ICYMI
Bite Into 'What We Do In The Shadows'
In Case You Missed It is a series on PROVOKR highlighting cult TV series that have recently made their way to streaming platforms.
Usually we use ICYMI to showcase series that have been off the air for at least a few years. If you’ve found you’ve missed the boat on cult shows that got canceled before you had a chance to watch, today’s your lucky day. What We Do in the Shadows has two seasons ready to stream now on Hulu and will air its third season sometime next year on FX.
The idea of new vampire media premiering in 2019 is almost as ridiculous as new zombie media; the genre exploded in the early 2000s with the Twilight phenomenon and the many derivative works that those books inspired, then started to fade away as everyone got sick of overexposure to sparkly blood-suckers.
In fact, the only reason What We Do in the Shadows had a fighting chance of getting made in the late 2010s is the success of a low budget film of the same name out of New Zealand. The original film, a surprise hit from Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement and Oscar winner Taika Waititi, catapulted the two Kiwis to further Hollywood gigs and spun off two TV shows, one produced in New Zealand and this one, produced by FX and set in Staten Island, NY.
The premise: a house full of vampires are forced to get along with one another while halfheartedly attempting to carry out the bidding of a fiendish, ancient vampire called the Baron. Its leads, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry and Natasia Demetriou are relative unknowns in the States but accomplished British TV actors with credits like Skins and The IT Crowd.
To some extent, What We Do in the Shadows lampoons the vampire genre, taking digs at tropes and cliches that viewers should by now be familiar with, but its sense of humor really shines when the undead oddballs are forced to deal with the mundane. Taking inspiration from both iterations of The Office and the myriad mockumentary shows that have followed in the mid-2000s and early 2010s, this series is at its best when the writers have vampires crashing a city hall meeting or infiltrating a LARP group in search of virgins.
There’s so much weird, disgusting, riveting vampire lore that unfolds over the course of two short, bingeable seasons that the ordinary backdrop of New York’s least-liked borough makes for great contrast. The guest star game is strong too—everyone from Tilda Swinton to Mark Hamill to Haley Joel Osment stops by at one point or another. And how could they stay away? The writing is as sharp as the leads’ fangs and the “film crew” format, aided by impressively seamless CGI, allows for some fantastic visual comedy.
If you’re going to start watching one new show this month, make it What We Do in the Shadows. Then go back and check out the 2014 film that started it all.
