Few weeks ago Youtube dropped Weird City its first original ‘anthology’ as they’re calling it, and as you would expect from anything come out of Youtube, it manages a perfect blend between irreverence and absurdity. What’s more it comes with a guarantee of excellence in that it’s written by Chris Sanders and Jordan Peele, the creators behind the hit comedy, Key and Peele.
Old-school sci-fi is undoubtedly having a moment, managing a perfectly moreish hit of 80s or 90s nostalgia alongside some incisive contemporary cultural criticism. For the likes of Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Maniac, and The Happy Place, this is the currency they trade in.
Weird City does that too, straddling an aesthetic that is at once Her and tonally something between How I Met Your Mother and Black Mirror.
The series follows a collection of disparate characters living in a city (vaguely supposed to be something like New York) divided by The Line, an actual line that separates the Haves and Have Nots. Not exactly subtle, but hey, it works. Like most future dystopias, the particular joy in Weird City comes from watching future versions of ourselves navigate what are contemporary (perhaps eternal) issues like class and dating. It boasts a fairly all-star cast with the likes of Rosario Dawson, Laverne Cox, Michael Cera, Gillian Jacobs and more.
The first episode alone is absolutely hilarious, exploring how a dating app malfunction can pair you up with someone who doesn’t belong either to you age group or gender you would normally go for, and how it can still end happily ever after. As it says in the title, it is very definitely weird.
The series is part of Youtube’s ongoing efforts to enter the somewhat oversaturated market of online serialised tv networks, preparing to rival Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and the likes. Of course their advantage is that they’re among the top 5 biggest companies in the world.
Weird City has already been ranking up rave reviews, but despite that its creators revealed that the project had been stuck in development since 2011 and almost got shelved. Speaking to Thrillist, co-creator Sanders said that the project had started as “a labour of love” whilst also saying that the lightness-of-touch and optimism was deliberate to set the series apart.
Weird City is available on Youtube now.
