Dark parody of ‘Mr Rogers’ returns as icon is celebrated
In this year of the Fred Rogers revival — with a PBS special, the feature film documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and September’s release of a biography on the host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” — there’s some bizarre serendipity in the return of the dark children’s show parody “Mr. Neighbor’s House.”
But star/co-writer Brian Huskey (“Another Period”) said the timing of “Mr. Neighbor’s House 2” (midnight. Sunday, Adult Swim) is coincidental. Executive producer Rob Corddry reminded an Adult Swim executive about the original special from 2016, which prompted the network to order the sequel.
“Adult Swim is not reflective of the normal creative process, which is why I love them,” Mr. Huskey said in a recent phone interview. “But the timing is kind of interesting. They have this [Mister Rogers] documentary and there’s another show that plays with the same thematic idea. It’s like a zeitgeist thing is happening.”
The other series is Showtime’s “Kidding” (10 p.m. Sept. 9, Showtime), which stars Jim Carrey as a children’s television icon who cracks up.
The first “Mr. Neighbor’s House” depicted Mr. Neighbor (Mr. Huskey) as a man haunted by his mother’s abandonment on his fifth birthday. At the end of the half-hour it was revealed Mr. Neighbor was in a mental hospital.
Mr. Huskey said the original special came out of a conversation he had with co-writers Jason Matzoukas (“The League”) and Jesse Falcon (“Kroll Show”).
“We do an improv show together and after the show, for whatever reason, we started talking about the kids’ shows we were watching in the ’70s and how the throughline was they all had this weird menace, that looking at it now we saw it in a different way than we did as kids,” Mr. Huskey recalled. “We started with, it would be funny if I was the host and I was barely keeping my [stuff] together but I wanted it to have real circumstances, not that he was a monster for no reason. There had to be a justification, something for us to investigate in doing the show.”
Mr. Huskey said shows such as “New Zoo Revue,” “Captain Kangaroo” and the programs produced by Sid and Marty Krofft fit their world view more than “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” although they drew from it as well.
“That was the one we talked about that had the least amount of weird menace,” he said. “It was also the most economic of them: Here’s someone who will make you feel at ease and he’s going to talk to you about different things. We’re never making fun of that.”
Mr. Huskey admits the opening credits for “Mr. Neighbor’s House” — the camera pans over a cityscape, just like the opening of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” — look familiar.
“I would not even say inspired by, I’d say ripped off,” he said with a laugh.
“Mr. Neighbor’s House 2” spends more time in the mental hospital — and makes a revelation — as Jim Neighbor reveals another painful secret from his past: His brotherdied in a house fire.
“We wanted to play more with the idea of the unreliable narrator and the question of whose reality is this?” Mr. Huskey said. “It’s easy to be like, it’s a crazy person and crazy things happen. We always want to ground ourselves by being, like, this is a person dealing with a major issue. We never want to make fun of the circumstance of the character.”
Mr.Huskey said he thinks with this show and often in comedy in general, what’s funny is an incongruous combination of things.
“If you have a children’s show host who is supposed to be calm and wise and patient and you know just behind that is this ticking time bomb, that tension can be funny,” he said. “It’s the juxtaposition that’s interesting. … It’s almost like when you find out the pastor has been cheating and had a drug problem, it gives a whole other level to this person.”
Turnover at ‘Star Trek’
Last week Franklin Park native Gretchen Berg and writing partner Aaron Harberts, showrunners on CBS All Access’ “Star Trek: Discovery,” were replaced by fellow executive producer Alex Kurtzman five episodes into production on the show’s second season. Trade reports suggest the pair was ousted not for creative reasons but due to operational (the season premiere reportedly went over budget) and managerial issues.
Ms. Berg declined to comment. This week Mr. Kurtzman signed a five-year deal with CBS Television Productions that includes additional “Star Trek” series, miniseriesand animated series.
Kept/canceled
Fox’s canceled “Lucifer” has been revived by Netflix for a fourth season.
“The Jerry Springer Show” has ended production. Rerunswill air on The CW.
Comedy Central canceled “The Opposition With Jordan Klepper” but ordered a new weekly series from Mr. Klepperthat will air in early 2019.
Local ties in TCA nominees
Filmed-in-Pittsburgh Netflix drama “Mindhunter” received one Television Critics Association Awards nomination (in the best new program category) while set-in-Pittsburgh NBC drama “This Is Us” received two (drama, program of the year). Fred Rogers Productions series “Odd Squad” and past winner “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” were nominated for outstanding youth programs. See the list of nominees in Tuned In Journal blog at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/artsentertainment
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Vikings,” “Midnight, Texas” and “Cold Justice.” Tuned In podcasthas the week off.