Peacock has unveiled the trailer for In the Know, the NBCUniversal-backed streamer’s first adult animation series.
And, it’s awkward.
The cringe cartoon comedy from Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head) and Greg Daniels (King of the Hill) aims at laughter from uncomfortable interviews with live guests like Hugh Laurie, Tegan and Sara, Mike Tyson and Jonathan Van Ness.
In The Know — co-created by Zach Woods (Silicon Valley, The Office), Brandon Gardner and Judge — blends stop-motion animation with live-action interviews of guests like Kaia Gerber, Ken Burns, Finn Wolfhard, Norah Jones, Nicole Byer, Roxane Gay and Jorge Masvidal.
Related Stories
The semi-animated series’ interviewer is Lauren Caspian, “NPR’s third most-popular host,” according to a Peacock synopsis, a stop-motion puppet and intellectual blowhard forever embarrassing himself on air in front of real world guests.
“I’m sexually attracted to ideas. I once got an erection from reading Plato’s The Cave,” Caspian reveals to a bewildered Van Ness at one point in the trailer. “Do you have a therapist?” the Queer Eye star replies.
“Hugh Laurie, what should we do about Meghan Markle,” Caspian asks the Veep and House star during another interview popping up in the trailer. “I don’t know that any action is required,” a blank-faced Laurie responds.
And the fictional TV host elicits a “Wow!” from indie pop duo and identical twin sisters Tegan and Sara when Caspian reveals his girlfriend looks like him and questions, “Does that make me an honorary twin lesbian?”
Each of the six episodes of In The Know from Universal Television promises a backstage look at how the magazine interview show is made, as Caspian interacts with other madcap NPR staff — each their own stop-motion puppet.
The series’ animation is done by ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, BoJack Horseman), while the voiceover cast is led by Woods, Judge, Caitlin Reilly, Charlie Bushnell, J. Smith-Cameron and Carl Tart.
In the Know will debut Jan. 25 on Peacock, with Daniels — who successfully adapted the British series The Office for NBC — Dustin Davis Alexander Bulkley and Corey Campodonico sharing the executive producer credits.
