in the knowledge Star and co-creator Zach Woods speaks fondly about his new Peacock comedy. “I think it's a very strange show and I think it's quite humanistic,” he says. Consequence. “It's satirical, but the people who made this show love the characters and feel protective and loving towards each of them, even though they may have some pretty unpleasant behaviors deep down. “They are hurt, full of longing, wanting to do a good job… It's something strange.”
Perhaps strange given the context, since the characters Woods talks about are puppets brought to life through stop-motion animation. in the knowledge presents the Office and Silicon Valley stars as the voice of a public radio host, whose awkwardness extends beyond his interactions with his office colleagues (voiced by J. Smith-Cameron, Charlie Bushnell, Carl Tart, Caitlin Reilly and Mike Judge) to interviews with figures such as Mike Tyson, Ken Burns, Tegan and Sara, Hugh Laurie and more.
Woods traces the origins of in the knowledge to a habit of his that co-creator Judge observed on the set of Silicon Valley: “I think I'm generally shy and curious about other people. Very often in conversations, I ask a lot of questions and end up interviewing people all the time.”
That, plus Judge knowing that Woods was “basically like a nightmarish incarnation of elite coastal NPR,” led the creator to suggest a stop-motion animated series, in which Woods would be an NPR anchor interviewing royal guests. Woods chimed in, suggesting that “his name should be like one of these NPR names. Then I thought, what if her name is Lauren Caspian? And her girlfriend is also named Lauren, and she is a Dreamer under DACA, but she is actually just an undocumented MFA student from Montreal.” From there, Lauren's dense and strange backstory developed, with Woods' writing partner Brandon Gardner coming on board to help bring the idea to the series as co-creator.
The selection of guests was driven directly by the idea of ”Who would Terry Gross talk to?” (especially since Fresh air The host interviews a wide range of people): Woods credits senior talent booker Hillary Kun (who previously worked on The daily show) for bringing an equally impressive range to in the knowledge.
“[Kun] “I did a spectacular job,” he says, “because it's a dubious proposition to ask people, 'Hey, do you want to be on a show you can't watch, with an NPR host you've never met, who stops -motion, and you'll have no control over the editing. It's a big ask and it got all these people on board. We were really stretching ourselves, thanks to Hillary.”
In the knowledge (peacock)
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