When Celeste Hughey heard Seth MacFarlane had paired with Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment to adapt his favorite cult comedy, The ’Burbs, she knew she had to write it.
“It was the movie you watched in the basement in the ‘90s, and it was just such a fun, quirky movie,” she says. “I rewatched it and thought, ‘This is so timely. This is so now.’ It’s a cult classic for a reason, because it is unique and so of the time, but it still resonates today.”
Hughey’s path to becoming a showrunner was full of twists. Growing up near Boston, she never imagined writing television for a living. Words were a way for her to process her thoughts and communicate with herself, but she didn’t see writing as a viable career. Not at first.
Initially, Hughey took stints in news and politics, including a near-move to D.C. for a job at Meet the Press. But then a friend invited her to work at a YouTube network in Los Angeles, and she decided to go for it.
“That really never turned into news, but I did get introduced to the creative industry out here, and I’ve always loved film and TV,” she says. “I decided to try and write something. So I wrote a really bad pilot, and I wrote a movie just to see if I could. Truly, I skipped a few steps, met my still-manager at a barbecue, and have been fortunate enough to write on shows I would watch if I wasn’t writing them.”
The ‘Burbs Showrunner Celeste Hughey on Telling the Truth
Hughey has worked on series like Apple TV’s Palm Royale and Netflix’s Dead to Me. But her first job was on Hulu’s short-lived High Fidelity remake starring Zoë Kravitz. It was a formative gig cut short because of the pandemic, but Hughey looks back on it with fond memories.
“That show was so special, and it set me up to work on The ’Burbs because it was based on its own popular IP,” Hughey recalls. “We wanted to create our own new story, but also honor the DNA of the original, to make sure people who loved High Fidelity felt seen by it, but set it up so that new viewers could come in and watch it, too.”
After High Fidelity, Hughey found a valuable mentor in showrunner Liz Feldman, who hired her for Dead to Me. At first, Hughey didn’t feel very confident in the writers’ room, because she’d come to writing later in life, but showrunner Feldman helped her push past it.
Hughey remembers a day when she forgot her sweater during lunch and went back to get it. When she did, Feldman asked how she was doing.
“My people-pleasing instinct was like, ‘I’m fine’ — run out of the room. But something in me wanted to say my truth,” Hughey recalls.
So she opened up about how she felt that she was getting in her own way.
“Liz was like, ‘You’re here because I want to know what you have to say. I’ve read your work, I know you have a great voice. Use us to push past that insecurity,’” Hughey recalls.
The next week, Hughey was going strong, and Feldman praised her for understanding the voice of the show better than anybody.
“I found my confidence in the room because of that and the women in that room. We call ourselves The Coven. We’re still super close, and I really credit Liz with helping me find my feet in the writing world,” Hughey adds.
From Writing to Showrunning
Showrunning The ’Burbs brought a new set of pressures. Hughey was suddenly in charge of every single detail that went into the show, from the outfits to the books on the countertops to hiring everybody.
“You don’t realize every level of decision-making that goes into it,” she explains. “That was such a huge lesson for me to step into. Beyond the writers’ room, there’s a whole world out there, and so many people to work with and bring in.”
It was intimidating, but Hughey was also excited for the opportunity to build her dream team. Suddenly, what began as a nebulous idea in her head a few years ago became real. She quickly realized it was okay to ask “stupid” questions and that the more she learned, the better boss she could be.
“It’s a funny job in that you are a creative who is used to sitting at your desk with a laptop. Then suddenly, you’re the CEO of a company,” she says of making the jump from the writers’ room “womb” to becoming a showrunner.
“There are 150 people who work for you, and you’re thinking about budgets, costumes, having to get the scripts out. There are all of these elements,” she notes.
The 1989 film The ’Burbs, starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern and Carrie Fisher, revolves around the residents of a block who become convinced a new family is part of a demonic cult.
Hughey’s vision was to center the story on a Black woman and new mom navigating a suburban community where her husband grew up. Suddenly, she’s uncovering dark secrets about her new neighbors and facing unexpected threats.
That take is a partial reflection of Hughey’s own experiences as a mixed-race woman who grew up in a white neighborhood.
“That fish-out-of-water experience was something I really wanted to portray, adding in a layer of, she’s a new mom, at home on maternity leave,” says Hughey. “She’s finding her new identity, while trying to find a community.”
Casting brought its own challenges and rewards: Hughey knew Keke Palmer should be her lead from the moment she typed the first words. She adds there was “no other person” she wanted, and she still can’t believe the casting happened. “I’m a powerful manifestor!” Hughey says.
Other characters clicked as the project took shape, and Hughey found their places in the scripts. She likens running a show to having a dinner party every day, with flowing energies and personalities and people who bring something different to the table.
“Being able to synthesize all of that under a shared vision was both the most magical part and the most challenging, because I had never run a room before,” she says.
If there’s one lesson Hughey takes from her trajectory to showrunner, it’s the value of community on and off the screen.
“Every writers’ room I’ve been in, I have met some of my best friends in the world. I feel like I found my people: nerdy, funny, literary dorks who love to build worlds together. If I didn’t have that network, I don’t know that I would have made it,” she says.
She says her producers were amazing, the actors were excited to be there, and her support system was always ready with a reality check. Those things made a huge difference throughout the entire shoot at the Universal cul-de-sac where the first season filmed.
Hughey hopes The ‘Burbs audience will take away a sense of joy and representation. She admits she loved the show so much that she even watched it during her vacation. Now, she’s bouncing in her seat to see if others feel the same way.
“I want people to have fun when they watch the show,” she adds. “I want people to see themselves in the characters, but also just have an amazing time as they sit down and watch.”
The ’Burbs is now streaming on Peacock.
Main image: Celeste Hughey on the set of The ‘Burbs. Photo by Elizabeth Morris/Peacock
