The ‘Burbs, on Peacock

The original The ‘Burbs was the spoof that pre-dated the genre it now seems to send-up. When Joe Dante’s macabre comedy opened, shows like Picket Fences and Twin Peaks, as well as movies such as Disturbia had not yet beaten into the ground the idea the small towns and suburbs were secretly more sinister than their nice-place-to-raise-a-family reputations would suggest. However, at this point, that concept has become thoroughly shopworn. Nevertheless, creator-writer Celeste Hughey re-conceived (or riffed on) Dante’s cult favorite into the 8-episode The ‘Burbs, which premieres tomorrow on Peacock.

Did you know a lot of white people live in the suburbs? If you didn’t, Hughey and the battery of writers will point out that fact, repeatedly and at length. That is why Samira Fisher is initially leery of moving to Hinkley Hills, especially on a cul-de-sac, just like Wisteria Lane. Nevertheless, she just delivered a baby and her husband Rob (whose British accent has a torturous explanation) just inherited his boyhood home, so there they are.

However, the busybody neighbors graciously welcome the new mother, once she starts joining Lynne Gardner’s wine nights on her porch. One-upping their nosiness, Fisher immediately develops an unhealthy fascination with the abandoned Munster house across the street. According to rumors, that is where Rob’s childhood friend Alison Grant was murdered by her parents, who suspiciously skipped town shortly thereafter, leaving the property to rot. However, Rob and his [surviving] childhood best friend Naveen (who depressingly never left the neighborhood) both steadfastly refuse to discuss the case.

Fisher’s spider-sense really kicks in when Gary Wilson suddenly buys the property, where he acts decidedly dodgy, at odd hours of the night. However, when she starts poking around his house, Wilson calls the police (awkwardly represented by Rob’s old school bully), in what Hughey and the writers initially frame as a profiling incident.

Fortunately, wiser and cooler heads realized 2020 was six years ago and largely jettison the racial politics after the second episode. Wilson is quickly rehabilitated as an anti-social outsider, who perhaps has good reason to distrust the residents of Hinkley Hills. Fisher becomes thick as thieves with Dana Richards, a retired post-don’t-ask-don’t-tell military vet and Tod Mann, who seems to be former CIA or NSA, who subsequently made a killing in the market.

The mystery also deepens in intriguing ways throughout episodes three through seven. Surprisingly, The ‘Burbs will grab hold of you if you stick with it. That said, it is ridiculous Hughey couldn’t wrap this story up conclusively in eight episodes.

Frankly, there is so little similarity between Hughey’s storyline and Dana Olsen’s “source” screenplay, calling the series a remake or reboot almost constitutes fraud. If they want to write a new story that’s fine—great, in fact. However, using the film’s title and a deliberately similar type design will mislead fans. It is worth further noting Joe Dante’s absence from the credits. However, Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Olsen were on-board as executive producers and Tom Hanks “appears” in a vintage photograph.

Still, Keke Palmer brings the right kind of manic energy as Fisher, while Mark Proksch settles into a weirdly amusing deadpan grove as Mann. Kapil Talwalkar (formerly of the Night Court revival) mines Naveen’s loserdom for considerable laughs, while Julia Duffy (Newhart) and Danille Kennedy feud like cats and dogs playing longstanding block rivals. Even Justin Kirk delivers solid snark as Wilson. However, the betwixt and between Jack Whitehall never really finds a lane for Rob Fisher.

Hughey’s The ‘Burbs should have been titled “Hinkley Hills” and run a manageable five episodes. That would have made it a consistently funny and suspenseful series. Sometimes streamers forget less is usually more. Regardless, it should be duly noted the middle episodes improve dramatically over the first two. Recommended for fans of suburban weirdness with the time to invest, The ‘Burbs starts streaming tomorrow (2/8) on Peacock.