Merrick & Treves animated comedy series from the Archer team commissioned by HBO for two seasons

HBO is returning to the world of animated comedy. The network has ordered two seasons of the half-hour series Merrick & Treves from Archer trio Adam Reed, Casey Willis and Lucky Yates. Set inside Queen Victoria's Provisional Royal Guard, Merrick & Treves follows a team of unlikely heroes who travel back in time and […]

HBO is returning to the world of animated comedy.

The network has ordered two seasons of the half-hour series Merrick & Treves from Archer trio Adam Reed, Casey Willis and Lucky Yates.

Set inside Queen Victoria's Provisional Royal Constabulary, Merrick & Treves follows a team of unlikely heroes who travel back and forth through time to stop Jack the Ripper.

Joseph Merrick, better known as the Elephant Man, was featured in a freak show in 19th-century Britain before being taken in by surgeon Sir Frederick Trews and living in a hospital in Whitechapel. This was the neighborhood where Jack the Ripper frequented and killed many of his victims, and Merrick has been considered a potential Ripper by certain sections of the internet. Related News "Lanterns" Season Finale Sets New Series Viewership Record With More Than 10 Million Global Viewers Starring David Krumholtz joins HBO's "The Trial of Louise Woodward" after considering an "indefinite hiatus" from acting.

Reed is the creator of FX's Archer, Willis was an executive producer, and Yates voiced the characters in the animated comedy. The trio also worked on Adult Swim's Frisky Dingo. Watch on Deadline

They will host the series, which is produced by TFC Productions, the production arm of TFC Management, with TFC's Joel Bigliter and Kelly Wu as co-executive producers.

Merrick & Treves is the first animated series for HBO in several years. The most recent was Animals, created by Phil Mathers and Mike Luciano, which ran for three seasons until 2018. Other animated shows include The Ricky Gervais Show and The Life and Times of Tim, while sister broadcaster HBO Max has aired animated comedies such as Ten Year Old Tom and Harley Quinn.

"Adam, Casey and Lucky are exceptional comedic talents that we've admired for years. We couldn't be more excited to partner with them to bring the all-original Merrick & Treves to HBO audiences," said Amy Gravitt, EVP, HBO Programming, Head of HBO and HBO Comedy Series.

"The three of us are thrilled to find a home for Merrick and Trews at HBO," added Reed, Willis and Yates. We can't wait to start working with the creative team behind many of our favorite apps. It's actually quite daunting now that we think about it. Like HBO."

Reed is repped by UTA, TFC Management and Yorn Levine.

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