Pete Davidson’s new scripted series, “Bupkis,” is set to be released May 4 on Peacock, and showrunner Judah Miller can’t wait for people to see what they’ve created.
“I’m just so excited for people to see this, because I think that this show is so unexpected,” Miller told the Us.Mistertruth. “I can’t wait for them to take in all the different episodes.”
“Bupkis” follows Davidson as he plays a fictionalized version of himself, navigating family dynamics, friendships and drug problems while also struggling with immense fame and popularity.
The raw, semi-autobiographical series features Davidson alongside Edie Falco (as his mother), Joe Pesci (his grandfather) and a star-studded cast that includes Davidson’s real-life girlfriend, Chase Sui Wonders.
Miller — an Emmy-nominated writer/producer who created the show with Davidson and executive producer Dave Sirus — said the stories are fictional but stem from authentic parts of Davidson’s life.
“Obviously we’ve taken liberties with this show, heightening and exaggerating certain aspects, but some of the core issues that Pete and characters surrounding Pete are dealing with are based in truthful aspects of Pete’s life,” said Miller.
“I think that’s part of what makes the show very emotional to viewers and hopefully relatable to people in terms of family dynamics,” he continued. “I think some of the things Pete is struggling with in this series are things that are very common to people’s struggles these days.”
The 8-episode series also comes with “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels attached.
Davidson, who began his career as an “SNL” cast member for eight seasons before leaving the show last May, was supposed to return this weekend to host before the WGA writers strike forced the episode to be canceled.
“I think it’s so important what we’re striking for,” said Miller, who began his career as a writer on the show “Clone High,” which was recently ordered for reboot by HBO Max.
“It’s crucial that we help writers be able to have careers in this industry, and it doesn’t seem right to me that writers aren’t being paid what they deserve to be paid. There’s no reason why a writer should have to take a second job to support a career … when they’re working on successful shows that are making a lot of money,” he added.
For Miller, “Bupkis” marks a milestone after a career climbing the Hollywood ladder. After starting out in the mailroom at William Morris, Miller worked as a Hollywood assistant for years before finally getting his writing in front of someone.
After writing a spec script for a then-new TV show called “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” he received calls from multiple agents who liked his work. Fast forward several decades, and Miller found himself meeting Davidson on the set of his 2020 film “The King of Staten Island,” and found that he, Davidson and Sirus shared similar senses of humor.
“On ‘The King of Staten Island’ set, the three of us gravitated towards each other because we tend to laugh at the same things. And that’s really the process that we had with [this] show. We’d just try to make each other laugh, and that sense of fun comes through in ‘Bupkis,’” Miller said.
He added that the creative team surprised themselves, as they continued to mine comedic material for the show and felt themselves gravitating toward subjects that were more emotional or dramatic than they had anticipated. Ultimately though, the goal was to create a show that’s fun to watch.
“I hope people are surprised by what the show is. I think it’s not going to be exactly what they’re expecting,” Miller teased. “More than anything, I hope people have as much fun watching it as we had making it.”