Keke Palmer is going big with her return to TV by adapting The Burbs movie into a show, which has come with some onscreen changes.
“I feel like the last time that I actually did TV was [Scream Queens], which was 10 years ago,” Palmer, 32, exclusively told Us Weekly before The ‘Burbs premiere on Sunday, February 8. “That is crazy.”
Palmer credited the dark comedy for preparing her for a murder mystery with a large ensemble cast, adding, “It’s so awesome to be surrounded by this great cast. Everybody is so funny and insane in real life and in the show.”
The slasher series, which premiered in 2015, starred an ensemble cast that included Palmer, Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Billie Lourd, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin and Glen Powell. During the show’s first season, Scream Queens focused on members of the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority that were getting killed off by the mysterious Red Devil killer.
Season 2 shook things up by having the satirical anthology introduce the Green Meanie that targeted a hospital and its staff — which included many of the cast members from the first season. Stars such as Kirstie Alley, Taylor Lautner, John Stamos and James Earl III rounded out the sophomore season.
The ‘Burbs, meanwhile, is a black comedy that was released in 1989 starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson and Gale Gordon. Peacock’s version follows a newly married couple who relocate to a suburban neighborhood after the birth of their son.
“I’ve lived on a cul-de-sac before, and I enjoy it every time I’ve done it,” Palmer, who has a 3-year-old son, shared with Us. “Once when I was a kid and as an adult.”
Palmer’s onscreen costar and love interest Jack Whitehall had a different reaction to filming, telling Us, “It made me think that I just want more exciting neighbors. My neighbors are a little bit boring and it would be quite nice to have a Paula Pell on my road.”
While The ‘Burbs pulls from the movie when it came to mystery in a small town, there were also attempts to reinvigorate the premise.
“Obviously Seth MacFarlane, Brian Grazer and Celeste Hughey — when they came to me — they already made this decision to remake one of these great IPs. So I remember coming to them like, ‘What is this going to be like?’ I was not familiar with the original so I had to dig into that,” Palmer recalled. “Then when I read the script, I was really intrigued. Because there’s always this thing when the remake happens — especially when it’s centered around not just changing the gender but also the background. You’re like, ‘How much does this play into this and is this cliche? Or on the surface, what is this story going to be?”
She continued: I knew by the pilot that it was a lot more under the surface than I expected. So when I had that first meeting with them, it was this really cool approach where we’re talking about racial tensions, motherhood and being a new couple while trying to make it out of that first phase of having a little one. There are strange neighbors and people that shouldn’t get along. But then as the series goes on you are using comedy and using the horror genre. There is just heart at the core, which allows the viewer to go on a journey of understanding things and seeing things differently too. That’s the kind of work that I love to do.”
The ‘Burbs is currently streaming on Peacock.
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