We originally did a 12-minute pilot for a series. So it was done more open-ended. Not like a pilot in that this is the beginning of some sort of narrative, because we do just sort of drop you in the middle of this thing. But we had done it with less of a reveal as to whether it was going on in his mind or not. Originally the idea that it was a kids’ show that had been on for four or five years and this was beginning to make the host sort of lose his mind and this was seeping into the content of the show. But we learned that we can’t have that sort of narrative all within just one episode, so we went with the sort of more analytical angle. Maybe this is a real show, maybe not.

I think this might be the darkest thing I’ve seen on Adult Swim. Was it always your intention to really go to those upsetting places with this, or did you slowly stumble into the direction while working on it?

I think that had been a happy discovery. There had been a lot of talk and debate regarding how much we would reveal regarding the mental institution aspect of it. Like in the opening Mr. Neighbor starts at the hospital, but in another version we have him next door to the hospital. And in various versions we had a Doctor character that would come in and play a lot of different roles, much like Miss Lady. I think the thing is with Adult Swim stuff everything has this license to be crazy so we wanted our framework to work with that and our rules to limit us. What is more specific to our story than just being able to do anything and be crazy? Let’s be crazy and specific to this one individual.

I know this is just a special, but would you be interested in expanding it into a series or maybe a yearly thing?