What We Do in the Shadows writer: "It takes a lot of hard work to make something so silly"
The multiple Emmy Award-nominated team has been trying to explain the show's success.
Modern day vampire flatshare sitcom What We Do in the Shadows is up for eight Emmy Awards in September, a stake through the heart of more conventional comedies, but recognition of the hard work put in to the show.
As with the Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement 2014 New Zealand mockumentary it's based on, BBC Two's What We Do in the Shadows creates a comedy out of a bizarre world in which a group of vampires tries to co-exist with mortals in modern day New York.
Season two has been celebrated by the industry and fans alike, with British actor Matt Berry (Laszlo) explaining to Deadline’s virtual Contenders Television: The Nominees event why it's done so well.
With the first season out of the way, Berry said audiences were finally getting to know these characters and seeing past the gore and the fangs. “I think you need two series in order to get used to a bunch of odd-looking people in a show,” he laughed. “The first time, you’re spending those 10 episodes just getting used to what they look like and how they sound and everything else. And by the time you get to the second season, you’ve got past all that.”
Paul Simms and Stefani Robinson, two of the show’s writers and executive producers, appeared alongside Berry and Simms said: “It takes a lot of hard, hard work and late nights to make something so silly, and I think the silliness is probably the key to it. But by saying that it’s silly, I don’t want to give you the impression that we just slap this together. We work very hard to make some of the stupidest, silliest jokes you’ll ever see.”
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Despite the bizarre characters and setting, Robinson believed that the key to the show is was its mundanity. “I think what makes these characters relatable is the fact that they are roommates,” she said. “And I think that’s an experience that most people have probably had at some point or another in their lives—living with other people, bickering, sharing space.”
What We Do in the Shadows seasons three hasn't started production, but Berry will be rejoined by British co-stars Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker) and Natasia Demetrious (Stath Lets Flats) as Nandor and Nadja when it does.
Both seasons of What We Do in the Shadows can be streamed on BBC iPlayer now.
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