''Dream Corp LLC'' is an American

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

television series created by Daniel Stessen for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

. Dream Corp LLC 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 Jonathan Gries ( '; born June 17, 1957) is an American actor, writer, and director. He is best known for the role of Uncle Rico in '' Napoleon Dynamite '' for which he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male, and ...

) and his staff of misfits. The series is the first on Adult Swim to use rotoscoping. It premiered on October 23, 2016. On July 15, 2022, actor Jon Gries confirmed the series was cancelled after three seasons and it was sold to Hulu. A revival is currently in the works.

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

as Dr. Roberts *

Nick Rutherford Nicholas Rutherford (born August 7, 1985) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and co-founder of the sketch comedy group Good Neighbor. He has performed live stand up and sketch comedy in Los Angeles and New York. He was a writer for ''Saturday ...

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, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

as T.E.R.R.Y. *

Stephanie Allynne Stephanie Allynne is an American actress, writer, and comedian. She is best known for her roles in '' In a World...'' (2013), ''Dream Corp, LLC'' (2016), '' One Mississippi'' (2016–17), and '' The L Word: Generation Q'' (2019–present). Biogr ...

as Joey (season 1) *

Megan Ferguson Megan Ferguson is an American actress. In 2011, Ferguson married fellow actor Nico Evers-Swindell Nico Thomas Evers-Swindell is a New Zealand actor who portrayed Prince William in the 2011 Lifetime original film '' William & Kate''. Previous r ...

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

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, known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor and comedian, known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's film ''Harold and Maude'' (1971) and the eponymous hero in Robert Altman's film '' Brewster McCloud'' (19 ...

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 30 ...

, and

Moises Arias Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses. ;Places * Doctor Moisés Bertoni, a village in the Caazapá department of Paraguay * Moises Padilla ...

. The series is produced by

Williams Street Williams Street Productions, LLC, d/b/a Williams Street and 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., ...

. ''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 rotoscoping 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 Chad VanGaalen (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta. Career ''Infiniheart'' Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released '' Infiniheart'' (200 ...

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 April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...

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 and it was sold to Hulu. A revival is currently in the works.

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-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

’s ''

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

'' 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 geniu ...

'', 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 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 of the writers ...

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

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

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

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated 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, the ...

'' (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 p ...

'' (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 television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2010s American black comedy television series 2020s American black comedy television series 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2020s American workplace comedy television series American adult animated comedy television series English-language television shows Adult Swim original programming 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