"What We Do in the Shadows": Bite and Brilliance

Let me just start off by saying that I love everything about this show amp160Waititi director of Thor Ragnarok seems like he can do no wrong right now and Clement has been a comedy god since Flight of the Concords as far as Iamp8217m concerned amp160So obviously I knew this was going to be good amp160What I didnamp8217t realize was just how good amp160Clement and Waititi appear to have carefully identified the best aspects of the documentary style movie and have either imported them directly or tweaked them just enough to work out any kinks that time may have presentedShadows feels a lot different than when a new team reimagines someone elseamp8217s materialamp160 A new team would try to amp8220do justiceamp8221 to things that they thought were important about the original work but ultimately would want this new thing to be their take on the preexisting thing amp160In this case however the amp8220new teamamp8221 is the old team amp160Waititi and Clement are already wellversed not only in writing directing and acting in comedy but they know this story and all its elements inside and out because they made the damned thingSo whatamp8217s different amp160Well theyamp8217ve added a lady vampire in Nadja amp160Sheamp8217s not just there for the sake of a different set of chromosomes on set either amp160Demetriou is hilarious and her chemistry with Berry is almost literally to die for amp160Berry a familiar face from The IT Crowd and Community is even funnier than Iamp8217d expected and its Berry so I expected a lot amp160Novakamp8217s Nandor is the defacto leader of the group but heamp8217s got about as much control over the house as he does over the sun amp160He and his sadsack lackey Guillermo the real star of the show have even better chemistry than Nadja and Laszlo and thatamp8217s not to detract from them at all amp160Guillermo wants to be a vampireamp160 Thatamp8217s why familiars become familiars to serve a vampire until their loyalty is rewarded with eternal life ie vampirism amp160Unfortunately for Guillermo Nandor constantly dashes his expectations and for some reason thatamp8217s amusing as hell to watchI feel like I should point out that none of the characters on this show are direct imports from the movie amp160They donamp8217t even take place in the same country amp160That doesnamp8217t really matter though amp160Fans of the original will feel the same familiar vibe amp160Aesthetically there are tons of similarities from the decrepit castlelike house they live in to their mundane arguments about chores and tidiness from hypnotizing and shape shifting down to the theme song and historic portraits of the tenantsamp160 Itamp8217s all there amp160The formula hasnamp8217t changed even though the series is definitely different from the movieThereamp8217s also a heightened level of ridiculousness thatamp8217s perfectly played to in Shadows and Iamp8217d be remiss if I didnamp8217t mention it not that youamp8217d miss it amp160I love the amp8220crepe paperamp8221amp8221creepy paperamp8221 misunderstanding Nandor has in the first episode and pretty much every back and forth that Nadjaamp8217s a part of is comedy gold amp160Perfect example During introductions in the first episode Laszlo begins his vampire origin story with amp8220I was the most handsome man in our villageamp8221 which is immediately followed by Nadja saying amp8220His village was very badly affected by leprosy and plagueamp8221 amp160Fortunately that same sort of tandem amp8220set amp8216em up knock amp8216em downamp8221 kind of writing was present throughout every episode Iamp8217ve seen so farSome things have changed though namely the addition of one Colin Robinson who unlike his housemates is an amp8220energy vampireamp8221 amp160Probably the most genius invention in this little universe WWDITS is building energy vampires are essentially just boring ass people kind of like if they were mundanity personified amp160They feed by either boring you or enraging you usually the former and either way you end up feeling drained amp160This is one of those perfect little slices of commentarycomedy amp160I can think of so many energy vampires in my own life hell for all I know Iamp8217m one of themamp160 Editoramp8217s note No commentAnd therein lies the point that amazing joke brought to life by Prokschamp8217s sidesplitting performance as Colin by the way sums up the key element of this or any great comedy Relatability amp160Even if I specifically donamp8217t identify with any of the characters I can still relate to their situations amp160Living with people who have big personalities working hard for a boss who doesnamp8217t seem to notice having problems with your neighbors these are all things everyone has experienced and theyamp8217re all things that occur in the show as wellThe overthetop nature of the characters and the banalities of everyday life compliment each other in a way that I think Clement and Waititi are established pros at pulling off amp160What We Do in the Shadows might be the last great iteration of vampirebased television but Iamp8217ve got no doubt that Guillermo and the gang will be kickinamp8217 it on Staten Island for another hundred years more or lessClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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"What We Do in the Shadows": Bite and Brilliance

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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"What We Do in the Shadows": Bite and Brilliance

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Ainsley Andrade

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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