Why the 'SuperMansion' Christmas special makes Keegan-Michael Key feel 'a little naughty'
SuperMansion's Christmas special is in no way your classic holiday tale.
And that makes it all the better, Keegan Michael Key, who plays The American Ranger on the Crackle animated show, told Mashable.
"You want to be able to have a different take every now again," Key said. "It’s the hardest part of comedy. Artistically it’s fun to have the ability to say ‘oh wow I get to help facilitate this interesting twist.' There’s something a little naughty about going ‘let’s see if we can make it as Christmas-y and as un-Christmas-y as we can at the same time."
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The half-hour special focuses on a dysfunctional group of self-righteous superheroes, The League of Freedom. They can’t agree on anything but must band together to save Christmas when an interstellar imp, Mr. Skibumpers (Jim Parsons), unleashes a real-life Santa Claus (Gary Anthony Williams) who experiences an existential crisis.
SuperMansion, which debuted this year on Sony Television's streaming service, is one of many in Crackle's growing slate of programming, including dramas StartUp (starring Adam Brody) and The Art of More (starring Dennis Quaid and Kate Bosworth).
The series features voiceover stars Key, Bryan Cranston and Seth Green.
The show's co-creator Matt Senreich grew up watching Christmas specials. So when Sony gave the showrunner the opportunity to have a holiday special, it was an obvious yes. But he knew he wanted his version of the classic holiday programming to have a twist.
"We wanted to look at what the job of Santa Claus is, and how someone in this job position is able to deal with pressures of delivering presents to all these kids all night, like what's their breaking point," Senreich, who is also the founder of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, told Mashable. "It was a way to explore the aspect of Santa's personality you’ve never seen before."
As far as the duo's favorite holiday special? Easy: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
"It will always be Rudolph," Senreich said. "I'm a Jew and I learned everything I needed to know about Christmas from that special. It was the first thing I saw and I like to believe that all of it was real."
"Matt, just as a Christian, I'm here to tell you: It's all real," Key joked. "I think Rudolph is also a favorite for me. It's somehow more magical than regular animation. It somehow feels alive."
SuperMansion: War on Christmas debuts on Crackle on Dec. 8. Season 2 of the animated series will return in early 2017. All 13 episodes of the first season are available on Crackle.
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
