Mr. Beaks Speaks With LOOK AROUND YOU Creators Robert Popper And Peter Serafinowicz!

In 2002, two exceptionally silly men named Robert Popper (author of THE TIMEWASTER LETTERS) and Peter Serafinowicz (voice of Darth Maul, humorless roommate of Shaun and Ed, madman behind THE PETER SERAFINOWICZ SHOW), decided that it might be fun to spoof those dreary educational shorts that have been boring junior high science classes for decades. Somehow, they got the BBC to spring for a season of this.

If you've never seen LOOK AROUND YOU (and I'll admit that, until last week, I'd only viewed an episode), you're missing the most spot-on parody of childhood learning tools ever conceived. And that's just the first season. Three years later, Popper and Serafinowicz modified their concept in order to goof on those forward-looking technology shows that were so popular on public broadcasting in the late '70s and early '80s. And then, like so many brilliant British television series, it went away. But whereas shows like THE OFFICE and SPACED seem complete (to both the creators and their audience), there's no reason LOOK AROUND YOU couldn't come back - especially if it acquires a fervent cult following here in the U.S., where it'll start airing on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim this Sunday night/Monday morning at the college-student-friendly time of 1 AM. Both seasons will run back-to-back, with two of the ten minute modules being combined to fill the half-hour slot for the first four weeks. You'll see cameos from many familiar faces (e.g. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright), pick up loads of new expressions (e.g. "Thants" and "Blants"), and wonder if the parody is really that much more inane than the real thing (in both cases, it isn't). To help direct your attention to the show's Adult Swim premiere, I talked (separately) with Messrs. Popper and Serafinowicz about their influences, their hopes, their fears and their burgeoning belief in Tarvuism. Let's start with Mr. Popper, who's probably best known to Americans as "Robin Cooper" aka "The Timewaster".

Mr. Beaks: It's nice that this show is finally airing on a completely American network.

Robert Popper: I know! I like that!

Beaks: Does that feel like a validation? That you're finally ready for a proper American channel?

Popper: I guess it is. We're also big fans of Adult Swim. We love their programming, like TIM & ERIC AWESOME SHOW. We're really pleased. I think the kind of people who tune in will get our sensibility. Hopefully, people will like it.

Beaks: That's the nice thing about this audience: by this point, there's nothing that's too weird for them.

Popper: I know! We first saw TIM AND ERIC, which I loved, but also thought was the maddest show I'd seen in my life. Then you watch XAVIER: RENEGADE ANGEL, and TIM AND ERIC just looks like a normal show.

Beaks: It's been about six years since [LOOK AROUND YOU] came out.

Popper: The last episode came out in 2005, so it's been three-and-a-half years - though there's a two-and-a-half year gap in between [seasons] for some strange reason.

Beaks: Right, but the nice thing about the show is that it can't date any more than it already has.

Popper: (Laughs) Right.

Beaks: I imagine this is the kind of show that you've carried with you for a while, probably ever since you had to watch those educational shorts as a child.

Popper: Yeah, Peter and I have been friends for about ten years now. And when we started hanging out, we kind of knew that we had the same sense of humor and liked the same sort of stuff. And when we decided we wanted to make something, we talked on and off for a year about what we'd do and what we thought was funny. We also talked about the things we watched growing up. And we both had that thing - and I think you had it in American schools, too - where once every month or two months in science [class], there would be this "treat": the teacher would say, "We're going to watch a video today". And, you know, watching a video on the school's one and only TV-and-video machine was a massive treat. In my school, we had a special room called the "Science Lecture Theater". (Laughs) How British is that? The "Science Lecture Theater" was this really old-fashioned room with wooden benches. And there's enough room to wheel in a massive TV in, like, a cupboard on wheels. And we'd watch these fascinating things about... I don't know, radioactivity or something. It was already really old-fasioned and spooky and weird, but I remember sitting there as a kid and... the annoying thing was that you couldn't just sit there and enjoy the half-hour of watching a TV show; you had to work throughout the program. It was a kind of hell. But Peter remembered these specific ones that were made by this guy Jack Smith; he made these really strange educational programs with a blue-colored background. Suddenly, we became obsessed with him, and we started finding old tapes of him. And we thought, "Let's do a comedy one about the element Calcium" - because we thought that would be a good film. So we started working on it, and we made this stupid film. We hadn't really told anyone about it: we did it all with mates for free, and we filmed everywhere in England illegally. Then we had a big screening for everyone we knew - lots of comedy folk - and everybody seemed to dig it. We knew we were making something very particular and strange, but we hadn't realized that it would touch a nerve with people. They were like, "Yeah, I remember these." The idea was to kind of give you a nostalgic feeling, to take you back; you're laughing, hopefully, but also you'd have that feeling of being back at school. And it's a very specific feeling of being back at school; being bored and knowing you'd have to work through the program.

