‘WE KNEW WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL’
Local woman involved with new Netflix reality show ‘Buried by the Bernards’
Over the weekend, Netflix premiered the eight-episode reality show “Buried by the Bernards.”
By Monday, “Buried by the Bernards” was in the top 10 most popular TV shows on Netflix. It follows Ryan Bernard, founding owner of R. Bernard Funeral Services in Memphis, Tenn., and his family.
Bernard opened the funeral home four years ago in a former bank building, and it gained attention after he started using the drive-thru window for mourners to view the body from their cars.
Pontiac native Tamara Martin was a consulting producer on the show as part of the national content development team 13Brains.
She said the team heard about the Bernards when they saw their viral commercial; a man pops out of a casket, yelling about how his family spent too much for his service at another funeral home. She said, at first, the team joked about it. And then they realized – this would actually make a good TV show.
“A team member, Warren Robinson, mentioned he knew the funeral home because a family member lives near them. He went out to interview them and the rest is history,” said Martin, Pontiac Central High School alum, class of 1985.
“Our producer Scott Sternberg took the idea to a few networks, and they said it wasn’t for them. As soon as Netflix saw (the Bernards), they fell in love with the family as much as we did, and picked it up.”
Filming wrapped up just before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States. Martin said all post-production work was done remotely by the Netflix team.
“We knew we had something special and were delighted Netflix thought so as well,” said Martin. “I think it shows what a funny, loving, big hearted family they truly are. And Uncle Kevin is a crack up.”
The entire first season is available to stream on Netflix, and each episode is about 25 minutes long. As of Monday afternoon, the show had a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.