At long last, Upright Citizens Brigade and UCB Comedy has released a new original comedy series. “Gary Saves the Graveyard” is available starting tomorrow, just in time for Halloween. The original series marks the largest production yet for the digital brand of the Upright Citizens Brigade – founded by Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Matt Besser (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Ian Roberts (Key & Peele) and Matt Walsh (Veep, The Hangover).
The story follows Gary (Jim Santangeli), a newly appointed groundskeeper who is reunited with his best friend from high school, Andy (Tallie Medel).
There’s only one problem – she’s been dead for 20 years.
Of course, this means a gleefully funny series full of supernatural misadventures. The zombie comedy, or “zom-com”, features a talented cast of UCB performers including: Nicole Byer (MTV’s Girl Code), Nate Dern (Time Out of Mind), Shannon O’Neill (Broad City, The Chris Gethard Show), and Tallie Medel, named by Indiewire as one of the top 10 female lead performers of 2013.
Although the press release describes it as ‘a mixture of “Ghostbusters” and “Shawn of the Dead,” — the tone seems more in line with the comedic supernatural sitcoms like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is sure to be a hit with Amy Poehler fans and 1990’s kids.
For a sneak peak of “Gary Saves The Graveyard,” check out the snippet below. (You can also go to the Youtube page to subscribe.) A new episode of the series will be uploaded to the UCB Comedy Youtube every day until the finale on Halloween:
Gary Saves the Graveyard” was written by Todd Bieber, Kristy Lopez-Bernal, Laura Grey, Zack Phillips, and Avery Monsen (best-selling author of “All My Friends Are Dead”).
The series tackles subjects of death and legacy through the lens of comedy. Todd Bieber explains, “I’ve been to more funerals than most people I know and to cope with death as such a prevalent part of my life, I set out to explore the humor in it.”
When asked about his inspiration, the filmmaker says, “I had a friend die in high school, and I thought, ‘What would it be like to hang out with him today, 20 years later? Would we still be friends?'”
[Image Credit: Upright Citizens Brigade/UCB Comedy]
Once again, I’ll admit that I’m a scaredy cat when it comes to supernatural and paranormal stuff, but this does look funny. I like a few of the actors in it, too, so I may just give this one a chance.
I think I’m going to have to give this show a try. I like how the director got his inspiration, though. I think that is pretty interesting. Hopefully the show will be funny and goofy.
I love comedies. I wish that there were more of them still on TV. It seems like there are more reality shows than anything else. I will have to check this show out, the preview was pretty funny.