Exclusive: Keke Palmer and Stephanie Hsu talk Prime Video's The Second Best Hospital in The Galaxy
Hitting Prime Video this week is the animated sci-fi comedy The Second Best Hospital in The Galaxy, with series regulars Keke Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Maya Rudolph, Natasha Lyonne, Kieran Culkin, and Sam Smith. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy follows Dr. Sleech (Hsu) and Dr. Klak (Palmer) —aliens, best friends, and intergalactically renowned surgeons—as they tackle anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops, and deep-space STIs.
The series comes from Emmy Award-winning creator Cirocco Dunlap, and Maya Rudolph, Danielle Renfrew Behrens and Natasha Lyonne’s Animal Pictures. Produced by Amazon MGM Studios, with animation by Titmouse Studios, the series, which has a two-season order, will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on February 23, 2024.
In Season One, Dr. Sleech (Hsu) and Dr. Klak (Palmer) discover a dangerous parasite that feeds on anxiety and explodes brains. In a quest for glory (and a deep desire to cure Klak’s lifelong anxiety), they opt to illegally study the worm despite the risk to both their careers and the universe. While each episode has a fun case of the week (a patient stuck in a Time Loop, a sexually transmitted infection where you become your ex, the autopsy of a beloved long-dead scientist, etc.) the throughline will be about whether or not they succeed in studying this worm and curing anxiety. Like many standard medical procedurals, the surgeons also find themselves in various surprising groupings in the hospital’s sex closet.
Palmer recently made history as the first Black woman to win Outstanding Host for a Game Show at the 2023 Emmys for her work hosting NBC’s reboot of Password. She founded her own digital network, KeyTV, for which she has written, produced and starred in various original content, including her directorial debut, the short film Big Boss, accompanied by an album of the same title, released in May 2023. She’s appeared in more 25 films and 30 TV shows, including Jordan Peele’s acclaimed Nope, STX’s Hustlers, Roadside Attraction’s Alice, Fox’s Scream Queens and Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP.
Hsu recently starred in the dual role ‘Joy/Jobu’ in the A24 Oscar winning film “Everything Everywhere All At Once” from the directing team Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Her performance netted her an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress. Stephanie was also part of the cast of Amazon’s Emmy-winning hit show, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” as ‘Mei,’ the provocative love-interest to ‘Joel Maisel.’
Blackfilmandtv.com's Wilson Morales talks to Keke Palmer and Stephanie Hsu about Prime Video's The Second Best Hospital in The Galaxy