So what exactly is the Santa Clarita Diet?
Netflix has been coy about its newest comedy, due Feb. 3, that stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant (Justified) as Sheila and Joel Hammond, married Realtors in the mountainous and placid Los Angeles suburb.
But we can reveal that the “dramatic change” Sheila undergoes in the series opener is, in fact, death. And while they tend to their open houses and teenage daughter, the couple must sate Sheila’s unbridled id and undead hunger, first with raw meat and, eventually, the human kind.
The show was created by Victor Fresco, whose quirky humor in shows such as ABC’s Better Off Ted and Fox’s Andy Richter Controls the Universe didn’t find a big-enough broadcast audience. But last year, Fresco’s timing was impeccable, even though at first Barrymore thought otherwise.
But the actress was intrigued by the darker turn and some strange parallels with Sheila, and asked Fresco whether her character’s death could mark a dual transformation. “What if she finds herself, and we do this sort of Cro-Magnon type of evolution with her over the course of the 10 episodes. No gimmicks, no prosthetics, just an awakening,” Barrymore says. “I just really enjoyed just shedding a snakeskin with her, so it became a really fun obstacle that I wasn’t even planning for but seemed so conducive and fun and healthy for my own life.”
In spite of their newfound challenge, which involves guest stars such as Nathan Fillion, who plays a rival agent, Sheila and pot-smoking Joel are happily married and supportive in their tract house. (The show was filmed almost entirely in Santa Clarita.)
