Pete Davidson's Bupkis Showrunner On Starting The Intimate Comedy With An Orgasm, And Showing 'Tasteful Manhood'
Bupkis is NSWF in all the most cringe-worthy ways.
Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched at least the first two episodes of Peacock’s Bupkis, so be warned!
For anyone who may have expected Pete Davidson’s Bupkis, his first post-SNL TV series to showcase the popular comedian in a highly respectable light, the very first cold open for Bupkis decimated those expectations in short order. (Or not so short order, if all the convos about Davidson’s BDE are on point.) Peacock’s newest original comedy pretty much did the same thing with any assumptions that it wouldn’t feature a close-up of a penis, whether real or prosthetic. It’s a series that isn’t afraid to go anywhere for the sake of comedy and authenticity, and delivering on that dual-minded approach was part of what guided the creative process for showrunner Judah Miller.
CinemaBlend spoke with Miller ahead of Bupkis’ big streaming debut for the growing crowd rocking Peacock subscriptions, and I had to ask about the choice to kick off Davidson’s fictionalized world with such a bonkers opening sequence. (For those still reading without watching, it involves Pete enjoying himself to VR porn and unwittingly finishing on his non-flustered mom, as played by Edie Falco.) For Miller, part of the challenge in setting up such an unforgettable opening was knowing they would need to continue on that same pace throughout the season. In his words:
I do love taking the idea of “You think you know Pete Davidson?” and immediately countering that with him blowing a load onto his mom’s shirt, which she was perfectly fine to continue wearing throughout the day as not to waste more laundry. If nothing else, it makes it clear that Bupkis offers a heightened world beyond Davidson’s actual reality, which is helped along by the sheer amount of famous cast members like Joe Pesci surrounding Davidson. That said, quite a bit of his personal experiences and family history are infused into the show, largely for emotional purposes. (Not to mention acting opposite his real-life girlfriend Chase Sui Wonders once more.)
But even with a bar set as high as “splooging on one’s own mother,” Judah Miller said sticking with the idea of being relentless with its stories helped create a season whose wildest moments somehow do live up to and possibly exceed the opening sequence. (Everyone’s mileage will vary.) As the showrunner put it:
To say nothing of the madcap chaos that takes place in the later episodes, Bupkis delivered another peak NSFW scene in its second episode, “Do As I Say, Not As I Do,” when Bobby Cannavale’s Uncle Tommy showed Young Pete the proper way to approach peeing at a urinal, by way of unsheathing. While I’ll make no personal presumptions about the authenticity of the male genitalia shown on the screen, I did ask Judah Miller about where the line is drawn these days when it comes to showing a penis in a streaming comedy like this. According to the showrunner, that line has gone the way of the dodo, as he explained:
HBO is usually the spot where TV viewers can readily find male nudity on display, whether it involves Succession’s dick pics or dong-out monologues from Euphoria’s Eric Dane. I’m not entirely sure where those and other instances fall on the “tasteness” scale, but I feel like Bupkis’ bathroom scene somehow felt as non-salacious as such a moment can be. Although story context is 1000% necessary, since "older drunk guy taking his penis out in front of his underage nephew" could obviously also be the start of a true crime docuseries.
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All eight episodes of the new comedy are available to stream now, with more fun coming to the 2023 TV premiere schedule when Bupkis is done.
Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper. Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.