Hulu’s sci-fi anthology series Dimension 404 has been racking up the casting announcements over the past few weeks, and a couple more names have just been added. So let’s break down what we know about the series so far.
Deadline reports that the glorious Megan Mullally (Parks And Recreation, Will & Grace) and Constance Wu (Fresh Off The Boat) have signed on to star in the six-part series, and that they’ll both be in the same episode.
“Inspired by the Internet’s “404” error code, Dimension 404 aims to evoke that 3 AM feeling of wandering onto the weird side of the web and stumbling upon stories that cannot be explained in the world that we know.”
The other names leading this anthology series include Sarah Hyland (Modern Family), Patton Oswalt (Agents Of SHIELD, Young Adult), Ashley Rickards (Awkward, At The Devil’s Door), Joel McHale (Community, The X-Files), Lea Michele (Glee, Scream Queens), Robert Buckley (iZombie) Ryan Lee (Super 8, Goosebumps) and Sterling Beaumon (Astro Boy), and it’s been created by Dez Dolly and Will Campos.
Each of the casting reports has given us a plot synopsis for the stars’ episodes, so here we go…
Mullally “plays Director Stevens, a hardened, no-nonsense military commander who oversees a top-secret, cutting-edge NSA project tasked to fight terrorism. Wu is Jane, a military psychologist on active duty, who wants nothing more than to spend Christmas leave with her wife and daughter. However, the U.S. government cancels her plans and re-assigns her to a much more vital task: help the NSA’s unusual but most valued agent overcome his performance issues in order to stop a deadly terrorist attack.”
Patton Oswalt “plays Uncle Dusty, a lovable movie nerd who worships at the altar of cinematic history. But when he takes his teenage niece Chloe (Sarah Hyland) to see a new sci-fi YA film, he quickly discovers that the film’s never-before-seen cinematic format – called “Cinethrax” – gives the audience a strange, perilous moviegoing experience.”
Ashley Rickards “plays Sue, a brilliant yet scattered college student whose procrastinating ways get her caught up in time-traveling adventure when Captain Chronos, the hero of her favorite ’90s-era cartoon, shows up needing help to save the past, present and future – unless the villainous Lord Entropy can stop her.”
Sterling Beaumon “is Jess, a handsome, slightly mysterious and strong-willed high school senior who works part time at Ernie’s Arcade. There, teenage gamer Andrew (Ryan Lee) discovers a mysterious, never-played arcade game called Polybius, and investigates its dark and bloody provenance.”
Lea Michele “will play Amanda, an attractive, witty, ambitious, type-A gal with a warm heart. She turns to matchmaker services to suit her rebound dating needs after a bad breakup. Buckley plays Adam, who falls hard for Amanda and drops “I love you” too soon – prompting her to “swipe left” on him. Their breakup forces the emotionally vulnerable and naive Adam to confront a multitude of truths about his life.”
That episode also stars Joel McHale as “Mr. Maker, a charismatic, eccentric yet slightly patronising founder of a matchmaking company that offers single adults a seemingly perfect solution to finding love.”
We love the sound of this. While we’ve apparently in the golden age of anthology series using a single season to tell a single story, it feels like it’s been a while since we had a proper anthology show, and in the video below, the creators say all the right things about The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Creepshow…We’re in.
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