Welcome to The ‘Burbs

  

If you’re looking for a fun summer mystery, then I have two recommendations for you. May I present The ‘Burbs? Yes, both the movie and the T.V. show have the same title and both are amazing in their own ways. The movie was made first , but the following series seems to be more of a retelling than a remake. While they tell similar stories, you don’t need to watch one to understand the other, but if you watch the movie first you’ll find fun little Easter eggs in the show. 

The movie, made in 1989 is part dark comedy, part mystery and stars Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher as a married couple living in a upper middle class neighborhood. Along with their odd friends, they begin to suspect that the new neighbors may be murderers. After a great deal of high jinx , the truth comes out, leaving its mark on the community.  

Enter the show made in 2026, streaming on Peacock, starring Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall as a newly married couple with a newborn, just moving into an upper middle class suburb, with hopes it will be a happy, safe place for them. However, the husband, who grew up on this very street, fears this may not be the case. She makes new friends among the neighbors, bonded by their suspicions that an even newer neighbor is a murderer.  

Since this is a nine episode show, it can dig into the lore of the town and characters. While it has it’s comedic moments it felt  more like a drama than a dark comedy to me, but it’s still fairly lighthearted.  

I also consider the show to be more of a retelling than a remake because the creators did not recast the movie characters, they created an entirely new cast of characters. While there’s some similarities in the case, members of the military, neighbors who spy on everyone, a creepy old house that seems like character, the characters are all unique. 

I won’t be going into details about either the movie or the show because I want this to be spoiler free. Both have some bombshells, that I do not want to ruin, though I may do a deep dive later after rewatching both, and they are worth the rewatch.