. This process was used for Stessen's short film ''The Gold Sparrow'' and the pilot for ''Dream Corp LLC''. Reclusive animator and songwriter Chad VanGaalen was brought on board to provide musical score for the show and also designed "T.E.R.R.Y." the office robot. The trailer for the series was released on October 5, 2016. The series' animated segments are handled by two companies. BEMO provides the visual effects and CG graphics, while Artbelly Productions provides the rotoscoped character animation using their proprietary rotoscoping software, Rotobelly. The live action portions of the show were produced by Caviar Content in season one, with Alive and Kicking, Inc. taking over live action shoots in season two. Season 2 premiered on October 21, 2018. A "sneak preview" of season 3 premiered as part of Adult Swim's annual April Fool's programming stunt. It was expected to premiere in summer 2020, but a late June 2020 launch date was pushed back. On October 12, 2020, it was announced that the third season would premiere on October 25, 2020. On July 15, 2022, actor Jon Gries confirmed the series was cancelled after three seasons.

Style

The visual style of ''Dream Corp LLC'' has been described as "the degraded, retro-futurist look of

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

’s ''

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

'' and the underrated ''

The Zero Theorem ''The Zero Theorem'' is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Christoph Waltz, David Thewlis, Mélanie Thierry and Lucas Hedges. Written by Pat Rushin, the story is about Qohen Leth (Waltz), a reclusive computer ge ...

'', while the sci-fi exists in the realm of lo-fi realism like Charlie Kaufman and

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker and producer noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one o ...

’s ''

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' is a 2004 American surrealist science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman from a story by Gondry, Kaufman, and Pierre Bismuth. Starring Jim Carrey a ...

''."Pangburn, DJ (October 23, 2016
"Inside Adult Swim’s New Rotoscoped Sci-Fi Comedy 'Dream Corp LLC'"
''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' The original Artbelly rotoscopers worked on the films ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American adult animated surrealist drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, ...

'' (2001) and ''

A Scanner Darkly ''A Scanner Darkly'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published in 1977. The semi-autobiographical story is set in a dystopian Orange County, California, in the then-future of June 1994, and includes an extensive ...

'' (2006), the look of which also contributes to the show's aesthetic.

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2020)

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

* {{Adult Swim original programming 2016 American animated television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2010s American adult animated television series 2020s American adult animated television series 2010s American black comedy television series 2020s American black comedy television series 2010s American sitcoms 2020s American sitcoms 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2020s American workplace comedy television series American adult animated comedy television series American animated sitcoms American English-language television shows Adult Swim animated television series Television series by Williams Street Television shows about dreams Works set in psychiatric hospitals American television shows featuring puppetry American television series with live action and animation