Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning children’s series “Ask the StoryBots” has snagged an A-list cast of characters for its second season, including Snoop Dogg as an Operating System and Ed Norton as Gary the Electronics Salesman, TheWrap can report exclusively.
Starring Judy Greer (“Ant-Man,” “Archer”) as the voice of Beep, the JibJab Bros. Studios-produced show follows the StoryBots, a colorful team of little creatures who live in the world beneath our screens and help answer kids’ biggest questions. Each episode follows Beep, Boop, Bing, Bang and Bo on their adventures to answer a question and features a live-action celebrity guest appearance.
Along with Snoop Dogg and Norton, Season 2’s guest stars include Christina Applegate as the Baker, Kristen Schaal as the Biologist, Ali Wong as the Brain, David Koechner as the Pirate, David Cross as the Hippie, and Wanda Sykes as the Doctor.
“Ask the StoryBots” has racked up three Daytime Emmy Awards for Netflix, was one of just two children’s programs to be a finalist at the prestigious 2017 Peabody Awards, and was nominated in the International category at the BAFTA Children’s Awards. The series is one of the most-binged children’s programs on the streaming service.
Season 1’s celebrity guest stars included Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno and Kevin Smith, while Ed Asner received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Santa Claus in 2017’s “A StoryBots Christmas.”
“Most kids’ shows just focus on the kids, but we know that adults are usually watching along with them,” said Gregg Spiridellis, the series’ co-creator and co-executive producer and CEO of JibJab. “We want to entertain the parents, too, and they love the surprise of seeing someone like Snoop Dogg or Kevin Smith on a kids’ show.”
While season one of Ask the StoryBots was launched on Netflix in select markets, the newest batch of episodes will be released worldwide.
“Knowing that we’re reaching a global audience, we went big on season two,” said Evan Spiridellis, the show’s co-creator and co-executive producer and the chief creative officer of JibJab. “StoryBots is probably one of the most visually ambitious shows on television. We’re mixing 2D animation, 3D animation, puppets, stop-motion, and live-action all together, and it looks amazing.”
See the full celebrity guest star lineup, along with episode titles, below.
“How Do Computers Work?” with Snoop Dogg as the Operating System
“Why Can’t I Eat Dessert All the Time?” with Christina Applegate as the Baker
“How Many Types of Animals Are There?” with Kristen Schaal as the Biologist
“How Do Ears Hear?” with Ali Wong as the Brain
“How Do Volcanoes Work?” with David Koechner as the Pirate
“What Is Electricity?” with Edward Norton as Gary the Electronics Salesman
“How Do Flowers Grows?” with David Cross as the Hippie
“How Do People Catch A Cold?” with Wanda Sykes as the Doctor
“Ask the StoryBots” Season 2 will be available Aug. 24 for streaming on Netflix.
20 TV Characters Who Came Back From the Dead (Photos)
Dead is dead is dead. Unless you're on TV. Whether it was planned out carefully over several seasons by writers or thrown in without a solid explanation, small-screen deaths don't always stick. It's not uncommon for a TV character to be resurrected after you were sure, so sure, that they were gone for good. Seriously, the trope has been done to death at this point. Click through TheWrap's gallery to see the best examples. And, it really should go without saying, but spoiler alert.
Bobby Ewing, "Dallas" -- Bobby Ewing was literally dead on this show for an entire season before he was brought back in a very bizarre way. His wife finds him in the shower and suddenly realizes that whole chunk of series was a dream. The was more than a little trippy for fans of the primetime CBS soap.
CBS
Tasha Yar, "Star Trek the Next Generation" -- This was a case of an actor wanting out, then back in, and a show obliging by way of death. Denise Crosby didn't like the direction "TNG" was going in, so they killed off Tasha in Season 1. But then, they had to find a way to bring her back for a few episodes, so when Crosby was on board with returning, the writers created a new timeline where she didn't die. But she was only alive in that timeline. Problem solved.
CBS
Sydney Andrews, "Melrose Place" -- In 1997, viewers of this primetime Fox soap were crushed when a car struck and killed Sydney Andrews on her wedding day in the original series. But in the pilot of the short-lived remake, Sydney is alive -- for about 10 minutes. She's soon found floating in the apartment complex's pool. Sorry, Syd.
