Watch the Trailer for New Stop Motion Animated Comedy Series In the Know

I say this as a former NPR affiliate intern and lover of the medium: Public radio is such a particular, peculiar niche that it’s ripe for satire. The dry voices, occasionally self-righteous hosts, existential questions, and esoteric topics are all made for parody—and thankfully Zach Woods, Brandon Gardner, and Mike Judge have taken notice.

The trio’s new stop motion animated show In the Know is coming to Peacock on Thursday, January 25. Besides acting as a showrunner and executive producer alongside Gardener, Woods (known for playing hapless men on The Office and Silicon Valley) voices the main character, broadcaster Lauren Caspian. Lauren is NPR’s third most popular host and, as he tells his reflection in the trailer, “a fucking god.” Needless to say, there’s a bit of an ego there. The inimitable Judge (of Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill fame) also serves as an executive producer and lends his voice to In the Know as the eccentric culture critic Sandy. 

The comedy series follows Lauren and his fellow radioheads (all puppets, of course, from the talented ShadowMachine team behind Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) in their studio hijinks. Lauren also interviews (live-action!) guests, including Kaia Gerber, Jonathan Van Ness, Ken Burns (feels very appropriate for NPR), Finn Wolfhard, Norah Jones, Tegan and Sara, Nicole Byer, Roxane Gay, Mike Tyson (gross to see him treated as a kooky talking head, considering he was convicted of rape in 1992 and in January 2023 was accused of allegedly raping a different woman in the early 1990s), Jorge Masvidal, and Hugh Laurie. 

As for the voice cast, Woods and Judge are joined by Caitlin Reilly (Hacks) as the acerbic researcher Fabian, Charlie Bushnell (Percy Jackson and The Olympians) as the fratty college intern Chase, J. Cameron Smith (Succession) as In the Know’s co-executive producer Barb, and Carl Tart (Grand Crew) as the sound engineer Carl.

Peacock has now unveiled the first trailer for In the Know, featuring Lauren asking Tegan and Sara weird questions and saying stuff like “I’m sexually attracted to ideas.” Dubious guest choices aside, this feels like a promising start to our 2024 TV viewing.