If you were to listen to In the Know, the fake radio show at the heart of Peacock's new sitcom of the same name, you would have a tough time separating it from NPR staples like Fresh Air and All Things Considered. At least, at first.
To start, you'd be lured in by the classic radio voice of host Lauren Caspian (voiced by Zach Woods), jazzy musical cues, and the promise of high-profile guests like Mike Tyson, Roxane Gay, and Ken Burns. But then you'd notice that things are... off. Why does Lauren keep bringing his highly embarrassing personal life into the conversation? Why do all the guests seem to hate him? And why is Lauren a puppet, while the interviewees are real humans? With these questions and more, In the Know lifts a funhouse mirror up to public radio in a way that is equal parts loving and satirical.
What is In the Know about?
Created by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill), Brandon Gardner, and Woods, In the Know takes us behind the scenes of its titular program. There, a staff of stop-motion puppets work their carefully hand-made butts off bringing In the Know to all 30 thousand of its NPR listeners.
Said team can basically be divided into three camps. There's Lauren and fact checker Fabian (voiced by Caitlin Reilly), aspiring do-gooders whose activism often reads as more performative than genuine. They constantly butt heads with each other and with executive producer Barb (voiced by J. Smith-Cameron) and audio engineer Carl (voiced by Carl Tart), the show's weary voices of reason. Then there's oddball cultural critic Sandy (voiced by Judge) and frat bro intern Chase (voiced by Charlie Bushnell), two outsiders who develop an unlikely rapport. Together, these six weather all the crises office life and public radio can throw at them, from fundraising drives to choosing a new safety rep.
In the Know gets better as it gets weirder.
In the Know is in large part a send-up of public radio-loving liberals, but the satire can be hit or miss. The best of it comes through in In the Know's interviews, which are interspersed throughout each episode. These segments see Lauren chatting with real-life human celebrities over video, including Norah Jones, Jonathan Van Ness, and Kaia Gerber. The improvised conversations garner some of the show's biggest laughs (watch Gerber struggle to keep a straight face while Lauren rants about the male gaze) and its most interesting commentary, as Lauren's hypocrisy and self-centered desire to be perceived as the perfect person and ally tends to encroach on the very voices he wants to uplift.
The weaker satire often falls to Fabian, whose tirades on gender, conformity, and being "neuro-sensitive" come across as a conservative's caricature of a very online leftist. At least she gets somewhat more complicated over the course of Season 1's first six episodes. Some characters, like Chase, unfortunately remain mostly one-note.
However, In the Know really comes into its own as it allows itself to stray away from obvious satire and into stranger territory. In one episode, a rumor arises that Lauren's voice makes people physically ill. In another, a trip to a chair store becomes an opportunity for self-discovery. While not explicitly leaning on buzzy, discourse-worthy terms in the way Fabian and Lauren usually do, these segments still have a lot to say about things like our work-life balance, online echo chambers and conspiracy theories, and more.
In the Know is an animated treat.
The weirder In the Know gets, the more opportunities animation studio ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio) has to show off its impressive work. Every aspect of In the Know's offices and staff is beautifully crafted and lived-in, from the recording booth right down to the cozy sweaters everyone wears. The puppets' expressiveness holds its own against the human guests, their physicality making sure a joke lands or enhancing any deliciously awkward interview moments.
In the Know is worth a watch based on the craft alone, but overall the show makes for a fun, offbeat stylistic experiment. Between the blending of stop-motion and real life and the improvised format of the interviews, you'll find plenty of strange surprises. And although six episodes doesn't give us much time with these characters, there's definitely potential for more bizarro sitcom greatness ahead.
In the Know hits Peacock Jan. 25.