Beaks: It's very nostalgic, and yet I can't help but wonder what would happen if I were to show this to my five-year-old nephew and pass it off as a real instructional tool.

Popper: I was looking on YouTube the other day, and on one of our videos someone said, "Our science teacher showed us this in class two days ago." We have heard from science teachers who've played it for their class as if it's real. And then halfway through someone goes, "Hey, something's up!"

Beaks: So how did you get a commitment out of the BBC to air these ten minute shows?

Popper: We made the short film for ourselves. It wasn't meant to be a pilot. We just made it, and then we thought, "There's something in this." So we sent some tapes out and got into a few film festivals. Then people said, "Have you thought about a TV show." And we said, "No, not particularly." We never even thought about that. The short was twenty minutes long, but we knew at the time BBC were doing these really cool ten minute slots. So we went in, and they said, "Hey, that might be a ten minute idea." They gave us eight [episodes], and we made them. We could've made them for the rest of our lives; it's the best thing I've ever done in my life, and the most fun I've ever had. It was just brilliant. Just turning up to work in a basement with this blue background filming people pointing at bottles and test tubes? It was brilliant.

Beaks: When it came time to do a second season, and you had to do something more ambitious--

Popper: That happened really fast, actually. [The BBC] said "We're only doing one series of ten minutes because we're using ten minutes as this new idea scheme" - which was a shame because we would've loved to make more of those. So we went away for a while, and then we said, "Wait a minute, there's something else in this." We thought we could do something for thirty minutes, but you couldn't do the show the same way for thirty minutes. It would be much too hard to watch - which I sort of agree, although I would watch it. (Laughs) So we took a lot of time thinking what the best thing to do was, and one thing we thought we could do was a thirty-minute "Learning Zone". And then we hit upon this idea that during the '1970s and early '80s, there was this massive show over here called TOMORROW'S WORLD, which looked at life in the year 2000. And we kind of thought if we were going to parody something, it should be something that people can relate to. So we watched a little bit of [TOMORROW'S WORLD], and decided that would be the way forward. It's different from the first series. It's got a few similarities and some running gags, but it's really quite a conceptual piece.

Beaks: You said you could've done more of those ten minutes shorts. You really didn't run out of ideas?

Popper: No, we've got a ten-minute "All About Man". It ends with the words, "What is a man? What is a man? What is a man? A man... is a man." We have lots of scripts and other episodes.

Beaks: So you do a season of the thirty-minute show, and then what? You decided that you'd done that? That you were satisfied--

Popper: I think the BBC felt we'd done that. (Laughs) That we'd done two seasons of LOOK AROUND YOU and "Thank you very much!" It's so different in this country. It's hard to get more than two series of a lot of things. We don't normally make things in bulk like in America unfortunately. We were lucky to get to series, I think.

Beaks: I just figured that, like with THE OFFICE or SPACED, you thought it was good to walk away at your peak. There's this expectation that you guys are more than happy to call it quits after two seasons.

Popper: Well, let us say that we decided.

Beaks: Okay, I will further that...

Popper: (Laughing) You can say what you want. But the BBC said "No more."

Beaks: Well, damn them.

Popper: Damn them. Oh, well.

