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“Suburbia is a spectator sport.” This phrase couldn’t be more fitting for the fictional town of Hinkley Hills, often touted by its residents as “the safest town in America.” Yet, beneath its pristine exterior lies a long-standing mystery of a disappearance that has haunted the community for decades. Peacock’s new series, The ‘Burbs, breathes new life into this setting, drawing inspiration from Joe Dante’s 1989 horror-comedy film. This time, the narrative unfolds through the eyes of an outsider, Samira Fisher, portrayed by Keke Palmer.
In an interview with DECIDER, series creator Celeste Hughey expressed her enthusiasm for casting Palmer in the role of Samira. “Keke was my first choice,” Hughey shared. “The story had an engaging mystery element, and I was both nervous and excited about stepping into something associated with Tom Hanks, but thrilled it was becoming its own unique story.”
The series follows Samira and her husband Rob Fisher, played by comedian Jack Whitehall, as they transition from city life to Rob’s childhood home in the suburbs. Despite their distinct comedic styles, Palmer and Whitehall craft a genuine and refreshing portrayal of a couple devoted to their new life and family, while humorously embracing each other’s quirks.
“Working with Keke was a delight,” Whitehall remarked. “The script provided a solid foundation, but we had the freedom to improvise and create those little in-jokes that made our on-screen relationship feel authentic. It was great to be able to explore and develop that chemistry.”
“It was such a joy to work with Keke,” Whitehall said. “And I love that we have the space within this. We had a great script as a base, but we were able to riff and we were able to improvise and find those little sort of in-jokes that I think made it feel like we were a real couple. And it was great when we had the opportunity to do that.”
In Hinkley Hills, this cul-de-sac may be picturesque, but The ‘Burbs highlights Samira’s struggle to acclimate to the monotony of raising a newborn in suburbia, made even more difficult as one of the few people of color living in the neighborhood – a topic the series doesn’t skirt around. But this lawyer finds support in a quirky posse of neighbors – played by Paula Pell, Julia Duffy, Mark Proksch and Kapil Talwakar – who are more than willing to investigate the mysterious neighbor in the “murder house” next door.
Keep reading to hear more about Palmer and Whitehall’s experiences starring in The ‘Burbs.
DECIDER: I feel like you both have such distinct comedic styles, and so I’d love to hear your experience playing opposite each other in these scenes and what it was like developing Rob and Samira’s pretty unique relationship.
KEKE PALMER: I feel like we quickly found a vibe. Yeah, it just kept growing and is still is growing to this day.
JACK WHITEHALL: Literally, the moment before you came onto the zoom, Keke was teaching me about the phrase, ‘Up your booty and around the corner.’ And now I just feel like, you know, my horizon’s expanding every day.
PALMER: Jack is just so smart. He’s so giving. He’s so funny. It’s really not hard to act alongside him.
WHITEHALL: Thank you. It was such a joy to work with Keke. And I love that we have the space within this. We had a great script as a base, but we were able to riff and we were able to improvise and find those little sort of in-jokes that I think made it feel like we were a real couple. And it was great when we had the opportunity to do that.
I just spoke to [series creator Celeste Hughey] and she actually just told me, Keke, that you were the first person she had in mind when she’d boarded the show. So I’d love to hear about what drew you to the project and what your experience a little bit more about what your experience was like on the show.
PALMER: The team is incredible. We have Seth MacFarlane, we have Brian Grazer, and then we have Celeste Hughey. And I loved her work from working on Dead to Me and just seeing how she dealt with, you know, real themes, but making it accessible and easy for the audience to keep watching because sometimes that can be heavy. But with comedy or with horror, it has a way of filtering it through and bringing enough levity that keeps you hanging on. So I love playing with those things tonally. And then when I read the pilot, I just thought it was really engaging. Like, obviously it was becoming a mystery whodunnit. You know, I was definitely nervous and excited about this being something that Tom Hanks had done, but I was excited that it was its own new thing at the same time.
WHITEHALL: Celeste was probably too nervous to tell you, but I was her second choice. I mean, Glen Powell couldn’t do it. I guess we’ll have to go to Jack next. And that’s happened a few times, to be fair.
PALMER: He’s crazy. He was the first pick.
There was one moment on the show that seemed like an homage to How To Get Away With Murder where you were like, “Why do you have a dead girl’s phone?”
PALMER: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly! Yes. I mean, they had so many moments. I mean, obviously I think Celeste is a pop culture junkie, just like me. We live for a reference or two. […] It’s really fun. I love playing with satire.
The show is so much fun and it brings a lot of levity. But I also love that it feels very true to life, especially when it when it talks about what it must feel like to move into a community like that as a person of color. Can you guys talk about what you thought about how the show approached this topic?
PALMER: I thought it approached it well because it was almost as if it was – which is important to me – where it’s not like, ‘Now, let’s pull out the violins and it’s just so hard and that’s the gag. That’s what this version of ‘Burbs is about, the Black girl in town.’ I think it’s really easy to just lean into that and be like, ‘That’s the show, that’s the angle.’ But it’s actually not. I think they played a lot with not just themes of racial tension, but also just living in a suburb, of being a new couple with a new baby, postpartum, what motherhood looks like, all these things that you think you know this archetype. But then it slowly unravels through comedy, through horror, in this way that I think exposes the conversations that we want to have in a way that’s not so tense.
All eight episodes of The ‘Burbs Season 1 are streaming now on Peacock.