Mythic Quest
NEW Genre: Comedy Available: Friday 7 May Season: 2 Episodes: 9 Runs: 25-35min TVSW says: Sure-fire laughs
IMAGINE The Office, but set in an American gaming studio rather than a Slough paper merchants. That’s the premise behind Apple TV+ sitcom Mythic Quest, which follows the developers, testers and engineers as they try to build on the success of a fictional video game.
The series, which returns for a second season this week, stars It’s Always Sunny in
Philadelphia’s Rob Mcelhenney as creative director Ian, who is hailed as the ‘genius’ behind the game, but is actually the bane of his colleagues’ lives.
Mcelhenney, who also co-created the show (and hit the headlines recently when he became a co-owner of Wrexham
Football Club) tells Tv&satellite Week what to expect from series two…
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND Mythic
Quest? We just wanted to create a workplace comedy that felt as authentic as possible, that would be entertaining and funny, but also presented its characters as multi-dimensional people. I was inspired by Ricky Gervais in
The Office, plus Cheers and 30 Rock. I find shows set in workplaces fascinating because people are stuck together, having to navigate each other every day. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SEASON TWO? We’re really starting to evolve the characters and the gaming industry is more in the background. We’re really fortunate to be getting guests stars of an amazing calibre too, like Snoop Dogg and William Hurt. YOUR CHARACTER, IAN, HAS QUITE THE EGO. HIS
ENGINEER, POPPY, IS PROMOTED TO THE SAME
LEVEL AS HIM THIS SEASON – HOW DOES HE COPE? I’m fascinated with masculinity, especially men like Ian who would hear the phrase ‘hyper-masculine’ and take it as a compliment. To put that kind of person into a situation where he now has to share his power will be really difficult for him… which is why we wrote it in, of course.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO CREATE COMEDY DURING
DIFFICULT TIMES LIKE THESE? I’ve always thought comedy was undervalued. The idea of a drama being more relevant to our experience or more resonant culturally seems patently false. That’s the way it’s always been, and yet everybody I know loves to laugh and watch sitcoms.
HOW HAS THE GAMING INDUSTRY REACTED TO
THE SHOW? They’ve been overwhelmingly positive about it, so hopefully we’ve done a good job. Once we realised we’d achieved our goal of creating a show that feels like you’re that world, that freed us to broaden the appeal.