Captain Fall is an American adult animated absurdist dark comedy crime drama television series created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen for the streaming service Netflix. Produced by Netflix Animation, it follows Jonathan Fall, unknowingly made the sea captain of a smuggling/human trafficking ship. Helgaker, Torgersen, and Joel Trussell serve as executive producers, with Adam Parton as supervising director.
Jason Ritter stars as the voice of Jonathan, with Christopher Meloni, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Anthony Carrigan, Alejandro Edda, Adam DeVine, and Trond Fausa also starring. Development on the series officially began in July 2020, with Helgaker, Torgersen, and Trussell hired in their respective roles, while production was expected to run smoothly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The cast and release date were announced in June 2023, while Parton was revealed to be a part of the series. Animation for the first season is provided by Boulder Media.
The first season consists of 20 episodes split into two parts of 10 episodes each. The first part premiered on July 28, 2023.
Premise
Cast and characters
Jason Ritter as Jonathan Fall: a naïve but kind shipmaster, looked at horribly by his parents. Christopher Meloni as Agent Steel, an FBI agent. Lesley-Ann Brandt as Liza Barrel: The leader of the human traffickers, who aims to use Jonathan as her latest patsy. Anthony Carrigan as Mr. Tyrant, the chief financier of the human traffickers. Alejandro Edda as Pedro: the human traffickers' muscle. Adam DeVine as Tanner Fall: Jonathan's older brother who receives more attention and admiration from their parents than him. Although a shipmaster prodigy compared to his brother, Tanner is a narcissistic manchild with delusions of being a ladies' man. Trond Fausa as Nico: a new recruit to the human traffickers. Christopher McDonald as Blake Fall Bebe Neuwirth as Alexix Fall
Episodes
The series will consist of 20 episodes split into two parts, with the first ten airing sooner, rather than later. Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen would serve as writers while supervising director Adam Parton would direct several episodes.
Production
Development
In July 2020, Netflix announced development had begun on Captain Fall, an adult animated comedy series created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen. Consisting of 20 episodes split into two parts, it would center on Jonathan Fall inadvertently in charge of a smuggling ship. Helgaker and Torgersen would serve as executive producers and showrunners, while Joel Trussell—an animation veteran and producer at Netflix—would also executive produce. Creators of Norsemen, Helgaker and Torgersen initially pitched Captain Fall as a live-action piece before the service saw its potential as animated, thus making it the duo's first work in the genre. While they found the transition daunting, the two eventually deemed animation "amazingly limitless and creative on a whole new level", expressing gratitude for Netflix and the team surrounding them. Though the switch was a prior decision, Variety was confident it would benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting many shutdowns for live-action productions and the rise of adult animation at the time of the announcement. ComicBook.com, and eventually Looper, agreed, believing the story was better suited for it. In a 2020 interview with Variety, Helgaker described the series as The Love Boat, The Truman Show, and Ozark carrying "a cartoon baby".
Helgaker and Torgersen would operate as writers and, along with Trussell, receive credit for developing the series. By the end of the month, Adam Parton was revealed to be the supervising director, helming several episodes after working on Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie. He described Captain Fall as having "an off-camber voice", praising Helgaker and Torgersen's style of work and believing their background helped made the show "stand out and keep you guessing as to where it is going to go".
Casting
In March 2023, Jason Ritter was announced to voice the lead character, Jonathan Fall. In June 2023, he was joined by Christopher Meloni as Agent Steel; Lesley-Ann Brandt as Liza; Anthony Carrigan as Mr. Tyrant; Alejandro Edda as Pedro; Adam DeVine as Tanner; and Trond Fausa as Nico. Christopher McDonald would voice Blake Fall, with Bebe Neuwirth cast in an undisclosed role.