Dan Levy will voice a cynical guardian angel in Hulu’s animated comedy Standing By
Levy created the series with Schitt's Creek writer Ally Pankiw
TV News Dan Levy
Schitt’s Creek co-creator Dan Levy is getting his angel wings in his next heavenly television project, an animated comedy titled Standing By. Serving as executive producer and star, Dan Levy teamed up with writer Ally Pankiw for the project that landed them a presentation order from Hulu.
Standing By is a satirical look into the lives of a group of eternally bound, disgruntled guardian angels and the lessons they’ll eventually learn from not only the dysfunctional humans they’re in charge of protecting, but also from each other. Levy is trading in the cheerful nature of Schitt’s Creek to voice a lead character named Carey, the newly deceased, cynical spotter to the group. Before his death, he had a lonely, isolated life in New York City (this last part strikes a little too close to home). Standing By is set to join Solar Opposites in Hulu’s effort to bring animated originals to the streamer with the help of 20th Television Animation.
The series’ collaborators first met in the writing room of Schitt’s Creek, when Levy hired Pankiw as a writer on season 3. In addition to her work on Schitt’s Creek, Pankiw is known for her work as a director on Feel Good, Shrill, and Terrific Women.
After making history in his domination of last year’s Emmys, Levy’s only role since Schitt’s Creek’s was in the Hulu original film, Happiest Season, where he played the supportive but honest friend to Kristen Stewart’s character. While there’s still a huge hole in our hearts where Schitt’s Creek optimism and comfort used to be, Levy’s is keeping the spirit of the show alive with a forthcoming book, Best Wishes, Warmest Regards, which shares a name with the Netflix documentary on the sitcom. The book will celebrate all of the aspects of the show, from costuming to the town itself, that made the show great. While Standing By may not feel like a constant hug in a warm blanket, we have faith that it will still lift the spirits.
11 Comments
Those glasses make me notice that he does actually look like his dad a little bit?
I actually didn’t realize it was Eugene Levy’s son until I watched the first episode, thought they did an excellent job of casting the son, then realized that it was, in fact, Eugene Levy’s son.It was the eyebrows that gave it away, those magnificent, puffy bastards.
Oooh I don’t know if Dan Levy can do cynical. Seems kind of a stretch.
I hope the animation is actually decent but it’s adult animation so it’ll look like Rick and Morty or Family Guy.
Yeah, I’m guessing it will be more of the same old. I get it. The style is cheap and quick (I suspect it’s significantly cheaper than just making a live action show, but could be completely wrong) but it’s become so so so tired. And also just makes all these shows seem so generic.
A lot of people keep saying something like that lately, but what is an example of animation that is “actually decent”?
Will Best Wishes, Warmest Regards, get into why so many people hated working on the set of the show, in no small part due to Levy’s treatment of “grunt” workers? Oh I hope so.
Personal prejudices against a terrible person aside, this is probably a smart direction for him to take. Despite what I saw one AVClub writer say, he is *not* a diverse actor, but his one note style seems tailor made to the kinda overdone current style of American “adult” comedy cartoons.
Wasn’t the show taped in two different towns? I thought the shitty motel was in a rural area, whereas the downtown area was on the outskirts of Toronto or something?Definitely strikes me as one-note, but I also think he’d be a pretty good VO actor for adult animation……as for why you refer to them as “adult cartoons,” you really should Google that. Lots more tentacles and young Asian women reprising lead roles. Completely different things.
I think most of the outdoor stuff was filmed in Goodwood, an Ontario town (street scenes, etc)—I only know that because they’ve profited from tourism due to it. But I think you’re right exteriors were everywhere. The interiors were shot in Toronto though, and that’s the set I know became known as somewhere crew members actively would avoid working on if they could get away with it.
And yeah, I admit I can see him playing up his persona and doing well in animation. He has a distinctive enough voice to make that work.
And… yeah 😛 That’s why I placed “adult” in quotations. As a long time anime fan, I know the dangers of associating the two words.
Sort of like an animated version of Miracle Workers.
Did anyone else watch Nobody’s Looking? The 2019 Netflix series about cynical guardian angels who learn from their human charges and each other? It was cute.