What We Do in the Shadows new TV season - what to expect

Kayvan Novak stars in What We Do in the Shadows. Photo / Supplied

Entering its third year after a breakout second season, What We Do In The Shadows is now often described by critics as the funniest show on television. Which feels notable for an American series based on a New Zealand film.

It speaks to the ever-expanding pop culture footprint of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, who together wrote, directed and starred in the 2014 mockumentary of the same name, which has now generated two TV spin-offs. The NZ-shot Wellington Paranormal finally began airing in the States earlier this year, buoyed by existing enthusiasm for the American spin-off, which follows a group of centuries-old vampires who share a dark old house in Staten Island, New York.

Clement created the show and helped to closely shepherd Shadows' first two seasons, but has stepped away from day-to-day involvement for the third, which was shot during the pandemic.

The cast and producers recently gathered together on a Zoom call to talk about the new season, which sees big changes resulting from the bloody season two finale, which ended with live-in "familiar" Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) revealing himself to be a shockingly efficient vampire killer in order to save his masters from a death sentence imposed by the Vampiric Council.

"We have a few surprises this season," showrunner Paul Simms says.

"Last season we painted ourselves into a corner as we always do, with some very high stakes about the vampires discovering that Guillermo could kill them at any moment and that he's been living as a vampire killer among them the whole time."

While Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) are understandably taken aback by this revelation, it eventually results in Guillermo being "promoted" to the position of bodyguard. Even more surprising, instead of facing further punishment from the Vampiric Council for Guillermo slaughtering most of their members, the four bloodsuckers are asked to head up the vampire governing body, putting them in charge of all the local vampires.

"It seemed funny to us that this group of vampires who can't even really get along with each other are given a position of power where they're making judgments on other vampires," Simms says.

Season three also sees the blundering Nandor, jealous of Lazslo and Nadja's romantic bond, on the hunt for a partner.

"Nandor is looking for love, which has been very fun to play all aspects of," Kovak says. "When you look for love, you're happy, you're sad, you're depressed, you're horny, you're horny depressed. You fall in love, you fall out of love, you rekindle love. Nandor seems to have done it all this season."

One of the weirder aspects of the show that fans have responded to is the doll inhabited by the ghost of Nadja's human form. Simms says a late-season episode will delve into the doll's backstory, which Demetriou was excited about.

"She's got so much character," Demetriou says of the doll. "And she's [played by] a great actress. She's played by me."

But perhaps the most surprisingly popular character is energy vampire Colin Robinson, who's become a fan favourite despite being insufferable by design. Proksch says he both is and isn't surprised about the love for Colin, who will investigate his origins and celebrate his 100th birthday this season.

"I'm always surprised when anything I do is graced by an audience," Proksch says. "But I think it's a very relatable character. Every office across the world has an energy vampire in it. So I think it's cathartic for a lot of people that are working in offices to see a manifestation that embodies all the people they can't stand in their office."

• Season three of What We Do In The Shadows begins airing on SoHo from Thursday September 9, and is also available on Neon.