While Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have been sharing the difficulties and nuances of their marriage, many fans have been itching for them to share the screen again. The two have rarely acted together on screen since getting married back in 2013. Now, Bell and Shepard have joined a new streaming TV show together, but that doesn't mean that they'll be sharing the screen with each other.
AMC Networks announced on May 20 that the Hollywood couple will join the AMC+ stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths. Kristen Bell will play Donella Pecker while Dax Shepard will voice Congressman Chris Pecker. The streaming animated series will the first time Bell and Shepard have shared a project in quite some time. But Bell and Shepard weren’t the only new additions as Alia Shawkat, Tim Meadows, Terry O’ Quinn, Debra Winger, Julian Barratt, Tom Waits and Luis Guzmán round out the cast of newcomers.
Ultra City Smiths is the brainchild of Patriot creator Steve Conrad and animation powerhouse Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. The series follows the Robot Chicken blueprint by using stop-motion with baby dolls as adult characters. The stop-motion animated series focuses on the mysterious disappearance of the city’s most famous magnate as two detectives try solving the case against citywide corruption and danger to their family lives.
The additions of Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard and other cast members topped off an already stellar voice cast. Other members of the all-star cast include Jimmi Simpson, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John C. Reilly, Bebe Neuwirth, Jason Mantzoukas, Damon Herriman, Melissa Villaseñor, Kurtwood Smith and Tim Heidecker along with Patriot alums Chris Conrad and Hana Mae Lee.
Given the caliber of Ultra City Smiths’ voice cast, showrunner Steve Conrad couldn’t hold back his excitement. The writer-director said about the murder mystery’s cast:
I'm grateful that this group of actors, who could work with whomever they choose on whatever they choose, chose to work with us.
The stop-motion animated series is being executive produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios’ Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters. Jennifer Scher. Jeff Dieter and Thomas J. Glynn will serve as producers on the upcoming streaming series.
The upcoming AMC series isn’t the only project that Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are working on. Earlier this year, it was announced that Bell and Shepard would team up to host a game show called Family Game Fight. That series originated from a segment the couple participated in on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The talk show host will serve as a producer of the series. It is unknown when the game show will premiere or find a network home.
Having Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard acting together again adds an extra layer to this animated murder mystery. Both series are among the many projects Bell has in the pipeline. According to AMC, Ultra City Smiths’ first two episodes will premiere on July 22 on AMC’s streaming platform AMC+ with the remaining episodes dropping every Thursday. After premiering on the streamer, all six episodes will air on AMC in the fall.
