Today I had the privilege of participating in a roundtable with the creators and cast of Adult Swim's Childrens' Hospital. Initially a web series on TheWB.com, the hilariously over-the-top primetime drama parody is crossing platforms, and will premiere its second season on Adult Swim on August 22nd. Members of the show participating in the interview included: creator Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine), Lake Bell (It's Complicated), Erinn Hayes (Parenthood), Paul Scheer (Human Giant), Rob Huebel (The Other Guys), Nick Kroll (Get Him to the Greek), and writer/director David Wain (Role Models).

It probably goes without saying, given the comedic talents of those involved, but the roundtable was a very light, very funny place for the amount of time we were given. Hit the jump for a bulleted breakdown of some of the highlights.

Rob Corddry:

  • Jokes (we think) that it feels great to finally be in charge of something and just arbitrarily says “no” on set simply because he can
  • Denies being a bad influence to the children on set but admits that the parent's of the children on set are terrible parents for letting them hang out with him
  • Says that his character's makeup is modeled after John Wayne Gacy, but that he finds clowns more uptight and uninteresting than scary
  • Likes to think of the show as a parody of primetime television dramas in general rather than just medical-dramas

Lake Bell and Erinn Hayes:

  • Say they lose sleep thinking how the show appears before actual childrens' hospitals in a Google search
  • On set, admit to being bad influences for the children who appear in the show
  • Talk about the set being a very friendly/casual place as a result of the low-stakes approach taken during its run as a web series... Say that hasn't changed in spite of its transition to television
  • Admit to missing working on the show when they are involved in other projects

Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel:

  • Both agree that working for Adult Swim has been a great experience due to the amount of leeway they give the show...Say they have yet to have to cut content
  • Compare the show to working on Human Giant and say that they experienced more push-back from the studio in the making of Giant than Hospital
  • Discuss how going to television has required the episodes to have more focused story arcs due to an extended length
  • Joke that Adult Swim rented out the hospital and that every member of the cast gets to perform surgery on real patients

David Wain and Nick Kroll:

  • Say that the season two finale (tentatively scheduled for an October date) will air live on Adult Swim
  • Show was never developed or intended for television... The content has not been compromised during its jump to television
  • Preparation for season three is already underway
  • One episode for season two was written by Diablo Cody and her writing team
  • Kroll jokingly calls Wain the “white Jerry Bruckheimer”
  • Wain talks about getting ready to work on his new film Wanderlust starring Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, and Justin Theroux... Calls it a “romantic-ish comedy”
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As I mentioned, this was a fun interview by all accounts as each member of the show seemed truly excited to be promoting it at Comic-Con. Speaking of which, if you've yet to check it out, I highly recommend doing so. Season one episodes began airing on Sundays at 10:30 PM on Adult Swim on July 11th, and will continue to do so until the season two premiere on August 22nd.

For more Comic-Con coverage, click here.