With the original Child’s Play franchise continuing on the small screen in the shape of TV series Chucky, fans are eager to learn what they can expect from their favorite killer doll, and series creator Don Mancini has been on hand to provide us with some vague details.
The show begins when one of the infamous Good Guy dolls turns up at a suburban yard sale, leading to a series of brutal and inventive murders that end up exposing the hypocrisy festering at the heart of the seemingly idyllic community. Additionally, the plot will feature key details of Chucky’s backstory from when he was mortal, and see numerous figures from the movies reappearing, including Jennifer Tilly, who previously played Chucky’s girlfriend Tiffany, as well as a fictionalized and exaggerated version of herself.
Of what we can expect from the iconic character, Mancini had this to say:
“Chucky has a different goal in the TV show than he’s ever had before and it’s specifically something that is designed to evoke something that’s going on in the zeitgeist today.”
If you recall, Chucky’s primary motivation in the movies was to return himself to human form, as the transference of his soul into the body of a doll was only ever intended as a temporary stopgap, only for his murderous machinations to amount to naught as he is regularly outwitted before his plans can be properly enacted. Exactly what this ‘different goal’ is remains maddeningly unspecific, but given the wealth of controversial concerns afflicting modern day American life and society, the number of targets at which the series can take aim should provide it with plenty of material to satirize, hopefully in a way that’s entertaining and not preachy.
The Child’s Play saga has always been variable in tone, variously fluctuating between outright horror and comedic violence, but even when not intended to be overtly humorous, it has at least been fun, and whatever direction Mancini and his team decide to take Chucky in or real-life issues they invoke, you can at least guarantee it won’t lose that defining aspect.