A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: There are lots of ways to experience the end of October. Maybe you're enjoying the well-stocked Halloween candy aisle. Maybe you meticulously craft costumes for the next 10 days. Or maybe you just like to watch your vampires and witches on screen. Glen Weldon, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, is here for you with a couple of TV series airing right now that focus on the fun side of Halloween. So, Glen, let's start with what you call the funniest show on TV - no argument from me - the FX series "What We Do In The Shadows."
GLEN WELDON, BYLINE: Absolutely. Consistently, the funniest show - has been for years. This, as you know, is a fake documentary series about a bunch of hapless, hilarious, not remotely terrifying vampires who are spending their immortal lives together as roommates in a group house on Staten Island. And it's back for its sixth and final season today. And this season, they introduce a brand-new character, their old vampire roommate, Jerry, who's been asleep for a long time. I'm not going to spoil how he comes back 'cause it's pretty funny, but I will say that when he does, he's puzzled by some of the choices his roommates have made while he's been away.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS")
MATT BERRY: (As Laszlo) We lurk in the darkness, concealing our own grim majesty from prying human eyes. And those who are too curious, well, they'll spend their last moments ruing the day they poked their noses in where they weren't belonging.
KAYVAN NOVAK: (As Nandor) What he said.
MIKE O'BRIEN: (As Jerry) Right. But then why is there a human camera crew here filming everything?
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) Now, Glen, sometimes when a series gets as far as "What We Do In The Shadows" has gotten - sixth season - particularly a high-concept series like this one, where the premise is kind of really out there, I mean, you start to feel a little bit of wear and tear. Is that an issue here?
WELDON: No, actually, because Jerry gives the rest of the vampires a renewed sense of purpose. It's very smart because that's exactly what a show like this needs in its final seasons as it's going into the home stretch. Each character gets a new project. One of them goes back to his old mad scientist ways and others try to go undercover in the corporate world. As you can imagine, that does not go well. Look, this show has been nominated for best comedy and best writing for a comedy series again and again. And this year, Matt Berry, who we heard there, is nominated for best lead actor in a comedy, but it has never won an Emmy, which is mystifying 'cause if were up to me, this show would get pelted with an unceasing barrage of every award possible.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so that's vampires. There's another series with Halloween vibes right now, and even though it's part of the Marvel superhero universe - it's called "Agatha All Along." I loved how this thing originally began with the first series, "WandaVision." Tell us about "Agatha."
WELDON: Well, yeah, I mean, to your point, Marvel TV has been hit or miss, but that first one, "WandaVision," was the best. That took Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch character from the Avengers films and kind of riffed on classic sitcoms in a very funny way. The bad guy in that series was the witch Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn. In "Agatha All Along," Hahn's back, and she's trying to regain her magic powers through a series of trials. But to do that, she has to form a coven who are played by actors who are so entirely my jam, A, that I think the Marvel folks have been reading my diary. You got Sasheer Zamata, Aubrey Plaza and Patti freaking LuPone.
This show is very funny. It's very dark. It's got comics fans excited because it's becoming kind of a whistle-stop tour of the darker, more horror-inflected corners of the Marvel universe that we haven't seen on screen before - big or small. It's also pretty unabashedly queer for just a lot of reasons (laughter), not least of which is this one. On this show, the way that Agatha begins that series of trials that will restore her magic is with - wait for it - a musical number.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AGATHA ALL ALONG")
KATHRYN HAHN, SASHEER ZAMATA, ALI AHN, PATTI LUPONE, DEBRA JO RUPP: (Singing) Down, down, down the road, down the witches' road. Down, down, down the road, down the witches' road. Circle sewn with fate...
MARTÍNEZ: I feel like I should be at the Pantages Theatre, Glen. I mean, talk about Halloween vibes.
WELDON: There you go. It's not just Halloween vibes. It's Halloween meets Broadway. I mean, look, Halloween has always been the gayest holiday, but then you throw in Patti LuPone as a witch belting a close harmony power ballad in a minor key. A, I'm a gay nerd. I'm powerless against this. It's like happy Halloqueen (ph). You know what I'm saying?
MARTÍNEZ: Absolutely. Glen Weldon, host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. Glen, thank you.
WELDON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTOPHE BECK AND MICHAEL PARASKEVAS' "AGATHA'S THEME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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