Overview
If you watched Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's vampire sharehouse mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows back in 2014, then instantly found yourself yearning for more, that's understandable. Smart, silly and hilarious, the undead flick is one of the decade's best comedies. Thanks to two TV spinoffs, that dream has come true, letting viewers keep spending time in the movie's supernatural world — and that's not going to end any time soon.
Last year, the New Zealand-made Wellington Paranormal made it to screens, following the movie's cops (Mike Minogue and Karen O'Leary) as they keep investigating the supernatural. It proved a hit, unsurprisingly, and has a second season in the works.
This year, an American television version of What We Do in the Shadows also started airing, following a group of vampire flatmates living in Staten Island. Featuring Toast of London's Matt Berry, Four Lions' Kayvan Novak, British stand-up comedian Natasia Demetriou, The Magicians' Harvey Guillen, The Office's Mark Proksch and Lady Bird's Beanie Feldstein, it follows the same basic concept as the original movie, just with memorable new characters. And now it has been renewed for a second season as well.
Created and co-written by Clement, and executive produced by the Flight of the Conchords star with Thor: Ragnarok's Waititi, the US take on What We Do in the Shadows was first hinted at back in 2017, and then confirmed in May 2018. While the duo don't star in the new-look series, Berry, Novak and company have been doing them proud as the next batch of ravenous — and comic — vamps. Novak plays the gang's self-appointed leader, 'Nandor The Relentless', who dates back to the Ottoman Empire days and is somewhat stuck in his ways. As for Berry's mischievous British dandy Laszlo and Demetriou's seductive Nadja, they're like a blood-sucking Bonnie and Clyde (but much funnier). Guillén plays Nandor's familiar, who'd do anything to join the undead, while Proksch's Colin is an 'energy vampire'. And Feldstein's Jenna is a college student with a new craving.
If you haven't caught the series yet, here's one of the first season's trailers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWUiU3t5udM
Can't wait to sink your fangs into more? The first season is still on the air at present, and the second season will continue the story — charting Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja and the group's undead antics in the New York borough. It wasn't easy being a centuries-old bloodsucker in Wellington in the movie, and it's just as tough (and amusing) on the other side of the world.
What We Do in the Shadows' first season is currently airing on Foxtel's Showcase channel weekly at 8.30pm on Tuesdays. Expect the second season in 2020.
Via Variety.