Fox
Buffy Summers, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- Here lies Buffy Summers. She saved the world. A lot. Yes, the titular heroine of Joss Whedon's OG supernatural series died at the end of Season 5 in 2001, just before the show jumped to UPN. She sacrificed herself as a "gift" to the world. But not to worry, her super-powerful witch BFF Willow was able to resurrect her by the Season 6 premiere.
20th Century Fox
Taylor Hayes, "The Bold and the Beautiful" -- Taylor died and came back to life twice and both incidents involved the same Moroccan prince. Look, we get that it's a soap opera, but even that was a bit much.
CBS
Tony Almeida, "24" -- Fun fact: You don't always die from a lethal injection. Yes, we said lethal. Tony was thought to have been axed this way, until we found out Jack Bauer's enemy Henderson missed his vital organs on purpose so that he could revive him and use him in his plot to kill the president. Sure, sure, sure.
Fox
Kara Thrace, "Battlestar Galactica" -- The top pilot on "Battlestar Galactica" was killed and presumed dead after her ship imploded during a mission on Season 3. She returned alive in the season finale with a new messianic outlook, and helps the ship find "earth." In the end, it's never clear if she was actually back from the dead, or an angel in disguise.
Universal TV
Bart and Evelyn Bass, "Gossip Girl" -- Chuck thought mommy and daddy were dead. They weren't.
The CW
Lydia Davis, "Revenge" -- Lydia survived both a fall from a high-rise balcony onto a parked taxi and a plane bombing. Don't overthink it.
ABC
Sam and Dean Winchester, "Supernatural" -- Honestly, there are way too many to go over here. Sam and Dean have died multiple times. Sometimes multiple times per season. But, yeah, moving on.
The CW
Jimmy Lishman, "Shameless" -- Everyone thought Jimmy was murdered on his father-in-law’s yacht until he showed up at the Gallagher household during the end credits of the Season 4 finale, blaming the whole misunderstanding on slave labor.
Showtime
Sherlock Holmes, "Sherlock" -- Fans had to wait two long years to find out how Benedict Cumberbatch's character could have possibly survived leaping from a hospital roof to his death. In the end, "Sherlock" decided to tease you for eternity by suggesting a few possibilities, but ultimately never revealing what happened.
PBS/BBC
Maya Lewis, "Scandal" -- For 22 years, Olivia Pope believed her mother died in a plane crash caused by Fitz. In Season 3, we discovered she wasn't. But based on how much trouble Maya caused throughout the rest of the series, dead may have been a better status than alive.
ABC
Elizabeth Keen, "The Blacklist" -- The first time Liz faked her death we were in on it, the second time, not so much. Girl, if you try to do it again no one will believe you. Find a new escape route.
NBC
Michael Cordero, "Jane the Virgin" -- Jane's husband Michael died halfway through Season 3 of The CW series, collapsing suddenly after recovering from a gunshot wound to the chest months earlier. The show immediately jumped ahead a few years, where Jane was finally able to find love again with Rafael. However, in the final moments of the Season 4 finale, we discovered Michael is still alive, but we had no idea how until the Season 5 premiere, when it was revealed Rose faked his death and had covered it up. Straight out of a telenovela, right?
The CW
Alison DiLaurentis, "Pretty Little Liars" -- You may have figured it out before it was actually revealed on screen after a few seasons, but yes, Alison was alive the whole time. And she'd been watching her friends grieving and suffering over her death, and the blackmail that came soon after she croaked, for years. Awkward.
Freeform
Jon Snow, "Game of Thrones" -- And of course, there is the most famous case of all: Jon Snow. We thought he was gone for good, we knew nothing.
HBO
Dan Conner, "Roseanne" -- The ABC sitcom's revival explained away Dan's death on the original series' depressing finale as a joke in the first few minutes of its return. Of course, then the comedy itself was killed off after just one new season, thanks to star Roseanne Barr's tweeting habits. And then it came back to life (sans Roseanne) as "The Conners."
ABC
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Jon Snow’s case is really just the tip of the undoing-on-screen-demises iceberg
Dead is dead is dead. Unless you're on TV. Whether it was planned out carefully over several seasons by writers or thrown in without a solid explanation, small-screen deaths don't always stick. It's not uncommon for a TV character to be resurrected after you were sure, so sure, that they were gone for good. Seriously, the trope has been done to death at this point. Click through TheWrap's gallery to see the best examples. And, it really should go without saying, but spoiler alert.