AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In Peacock's new show 'The 'Burbs," Hinkley Hills is the picture-perfect neighborhood - manicured lawns, white picket fences. Just don't pay any attention to the creepy place on the corner.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE 'BURBS")
KEKE PALMER: (As Samira Greene Fisher) So what's the deal with that Victorian house?
JULIA DUFFY: (As Lynn Gardner) A family lived there.
PALMER: (As Samira Greene Fisher) The Grants.
DUFFY: (As Lynn Gardner) Yes. And they had a daughter who...
MARK PROKSCH: (As Tod Mann) Died.
PALMER: (As Samira Greene Fisher) In the house?
DUFFY: (As Lynn Gardner) There have been whispers of mysterious circumstances surrounding her passing. Maybe even...
PROKSCH: (As Tod Mann) Murder.
RASCOE: Emmy-winning writer Paula Pell stars alongside Keke Palmer in this comedy thriller, and Paula Pell joins us now. Welcome to the program.
PAULA PELL: Thank you so much. It's great to be here.
RASCOE: Did we catch you on the road? Are you driving around or...
PELL: I'm actually in LA. I'm shooting a movie that my wife, Janine Brito, and I wrote.
RASCOE: OK. But you're not driving, right?
PELL: I am not driving.
RASCOE: (Laughter) OK. Great. This show is a reimagining of a 1989 movie by the same name, starring Tom Hanks, and there's a little kind of nod to him in the show. I have not actually seen that movie. I was young when it came out.
PELL: So was I. No. I'm kidding.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
PELL: I was born and cooked.
RASCOE: How similar is the series to the movie?
PELL: It's definitely a modernized version of the idea of being that fish out of water in the creepiest place on Earth, which is the manicured lawns of, like, a cul-de-sac in a fancy yet very suburban, nosy-neighbored neighborhood.
RASCOE: You play one of the neighbors, one of the nosy neighbors, Dana.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE 'BURBS")
PELL: (As Dana Richards) You are not going to believe this.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
PALMER: (As Samira Greene Fisher) Oh, my gosh.
PELL: (As Dana Richards) I know.
PALMER: (As Samira Greene Fisher) So are we going to go in?
PELL: (As Dana Richards) Do white ladies love salads? Hell yeah, we're going in.
(Laughter) My character's a courageous person, but I love that I'm also a total chicken.
RASCOE: (Laughter) You're - obviously, you're still writing. You were on "SNL" for 18 years. And while you were there, you did some of, like, the most well-known "SNL" sketches, like Debbie Downer.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) You're enjoying your day. Everything's going your way, then along comes Debbie Downer.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Singing) Always there to tell you about a new disease, a car accident or killer bees. You beg her...
RASCOE: When you write a sketch like Debbie Downer, do you know it's going to resonate with the audience, or were you surprised by some of the ones that really took off?
PELL: No. You never know. And the ones sometimes that you don't think are going to resonate, and you just kind of pushed them out because you had to hand something in...
RASCOE: (Laughter).
PELL: ...We didn't really know. We just tried it. And then after that first one, it was a little hard to know because everyone laughed so hard, but it was also the - all the actors were laughing.
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PELL: (As Debbie Downer) Speaking of heat, if this greenhouse effect keeps up, we'll all be living underwater.
(LAUGHTER)
PELL: I think we really are always so thrilled when it does resonate. That's the biggest joy and jolt when you're at "SNL" is when you're watching it with the audience there, or even at the table-read when you know that something is something good.
RASCOE: Your next project is a movie that you wrote with your wife called "The 5th Wheel," and it's going to star Kim Kardashian. You're not doing that one right now, right?
PELL: That's the one we're doing now. Yeah.
RASCOE: Oh, that's the one you're doing now. How'd you make that happen? - I mean, with Kim Kardashian.
PELL: It's really a big ensemble. It's all comedy ladies. Kim is kind of just putting her toe in the water with acting and certainly with comedy and all that. And we kind of had heard that she was looking for a comedy fun group thing that she could be a part of, you know, as an ensemble. And we came up with this idea we really loved. And I can't go super into it yet about the plot, but it is about female friendship. It's about an interloper that kind of comes in and shakes up a group of old, old friends that have now kind of deteriorated their connection with each other. Our hope is that every person that ends up watching it is like, I'm going to go call my best friend in 10th grade because it does make you really think about how being in a friend circle and how sacred that is and how we all have let that, with social media, kind of dissolve. It's very sentimental but also very hard comedy and very silly and fun. You know, it's me and Janine. It's filthy, and it's funny and it's got a lot of heart.
RASCOE: Had you guys co-wrote anything before together?
PELL: I never thought in a million years - I've been with her for almost 10 years. I've never thought in a million years I would ever be with someone that was in comedy or that I co-wrote with all the time. I just thought that is a recipe for disaster, and oftentimes it is with people.
RASCOE: (Laughter) But has it been?
PELL: No. It is the absolute opposite because if I came up with something really funny, she'd be so thrilled that we have that joke, instead of some people that might, like, then try to one-up that. You know, 'cause comedy people are competitive with each other sometimes. She's just a gift. And now that's reinvigorated me because, you know, I'm in my 60s, and, like, you write a lot of things that don't get made. And this is just so amazing and fun that I have this new partnership with her in the last couple of years 'cause we sit and we're like, this is our work.
RASCOE: Well, we'll have to have you back on to talk about "The 5th Wheel." Maybe have you on with Kim, Kim Kardashian and your wife. Y'all could - all three of y'all be on.
PELL: Oh, yes. We would love it. And, you know, it's really - Kim has been incredible, and we're just so joyful to be in LA shooting.
RASCOE: Well, thank you so much. That's Paula Pell. "The 'Burbs" is out now on Peacock. Thank you so much.
PELL: Oh, it was a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF EL TEN ELEVEN'S "MY ONLY SWERVING") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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