In news that had us throwing our phones across the room in excitement when it first arrived, it was confirmed that FX had ordered a new What We Do In The Shadows TV series (not to be confused with the New Zealand-set spin-off, or the planned film sequel). Variety reported that the cable network had ordered 10-episodes of the half-hour comedy based on the vampire film, which may also delve deep into occult knowledge like ‘why werewolves can’t stop cursing’.
Taika Waititi has directed the pilot, written by Jemaine Clement, and we now have the first teaser trailers for the series. Watch them below…
Here’s a recently unveiled synopsis via RT:
“Much like the movie, the series follows three vampires who live together: Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) — the former two are husband and wife. Also living with them is a fourth vampire named Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), who’s an “energy vampire.” Instead of blood, he sucks the energy out of his victims by boring them to death with mundane anecdotes and bad jokes. The office is his feeding ground, but his powers also work on his vampire roomies.”
“The main action is put into motion when our central three vampires receive notice that an ancient leader vampire named the Baron is coming to pay them a visit from abroad, purportedly to see how conquering America is going.”
What We Do In The Shadows TV show release date
The first teaser trailers for the new series announced a spring 2019 premiere date on FX.
Flip over to page 2 for more info on the series…
What We Do In The Shadows TV show cast
This new half-hour series will star none other than writer/actor/comedian/musician/general legend Matt Berry (Toast Of London, IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh), alongside Facejacker‘s Kayvan Novak, rising star Natashia Demetriou and Eye Candy‘s Harvey Guillen.
Per Deadline, “Novak will play Nandor, the head vampire of the house. Berry plays Lazslo, the goofiest in the house, the type of vampire who turns into a bat and flies into a wall. Demetriou plays Nadja, the badass female vampire of the house. Guillen is believed to play Nandor’s assistant.”
Further casting details have arrived, with Variety confirming that Doug Jones – currently playing Saru in CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery – will also star in the series. 2018 has been a great year for Jones so far, as he also played the central amphibian in Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar winner The Shape Of Water, too.
No details about Jones’ character have been released, but joining him in new parts will be Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) and Jake McDorman, who previously starred in the hugely underrated Limitless TV show, so it’s great to hear he’ll be in something worthy of his talents in the near future.
What We Do In The Shadows TV show crew
Furthermore, the series has secured original creators Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and Jemaine Clement (Flight Of The Conchords) as executive producers, and Waititi is expected to direct at least the pilot episode currently ordered by FX.
What We Do In The Shadows story
The 2014 film version was a mockumentary (and instant classic) that centred around a gaggle of vampire roommates who seem to spend more time arguing over who will do the dishes than stalking victims as creatures of the night, and saw the gang regularly picking hapless fights with a local crew of werewolves headed up by Rhys Darby, who will be the focus of upcoming sequel film& We’re Wolves.
The pilot episode recently came to NYCC, where it received a “believe the hype” reception from the gathered audience. It was revealed that the new vampire clan will reside in Staten Island, which they have come to regard as the centre of all things exciting.
“We liked the idea that these vampires had maybe 200 years ago been sent to conquer America, but they’d sort of lost their way,” said executive producer Paul Simms, via THR. “We’re about to shoot an episode where they venture into Manhattan for the first time. They had assumed Staten Island was all of New York, or maybe even all of America, so there’s a whole story where they go and meet the Manhattan vampires, who are a little bit cooler than they are.”
The new footage also previewed something called an ‘energy vampire’ who sucks the life out people by boring them to death.
“I think we all know a person like that,” remarked Clement. “We hadn’t thought of anything like that for the movie, but when I was reading about different kinds of vampires, that was one that people mentioned as a real type of vampire that exists, and that we all come up against. I can think of conversations I’ve had where I’ve been trapped by someone. Everyone who watches the show says, ‘We have someone in our office who is like that.’”
Thor: Ragnarok director Waititi went on to joke about the movie concept’s forthcoming spin-offs. “Yeah, we’re creating a universe to rival that of Marvel. We’re taking one idea, and stretching it out for years and years.”