Time for fans of smart vampire comedies to rejoice! FX has officially renewed What We Do in the Shadows for a second season. The renewal came with four episodes left in the show’s first season.
Season one airs on Wednesday at 10pm ET/PT and is set to wrap up on May 29th. Season two is targeting a 2020 premiere.
“Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi and Paul Simms have more than delivered on the high expectations of Shadows fans by adapting the cult classic for television and building a passionate base of new and returning fans,” said Nick Grade, President of Original Programming, FX Networks and FX Productions. “We also want to thank the rest of the creative team, including Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch and Eli Bush, and the incredible cast and crew for delivering such a fun and original series, and we look forward to working with them all on season two.”
The renewal was expected given the series’ ratings and reviews. Season one ranks #4 with adult viewers 18 to 35 among all 34 comedy series broadcast on cable in 2019. It also sits at 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (55 fresh reviews and just three rotten).
Jemaine Clement created the series, based on the popular feature film of the same name. Clement, Taika Waititi, Paul Simms, Scott Rudin, Garrett Basch, and Eli Bush executive produce.
The Season 1 Plot:
“Based on the feature film of the same name from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows is a documentary-style look into the daily (or rather, nightly) lives of four vampires who’ve ‘lived’ together for hundreds of years. In Staten Island.
The self-appointed leader of the group is Nandor The Relentless (Kayvan Novak), a great warrior and conqueror from the Ottoman Empire, who has taken the helm of the group despite many of his Old World tactics resulting in what some might politely refer to as bupkis. Then there’s the British vampire Laszlo (Matt Berry) – a bit of a rogue and a dandy and a fop, he might say. He’s a lover of mischief and a great soirée, but not as much as he loves seeing Nandor fail miserably in every attempt. And then there’s Nadja (Natasia Demetriou): the seductress, the temptress, the vampiric Bonnie to Laszlo’s Clyde. Her wisdom and provocative tales from times past allow us insight into the many ups and downs of living an immortal life.
Also cohabiting in the vampire household is Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), Nandor’s familiar (a.k.a. servant/protector during the daylight hours), who wants nothing more than to be made a real vampire just like his master. Also lurking about is Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), an energy vampire and day-walker of sorts — he feasts on humans, but not on their blood. A frequent visitor is Nadja’s new friend, Jenna (Beanie Feldstein), a student at a nearby community college. She loves LARPing, boys, and art history, and for some reason has been rather confused lately as to why it is she so ravenously craves the flesh of the living.
After an unexpected visit from their dark lord and leader, Baron Afanas, the vampires are reminded of what they were initially tasked with upon their arrival in Staten Island over a hundred years ago – total and complete domination of the New World. But what exactly is the best way to go about achieving said domination? Our vérité camera crew follows along as the vampires set out to answer this query.”
- Mark Proksch on Playing an Energy-Sucking Vampire in What We Do in the Shadows
- Exclusive Interview with Kayvan Novak on Season 1 of What We Do in the Shadows
- One on One with Natasia Demetriou
- Harvey Guillen Interview
