Longtime friends and collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost haven’t worked together since Edgar Wright brought his Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy to a close with The World’s End back in 2013, but that’s all set to change when Amazon’s sci-fi comedy series Truth Seekers lands exclusively on the streaming service before the end of the year, in what marks the duo’s first small screen project together since their cult classic sitcom Spaced wrapped up almost 20 years ago.
Pegg and Frost’s Paul made it abundantly clear that they have a deep affection for sci-fi, and Truth Seekers looks to give the genre a modern day cultural spin as it follows a team of UK-based paranormal investigators who film their adventures for an online channel, only to uncover a deadly conspiracy that could potentially bring about the end of the world.
While there’s more than a hint of Ghostbusters in the basic setup, Frost admitted in a recent interview that they’d drawn more of their inspiration from The X-Files, which is an ambitious goal when you consider that Mulder and Scully headlined 218 episodes of one of the most popular TV shows of the modern era and the series became an undisputed sci-fi classic in the process.
“We weren’t afraid of trying something like the British X-Files. Scale-wise, we can try something more ambitious. A lot of the comedy comes from these people being in weird situations. It’s not, ‘That ghost’s bum is out!’.”
Exposed spectral rear-ends aside, the recently-released debut trailer was hugely promising and looks to appeal to a much wider audience than just longtime fans of Pegg and Frost. The blend of irreverent humor, a talented ensemble cast and a genuinely intriguing premise could result in a major success for Amazon. Now we just need to wait for the streaming service to nail down an official date for when the first eight episodes of Truth Seekers will arrive.