PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   “Does anyone actually know who their neighbors are?” It’s the question that fuels countless paranoid suburban tales — none explore this theme better than The ’Burbs, the self-aware follow-up to the late 1980s comedy starring Tom Hanks. The Peacock original series comes from Celeste Hughey, who has long showcased her fascination for the hidden secrets and quiet suspicion lingering on quiet cul-de-sacs through past hits like Dead to Me and Palm Royale.

“At the end of the day, everyone just wants to be in everyone else’s business,” Hughey tells Inverse at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

This is an age-old question, one that has existed ever since neighborhoods were first created. “And still, we all can’t help peeking out our windows to see what’s going on,” Hughey adds.

Hughey’s reboot was partially inspired by the boredom, obsession, and mania that swept the whole world during COVID lockdown. “I moved to a really quiet cul-de-sac, and every time I heard a branch crack or spotted a car parked for too long, I immediately thought, ‘There’s a murderer hiding here,” she continues. “There’s always drama unfolding behind every front door. You never truly know who your neighbor is. One of my neighbors even shot another neighbor in the leg for trespassing on his property.”

Whether tensions rise to the same extreme in The ’Burbs remains a closely guarded mystery — but it’s exactly this intrigue that made the series one of Peacock’s most talked-about new releases upon its debut. This dark comedy takes the core question and tries to answer it with a delightfully paranoid twist. Keke Palmer stars as Samira, a new mother with deep reservations about her new neighborhood. She joins her British partner Rob (Jack Whitehall) at his childhood home, and the pair have barely dropped their bags before they’re confronted with a minefield of microaggressions from the surrounding neighbors. It’s a smart, thoughtful update for stories created in a post-Get Out world, and one drawn directly from Hughey’s own lived experience.

“It was really important to me to always make sure that Keke’s Black identity was front and center in the show,” Hughey explains. “That comes through in everything: her costumes, the music she listens to, the art on her walls, even her Howard sweatshirt. She never hides who she is, even with a white husband in a majority-white suburb.”

Samira is fortunate to quickly build a support system among her quirky neighbors, from Rob’s high school pal — and the only other non-white resident of Hinkley Hills — Naveen (Kapil Talwalkar), to the well-meaning, wine-loving Lynn (Julia Duffy). They fill her in on all the gossip about the (obviously haunted) house directly across the street from Samira and Rob’s cozy Colonial home, and they stand by her when the house’s new resident, Gary (Justin Kirk), calls the police on her for “loitering” on his property. His arrival dredges up 20 years’ worth of hidden secrets surrounding his run-down Victorian, including the murder of one of Rob’s former classmates.

From here, a tangled conspiracy unfolds where it’s impossible to know who to trust, shaped just as much by its diverse cast as it is by the quirky charm of the original film. This isn’t the first reboot of an ‘80s cult classic that Hughey has spearheaded, but she hopes The ’Burbs won’t follow in the footsteps of her last short-lived series, High Fidelity, which was canceled after just one season on Hulu. Given how hungry audiences are for diverse, authentic stories, Hughey feels far more optimistic about the future of this project.

“I really hope that the industry listens to what audiences want,” Hughey says. “People love to not only see themselves reflected on screen, but see the world around them reflected accurately, and also experience worlds that are different from their own.”

No matter how different audience members are from one another, chaotic unpredictable neighbors will always be something that unites us all in shared paranoia.

The ’Burbs is now streaming on Peacock.