Wellington Paranormal weaponises deadpan humour to defeat gargantuan monsters

Trade in your mild chuckles for full-throated guffaws with this absurdist comedy from across the ditch.

Do you remember that crossover episode of The X-Files and Cops?

It was midway through the seventh season of the long-running supernatural drama and its producers decided to send Mulder and Scully on an adventure to Los Angeles investigating a werewolf incident and they run straight into an episode of shaky cam reality series Cops?

“X-Cops” is one of The X-Files’ funnier episodes, an inspired blend of paranormal with the hyper-reality of a docuseries.

If you’ve never seen Wellington Paranormal before (and if you haven’t, what?!), then that’s the vibe, except it’s even scrappier and weirder.

Now in its third season, and screening on SBS Viceland on Wednesday nights with episodes uploaded to SBS On Demand as it airs, Wellington Paranormal is the first spin-off from What We Do in the Shadows, the 2014 Kiwi mockumentary movie about vampires living in New Zealand’s capital.

The Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi-created What We Do in the Shadows also has a higher-profile, higher-budget American TV spin-off of the same name, which is wee-yourself-hilarious, but there is a real underdog charm to Wellington Paranormal.

Wellington Paranormal returns for its third season on SBS.

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The series takes two minor characters from the film, Wellington cops Officer O’Leary (Karen O’Leary) and Officer Minogue (Mike Minogue) and make them the centre of their own story.

As part of a special paranormal task force set up by Sergeant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu), the team investigates the stranger things going on in Wellington, including but definitely not limited to zombies, sea monsters, aliens and ghosts.

The alchemic mix of the straight-talking and sensible O’Leary with the doofus Minogue is a winning formula as they constantly try to extricate themselves from extraordinary situations.

What We Do in the Shadows – both the movie and the American TV series – roots its comedic genius in making powerful, grandiose beings petty and obsessed with small grievances and Wellington Paranormal exploits that same tension.

The gargantuan challenges of invisible monsters and forest giants are defeated by the show’s literal and deadpan sense of humour. Its absurdity lends it a sketch-like quality but the series is more cohesive and narratively rich than just doing a bit.

Wellington Paranormal weaponises deadpan humour.

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Wellington Paranormal may be low-key and understated, but your reaction to it will not be. Expect to trade in your mild chuckles for full-throated guffaws.

The episodes are stand-alone and brisk, which makes the series both bingeable and easy to dip in and out of when you have a spare 23 minutes.

Wellington Paranormal is one of the more under-the-radar treasures on the TV and streaming schedule but it’s a discovery you’ll want to keep.

Wellington Paranormal airs on SBS Viceland on Wednesdays at 8.30 with episodes released on SBS On Demand simultaneously

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