JB Smoove—of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Saturday Night Live fame—is making and possibly even starring in an animated TV adaptation of High on Life, as reported by Deadline.
Smoove appeared in High on Life as Gus, one of the sentient guns who’ll yap away at you while you’re playing with it equipped. Personally I thought Gus was more amphibious than piscatorial, but Smoove told Deadline about his role in the game: “They told me I would be that I would be a fish that shoots… which makes perfect sense to me! As a vegan I feel a fish should have the right to defend itself! I mean right?!”
The TV show adaptation is being whipped up by Smoove’s production company Alternate Side Productions, alongside High on Life developer Squanch Games and agency Striker Entertainment. “[Squanch Games] invited me to join them in the gaming universe and now I’m helping them move into the TV world,” Smoove said. “It’s a case of game recognizing game! High on Life is wild, weird, and wonderful, and the series is going to be that and more!”
I appreciate Smoove’s enthusiasm, though I’m not sure if it’s shared over here. Rick Lane wasn’t particularly keen on the game, scoring it a paltry 40% in his High on Life review. He called it “a yammering mess of mediocrity” despite it having “glimpses of a fun shooter.” For me personally, Roiland’s particular flavour of the funnies has never quite meshed with me. He might be gone from Squanch Games now—a result of domestic violence charges brought against him which were dropped in March of last year, but not before he had parted ways with the game developer along with Adult Swim—but the mark he left is sure to persist across mediums.
No word on when we can expect the show to release yet, though considering we don’t even know if Smoove plans to reprise his role, it’s no surprise that information is relatively sparse. He seems pretty eager to get the ball rolling though, wrapping up his—if you ask me, a touch overzealous—Deadline statement by saying: “We are locked and loaded and ready to go!”
