In 1989, Tom Hanks brought suburban chaos to a whole new level with his dark comedy, “The ‘Burbs.” Now, nearly 40 years later, Peacock is upping the ante with their series of the same name, bringing paranoia, humor and a whole new neighborhood of characters you won’t want to miss out on.
Peacock’s show “The ‘Burbs” follows new parents, Samira (Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall), after they move to a seemingly idyllic cul-de-sac in Rob’s hometown of Hinkley Hills. As Samira stays at home on maternity leave, she becomes increasingly more obsessed with the weary looking Victorian home across the street and the suspicious new neighbor, Gary (Justin Kirk), that just moved into it.
As far as casts go, this series is stacked with recognizable faces. Alongside Palmer, Whitehall and Kirk, “The ‘Burbs” is full of comedic talent. Actors including Mark Proksch, known for his roles on “The Office” and “What We Do in the Shadows,” and Kapil Talwalkar, known from the sitcoms “Night Court” and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” contribute their own brands of humor to the ensemble.
In the starring role, Palmer shines as Samira, a new mom whose tenacity and suspicion lead her and her neighbors on a chaotic but hilarious search for answers behind a 20-year-old missing person case. While I’ve been a fan of the actress since I was a kid watching the iconic 2012 Nickelodeon movie “Rags,” I’ve found most of her work, specifically in recent years, to be pretty hit or miss for me comedically. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see “The ‘Burbs” work overwhelmingly well in Palmer’s favor.
However, the weight isn’t all on Palmer’s shoulders when it comes to delivering a funny and heartfelt performance. “The ‘Burbs” truly shines as an ensemble show where no matter who the episode decides to focus on, the viewer can be sure they are getting a story worth watching.
While there are a lot of great, and often insane, plotlines throughout the show, my favorites were consistently the ones featuring Tod (Proksch), Samira’s eccentric neighbor, and Dana (Paula Pell), a former U.S. Marine whose boisterous, openly gay personality makes her one of Hinkley Hill's most lovable residents. With Tod’s dry humor and Dana’s spirited energy, the two neighbors make an unlikely duo but quickly become one of the funniest pairings on the show.
One thing Peacock’s series does especially well is its often seamless incorporation of elements and characters from the 1989 film into the new show.
Peacock’s new series isn’t so much of a direct continuation as it is a modern reimagining of the 1989 film. This means that while the show and movie are both set in Hinkley Hills, the two take place in different neighborhoods and aren’t directly connected. However, throughout the series viewers can find tiny cameos from the original cast as well as Easter eggs around the original film sprinkled throughout.
Wendy Schaal, who played Bonnie Rumsfield in the original movie, appears as a stickler librarian in Peacock’s series. Corey Feldman, who originally portrayed Ricky Butler, is featured shortly as a local playing pool at Drinkley's, a local bar. And finally, early on in the series, Hanks, who starred as Ray Peterson, comes back to Hinkley Hills once more, this time as H. Horace Hinkley, the town founder and builder of Hinkley House, the creepy Victorian home Samira obsesses over.
Outside of the obvious cameos, the show also makes more subtle references to its 1989 counterpart. A great example of this is with the sardines served as appetizers to Samira and her group of nosy neighbors when they try to investigate the residents of the Victorian house, just like the Klopeks served when Ray and his neighbors visited their home in the movie.
Together, these small nods to the original film create a good balance between providing nostalgic moments for fans of the movie without confusing those being introduced to the town of Hinkley Hills for the first time.
As a mystery, the series excels in almost every way possible. Despite being labeled “the safest town in America” early on in the show, every episode takes Samira, and the viewer, deeper into the dark side of Hinkley Hills.
“The ‘Burbs” showrunner, Celeste Hughey, managed to place suspicion on almost every character enough that I imagined the series having a million endings and never once suspected the one I got. I was on the edge of my seat at the end of every episode and found myself becoming nearly as paranoid as Samira more than once.
However, where this series really finds its stride is in the comedy. Even when a moment felt a bit too intense, the comedic writing brought a light tone to every scene. Not every show can have your heart racing one minute and laughing out loud the next, but “The ‘Burbs” manages to do it with ease.
While a second season has not been greenlit by Peacock yet, I am hopeful that that will happen soon and fans of the series, like myself, can dive back into the world of Hinkley Hills and the mysteries that come with it as soon as possible. If you’re looking for a great mystery or just a little bit of fun, I highly recommend giving “The ‘Burbs” a try.
