One of the best shows on TV right now that gets a medium amount of attention is What We Do in the Shadows. It’s not like people don’t talk about it, but it’s never THE show everyone loses their mind over.
Like, I’m expecting The Bear’s second season to dominate the summer’s TV comedy conversation, and it’s not that The Bear isn’t good, it’s that it’s not really a comedy—once again, I am begging everyone to stop judging comedy/drama by the average runtime of episodes. Like Succession, it’s a drama with some funny moments. What We Do in the Shadows, however, IS a comedy, a reliably hilarious comedy that, somehow, is entering its fifth season.
The trailer for season five dropped yesterday and it’s just a collection of visual non-sequiturs. There’s a little bit of continuity hinted at with Guillermo’s ongoing quest to become a vampire, but the vibes are very much “look what these bozos are up to now”. Nadia is trying to get her doll doppleganger laid, there’s a trip to the mall, they’re on the news, Nandor remains clueless without Guillermo there to do everything for him. WWDITS has morphed into a vampire take on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That is one of the all-time great hangout sitcoms, in which it doesn’t really matter what the gang is up to, because you know it will be funny. There are running gags and references, but generally you just get this group of people making a mountain out of a molehill and it’s comedy gold.
WWDITS has entered that territory, where I am invested in these idiots no matter what they’re doing. Colin’s running for local office? Great, can’t wait to watch him demoralize everyone involved. Laszlo at the mall? Into it. Although, I wouldn’t mind if Jackie Daytona returned for an episode. It’s been a minute since we’ve checked in with Laszlo’s alter ego. And I am deeply invested in Guillermo’s quest to become a vampire, though it doesn’t seem to be working out. I am also deeply invested in Guillermo and Nandor’s will they/won’t they relationship, but there is no hint in the trailer of where that is going. Back into “will” territory, I hope! Poor Guillermo, the guy just needs ONE thing to work out.
We’ll spend our summer talking about classy shows like The Bear and deliberately trashy shows like The Idol—alternatively, we could elect not to promote mediocrity!—but the summer show I am most invested in is What We Do in the Shadows. It is trying to be a comedy, as in a story made up of predominately humorous situations, and it is succeeding.