Beaks: But you guys are keeping busy. You and Peter have collaborated on a great many things. You've even created a religion. That's kind of ambitious.

Popper: I think back in our LOOK AROUND YOU days, we always imagined that our god was called "Tarvu". So about a year or year-and-a-half ago, we started thinking about funny things we could do. What we really want to do is a TV show which is a religious service for our religion, Tarvuism - all done straight. There are old people in the audience, young people in the audience, and there are... rituals which are kind of hard to explain. There are words on the screen and captions, and... the more you watch it, the more you get used to it. That's something we so want to do. (It's ridiculously involved. Hit up the website if you don't believe me.)

Beaks: You guys really enjoy creating vernacular.

Popper: You mean silly words, and...

Beaks: Yeah, and just building on that.

Popper: We kind of like alternate universes. I don't know if you know my book, THE TIMEWASTER LETTERS.

Beaks: Absolutely.

Popper: I've always loved wordplay. Peter particularly loves puns. He loves puns, and I hate puns, but when he and I work together we come up with our own non-pun type of puns.

Beaks: THE TIMEWASTER LETTERS are just starting to catch on over here. Have you thought about doing another book in the U.S.?

Popper: I did write quite a few letters to America, and I found that people wouldn't write back! It was very strange. If I was based in America, I would have a go at writing them because they're such fun, but I think maybe British people just like writing letters.

Beaks: (Laughs) So with the book getting popular and [LOOK AROUND YOU] airing on Adult Swim, are you beginning to make the Hollywood rounds? Have you pitched movies or anything like that?

Popper: I haven't. Last year I took a couple of meetings, but then the writer's strike hit, which was so boring. In England, the concept of a writers strike is just so weird for us. Peter's been out for quite a lot of meetings, and I think I'm going to go out this year and take some more meetings. But I do have a good story for you, actually. I had a meeting at this agency in Hollywood. Really nice people. And as I went in, there's this guy who's a receptionist or something, and he said, "Would you like a drink of any kind?" In America, you're offered every type of drink, but in England it's usually just tap water or tea. So he said, "Could I get you a drink: tea, coffee, fruit juice?" And I said, "Oh, just a water." And he said, "What kind of water would you like?" And I said, "Oh, could I just have some hot saltwater, please?" As a joke. And he said, "Sure." So I went into the meeting, and a little while later he comes in with this metal tray and a massive glass of hot, steaming salt water - with a napkin around it. I said, "What's this?" And he said, "Hot saltwater." He went to a kettle, put boiling water in it, put three big spoonfuls of salt in it, and thought that that's what I wanted to drink.

Beaks: That does not surprise me in the least.

Popper: That's probably not the worst thing he's been asked before.

Beaks: No, he was probably like, "This again?"

Popper: That's what Ray Liotta drinks.

And on to Mr. Serafinowicz. When he called, I greeted him (at Popper's urging) with a warm "Hetto, Tokyo!" He liked that. He was in good spirits despite the miserable-reading tone of his first answer.

Beaks: I got Robert talking about how you guys came up with the idea of LOOK AROUND YOU, and how you were inspired by these short videos you used to watch in school.

Peter Serafinowicz: I think they all looked super weird to us as kids. Those videos make adulthood like a place you just don't want to go. It looks like the end of the line. It makes it look scary and frightening. We're in this childhood world of innocence and fun and play, and then when you hit twenty, you go to work in some awful factory spewing out chemicals. Your innocence ends, and your fun ends, and that's it! It's like a nightmare world of bleakness and responsibility and... equations! (Laughs) My dad used to work as a scaffolder. And the firm that he worked for did these very particular scaffolding constructions that were in huge chemical plants, so I think maybe that was something else that contributed to it. Not only was he doing this work that was hugely physical - he was in the cold and it was dangerous - but he's also doing it inside of huge metal drums containing really dangerous chemicals. They had to wear masks, and the chemicals were corroding this scaffolding pole. It's like, as if scaffolding wasn't bad enough, now do it in a fucking huge tank of sulfuric acid! It was just horror upon horror! So it was that as well - and I'm talking specifically about the first series. But that was the thing: when I was a kid, I thought, "I'm not going to do scaffolding." And I think the job that I do now is actually the exact opposite of scaffolding. (Laughs)

Beaks: (Laughing) I don't think I've used scaffolding even used as a metaphor for acting.

