Mike Minogue OF ‘WELLINGTON PARANORMAL’

ON THE CW

The episodes of “Wellington Paranormal” airing in America this summer were made a few years ago. How is it for you and co-star Karen O’Leary, who plays your police partner, to revisit them now?

It’s like a walk down memory lane. It’s actually got a little bit of nostalgia for us. It’s really cool to see the stuff that you haven’t seen for a few years. When we did the promotional stuff the first time around in New Zealand, there’s only one newspaper here, so it was

quick.

Though it has a direct forerunner in “What We Do in the Shadows,” how would you describe the comedic bent of “Wellington Paranormal”?

I’ll circle back to the influence of the British stuff. When we were growing up, most of the stuff we saw on television was British ... so it was “Blackadder” and “The Young Ones,” just heavily, heavily British. And took a while before we received a deluge of American comedies.

I think of it as an understated thing of when you can see a character thinking one thing, but saying something else so that they’re not going to offend anybody. And you can sort of see the two things conflicting at any one time. I think that’s kind of what’s going on, as well as other things. It’s hard to

explain humor. It’s just that you think it’s funny or you don’t, and you hope for the best.

The fourth season of “Wellington Paranormal” is now in production in its native New Zealand. What do you attribute its staying power to?

it

There’s a fear-based thing around it as well, ‘cause I remember when I was a kid, I used to love “Doctor Who” even though it was mostly scary. I think that’s the thing about “Wellington Paranormal.” We’ve got so many kids that are fans of the show because it’s scary and funny at the

same time.