New character portraits were unveiled today for In The Know, the new adult puppet-animated series from Zach Woods (Silicon Valley, The Office), Brandon Gardner and Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill). The public radio workplace comedy will premiere January 25 on Peacock with all episodes )6 x 30′) available to stream.
Synopsis: Lauren Caspian is NPR’s third most popular host. He’s a well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod, just like you and me. He’s also a stop motion puppet. Each episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real world human guests. Lauren collaborates with a diverse crew of NPR staff. They are also puppets and nimrods.
Woods and Gardner are creators, executive producers and showrunners for the series, and Judge is creator and executive producer for Bandera Entertainment. Woods and Judge also provide key character voice-overs. The creator team offered the following illuminating statement:
“We love public radio. It’s engaging and comforting. But it also reflects aspects of ourselves that we’re embarrassed by. Which is why we created a show about an NPR host who is, sadly, an only slightly exaggerated version of ourselves.
We’re privileged, well intentioned, guilty hypocrites. We buy ethically-sourced dog treats and have them delivered by people who are penalized for bathroom breaks. We put “No Justice No Peace” signs next to our home security lawn decals. We’re sanctimonious doofuses who should be ridiculed more.
As we get more isolated in our respective echo chambers, we’re desperate to connect with people who are different from us through honest conversation and humor. We try to provide both on the show. (And even if you think our comedy is literal trash, we hope you’ll enjoy the gorgeous animation from the stop-motion geniuses at ShadowMachine.)
We want this show to start funny, scary, friendly conversations. We want to portray people who are possibly irredeemable but hopefully still loveable. And at the center of all of this is a frail overconfident male puppet with a woman’s name: Lauren Caspian.”
In The Know is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, with animation by ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio).
Cast & Character descriptions:
- Zach Woods voices Lauren Caspian, host of the In The Know radio program.
- Caitlin Reilly (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Hacks) voices Fabian, researcher and fact checker.
- Charlie Bushnell (Diary of a Future President, upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians) voices Chase, college intern.
- J. Smith-Cameron (Succession, Margaret) voices Barb, co-executive producer of In The Know.
- Carl Tart (Star Trek: Lower Decks, Grand Crew) voices Carl, sound engineer.
- Mike Judge voices Sandy, culture critic.