Serafinowicz: Yeah, I don't think anyone makes a sideways move from scaffolding to acting. It's not, like, the next step. It's the opposite, in fact. And then the second season came from a sort of cozier place. We had this show TOMORROW'S WORLD that was on. I think you had something similar in America.

Beaks: There were several on PBS.

Serafinowicz: Yes, it had a very PBS-y kind of feel. And when we made the show, we watched tons of tapes of this old show, and we were just struck by how slow it all was. Even in the three years since we did the second series, the speed of TV has probably doubled. In that time, watching that show, there would be a five-minute segment about a straw that could purify water. And they demonstrated it by putting it in a goldfish bowl. It was filled with all this fish poo, and you're like, "That can't work completely!" And even if it does it must taste revolting.

Beaks: I love that this show originated in sheer terror and immense boredom.

Serafinowicz: I think that's it. I think you've got it there. And I think the thing that tickled us was those moments. Like for instance, the show just starts and the camera pans across this fish tank. You see all these colorful tropical fish, and then the presenter, who hasn't said anything yet, just comes walking in with this straw and starts drinking it. It's like you're having a fucking weird dream! Especially when all of the presenters have this kind of calm sincerity. They're not smug, but they've got this smug confidence with which they're doing these really weird things. Or standing there in their underwear while demonstrating something - and not even acknowledging it. That was the kind of thing we wanted to get across to people.

Beaks: It sounds, unfortunately, like the BBC is done with the series, but I wonder if you guys could be persuaded to revisit it in America should the film be a hit on Adult Swim.

Serafinowicz: I think me and Robert would love to do that. Did you ask him that as well?

Beaks: No, it actually just occurred to me.

Serafinowicz: Yeah, we'd love to. I think what we'd secretly love is to do more of the ten-minute ones. In a way, whatever happens with our Tarvu idea... we're actually developing a couple of different BBC series about it, and that feels like it's the, if you'll pardon the pun, spiritual successor to this. But yeah, man, we'd love to do more LOOK AROUND YOU. I think we'd like that to be our day job that we would do from nine-to-five every single day and just churn them out. We would be so happy doing that.

Beaks: And then go run out to do films, and fill the rest of your time that way?

Serafinowicz: Yeah, yeah.

Beaks: Because you just finished COUPLES RETREAT with Vince Vaughn?

Serafinowicz: Yes.

Beaks: And directed by Peter Billingsley?

Serafinowicz: Yeah, I'm excited by this film. I've actually got quite a big part in it. It's directed by Peter Billingsley, and... a few weeks ago, Jason Bateman [who's also in the film] revealed that Peter had been a guest star on an episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. So Jason brought it in, and we watched the episode. Peter plays this little kid who turns up in the town, and he's got a stutter. Do you remember this one?

Beaks: I don't.

Serafinowicz: The kid turns up at the school, and the teacher says, "What's your name?" And he says, "Miss, my name is Gi-gi-gi-gi-gi-gi-Gideon! And everyone laughs, but Jason befriends him. But then Jason is persuaded to laugh at him, and we see that little Gideon is standing there watching him. It's a heartbreaking little scene. I had to go over and give the now-adult Peter Billingsley a hug. But the film's been great, man. [Jon] Favreau's written the script, and there's lots of improv and stuff, but there's actually quite a weird streak of humor going on. And my character in particular, he's really odd. There's something very LOOK AROUND YOU about him. It's going to be out later this year, and I'm really excited about it.

All of this will make more sense once you watch a bit of LOOK AROUND YOU, which, again, airs Sunday evening/Monday morning at 1 AM on the Cartoon Network.. The "No Beast So Fierce" episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will air January 22nd at 10 AM on the Hallmark Channel. Thanks, lads. Thads. Faithfully submitted, Mr. Beaks