Some excellent news came out of Adult Swim this morning: they’re renewing Joe Bennett and Steve Hely’s Common Side Effects for a second season. I’ve been banging the drum for this unconventional AS original since it started airing, and confirmation that it did well enough to live on feels relieving.

Bennett created Scavengers Reign, a similarly brilliant and groundbreaking animated show that didn’t receive much love from its parent company OR from the public en masse. It was given a second chance at Netflix but still couldn’t catch on. There was a chance of that happening twice, but THIS time the drama, unconventional art style and trippy body horror sequences found an audience.

“Joe and Steve did their job by crafting a boundary-pushing and genre-defining piece of television that re-frames what ‘adult animation’ is capable of,” said Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen. “And you all did your job by showing up on Adult Swim and Max to support the show and lighting up your socials to spread the word. So, see? We can have nice things.”

Common Side Effects has ranked in the Top 10 on Max’s homepage ever since it launched, and seems to be outpacing the most recent season of Harley Quinn, which barely shows up at all.

“We are grateful for the enthusiastic response to Common Side Effects and are thrilled to continue exploring this world with our amazing team and the fans who have embraced the show,” said co-creators Bennett and Hely. “The opportunity to push the boundaries of animation and storytelling on Adult Swim is like a wonderful mushroom dream. Our goal with the show is to transform planet Earth and restore the human spirit. For now, we will settle for a second season.”

Common Side Effects follows Marshall and Frances, two former high school lab partners who share a secret: Marshall has discovered a miracle mushroom that seems to heal almost anything nearly instantly. Too bad The Man has a problem with that. Marshall is now constantly on the run from federal agents while simultaneously trying to refine his discovery and unlock the secrets of how it works. Frances, now a business assistant to a Big Pharma CEO, is reluctantly pulled into all this.

The show stars the voices of Joseph Lee Anderson, Mike Judge, Martha Kelly, Dave King and Emily Pendergast, and the first season finale will air this Sunday at 11:30 PM on Adult Swim.

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