It’s been about a month since “The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh” premiered on Amazon’s Prime Video, and this weekend two of the show’s stars will be in town for an appearance at Saturday’s Penguins game against Utah Hockey Club (7 p.m. PPG Paints Arena).
Ashwin Sakthivel, who plays Vinod, the garbage truck-obsessed youngest Pradeep, and Nicholas Hamilton, who plays troublemaking neighbor Stu Mills, didn’t have their complete marching orders for this weekend’s publicity appearance when we spoke by Zoom last week, but they do expect to ride the Zamboni, “which I’m stoked about,” Hamilton said. “I’m a huge sports fan, so this is just a free game for me essentially.”
While the show’s creator, Vijay Patel, grew up partially in Monroeville and star Megan Hilty spent four years studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University, this will be the first time in Western Pennsylvania for the Pittsburgh-bound “Pradeeps” stars.
Hamilton is a native of Australia who now calls New York home; Sakthivel grew up in London. Both actors had to try on new accents for the comedy series. Sakthivel traded his natural British accent for an Indian accent and Hamilton leaned into a Midwestern sound with an occasional hint of Pittsburghese.
“We went into it pretty intentionally not to do full Pittsburghese because then it becomes making fun of the people who live there, and you can’t really do that,” Hamilton said. “You’d try to work in a ‘yinz,’ the classics, to make it seem a little more Pittsburghy, but Stu has quite a fratty, bro-y dumb-ass voice. … Megan lived in Pittsburgh and she went more Midwestern. A lot of mums from the Midwest, if we’re gonna call it that, they have this customer-servicey voice that they use with everyone, and I think Megan just nailed that.”
Hamilton and Sakthivel said they were worried “Pradeeps” might get lost among the streaming tumult, but they’ve been pleasantly surprised to see its staying power, ranking as the No. 1 comedy on Prime Video’s self-published ranking list and staying in the Top 10 of all Prime TV shows for more than 30 days since its premiere.
And, yes, the pair said they will be cheering on the Penguins over Utah.
“I feel like it would be wrong if we didn’t,” said Hamilton, who’s gained popularity on Tik Tok (1.7 million followers) for cocktail recipe videos. He has a book that’s part recipes, part biography, “Sipsy-Doozy: 100+ Respectfully Crafted Cocktails for the Home Bartender,” coming out in May.
More ‘Kingstown’
Although Paramount+ has yet to announce a fourth season renewal for filmed-in-Pittsburgh drama “Mayor of Kingstown,” a production office for the show’s fourth season opened in Pittsburgh last week. Filming is expected to begin early in 2025.
‘A Man on the Inside’
TV writer/series creator Mike Schur has a stellar track record, segueing from “The Office” to “Parks and Recreation” to “The Good Place.”
His latest effort, Netflix comedy “A Man on the Inside,” isn’t as consistently funny as his past efforts — it’s more gently amusing than funny-ha-ha — but the series, inspired by the 2020 Chilean documentary “The Mole Agent,” is generally winning, heartfelt and grows more engaging through its first season that’s now streaming.
Ted Danson (“The Good Place,” “Cheers”), a 1972 Carnegie Mellon University grad, stars as the title character, retired widower professor Charles, who feels adrift a year after his wife’s passing. Then he sees a classified ad placed by private investigator Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), seeking an elderly person to go undercover inside a San Francisco retirement home to solve the mystery of an heirloom stolen from one of the residents.
What “A Man on the Inside” lacks in laughs it makes up for in a humane, occasionally depressing but realistic depiction of the ravages of old age.
The retirement home where Charles goes undercover is probably idealized compared to some real-world assisted living communities. There’s a camaraderie among the residents and a sense of family more easily achieved in a TV comedy than in the real world.
Retirement home director Didi (Stephanie Beatriz, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) cares about her residents and welcomes Charles, unaware of his true purpose upon moving in. The assignment requires Charles to grapple with the death of his wife from dementia amid residents who begin to show signs of cognitive decline.
The humor spikes in the third episode when viewers get to see residents bicker during a meeting and when a resident who sees himself as Charles’ romantic rival gets a dressing down from Didi for his behavior, which she characterizes as toxic masculinity.
“What’s toxic masculinity?” Elliott says. “Oh, never mind. I don’t need some broad explaining things to me.”
It’s great to see elderly characters get some screen time, but one wishes Schur managed to squeeze more laughs into this series, which ends its first season resolving the mystery and setting the stage for a future investigation. Perhaps if the show gets renewed, a new setting could amp up the comedy quotient.
Channel surfing
A new adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” which played in one Pittsburgh theater this month, streams on Netflix today. … Pittsburgh native Billy Porter will perform during NBC’s telecast of the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” (8:30 a.m.-noon Thursdy, WPXI). … Members of the Writers Guild of America East who work at PBS stations voted to go on strike this week if their contract expires without a new deal, per The Hollywood Reporter. Writers on 20 animated shows, including Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions’ “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Alma’s Way,” are not currently covered under the contract but signed an agreement not to cross a picket line. None of the writers on FRP shows are based in Pittsburgh. … Craig Melvin will step in as “Today” co-host following the departure of Hoda Kotb on Jan. 10.
You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow @RobOwenTV on Threads, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.
