What did you think Zac Efron’s next role would be, following a controversial turn as a serial killer? Do you also think about this a lot, like I do? He was so magical as Troy Bolton in High School Musical, but, if I’m honest, our talented boy hasn’t quite hit that high since. I respect his pivot to YouTube following the success of The Greatest Showman, but diehard Efronheads wanted to know: When is our next Zac Attack?
If you guessed “an animated show that’s a cross between Big Mouth and Year One,” you’re entirely correct. The rest of you, sorry but Efron does not currently have any plans to appear as Troy Bolton in an epic Chase Dreams/HSM crossover on The Other Two (at least, until Comedy Central reads my dream journal).
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Efron’s new endeavor, which he is executive producing with costar Anna Kendrick, is called Human Discoveries. It’s a cheeky show on Facebook Watch that posits questions like: Hey, did early humans have complex social and romantic relationships like we do today, or were they too concerned with discovering fire and inventing the wheel — maybe they did both at the same time? And, did women get pissed when forced to gather while the men hunted? And, finally, when did someone accidentally let grapes ferment, drink the odd-smelling liquid, get drunk, and decide it was both the best and worst invention thus far? The first hangover must have been quite an unpleasant surprise.
Human Discoveries is a fun exploration of all of the above, with additional characters voiced by some of the best in the biz: Jillian Bell, Lamorne Morris, Lisa Kudrow (as a nervous elk who isn’t quite sure how to avoid becoming the humans' next meal), and Paul Scheer. Come for Efron’s character’s constant humiliation — shitting himself in front of the entire camp, having his penis exposed to everyone during an intimate moment — and stay because it truly is interesting to imagine how primitive men and women found humor in their survival-based lives.
Below, watch an exclusive clip in which Kendrick’s character realizes that she’s sick of gathering, basket weaving, and gender inequality. Also, that she really hates crows. No one show her The Birds in about 1 million years.
Human Discoveries premieres with the first three episodes on July 16, with new episodes then dropping weekly every Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on Facebook Watch.