New To TV: What We Do In The Shadows

Thor Ragnarok director Taika Waititi brings a new version of his 2014 mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows to FX. Now set in Staten Island, What We Do in the Shadows follows three vampires who have been roommates for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Much like the movie, the series follows three vampires who live together: Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) — the former two are husband and wife. Also living with them is a fourth vampire named Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), who’s an “energy vampire.” Instead of blood, he sucks the energy out of his victims by boring them to death with mundane anecdotes and bad jokes. The office is his feeding ground, but his powers also work on his vampire roomies.

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.

At New York Comic Con last year, executive producers Clement, Waititi, and Simms spoke about the series during a panel. Waititi confirmed that the series take place in the same universe as the original film, also teasing a potential crossover with the original’s characters.

“I’d like to say that our characters [from the film] are still in New Zealand at the same time, there’s a chance that there could be some crossover,” said Waititi.