Exclusive Interview: Keith Lucas tells us about ‘Lucas Bros. Moving Co.’

I am definitely a 90s kid, but I don’t always show it. I still listen to SOME grunge/hard alternative music from that era including Soundgarden and Alice in Chainz, but I prefer present-day heavy metal. I don’t believe in any sort of a vegan lifestyle and I still watch 90’s episodes of The Simpsons like its nobody’s business. I followed WWE Wrestling back when it was called WWF and my wrestler of choice was ‘The Undertaker’.  That’s why when I got a chance to catch up with co-creator Keith Lucas whilst on the set of 22 Jump Street (In theaters June 13th, 2014) I was delighted to hear the underlying premise of his new series coming soon to FOX called Lucas Bros. Moving Company.  Keith was a noted Bret Hart fan, but agreed that ‘The Undertaker’ was an awesome wrestler that made all of his opponents look better. “What did you think of the American Badass Undertaker?” Keith asks me and to this day anytime I hear Limp Bizkit or Kid Rock I can’t help but still get nightmares of that particular era so I gave a resounding, “NO!” to which Keith laughed.

Turns out the Lucas Bros. Moving Co.  showcases a lot of the interests that both Keith, and his twin brother Kenny, shared when growing up in Brooklyn, and I was surprised to find out how much both of us had in common. For starters, Keith told me about some of his favorite animated shows growing up, “Oh yea, we were raised on animated shows, our favorites growing up were Ren and Stimpy, The Simpsons, and today we both love Regular Show.” The last part is important, because Lucas Bros. Moving Company doesn’t sound all too dissimilar to Cartoon Network’s crown jewel on Monday Nights, but there definitely is a unique and more urban-influenced style as compared to the park setting of Regular Show. 

Keith would further explain, “The premise of the series revolves around me and my brother working at a moving company in Brooklyn. The episodes start out rather normal at first but then crazy stuff happens!” I would then learn that the new series would have such exciting story lines as having to deal with a bunch of 90s wrestlers (like JAKE THE SNAKE), purchasing Bone Thugs ‘N Harmony records, and more, “We find Eddie Murphy’s pager which allows us to go back to 1995. We also have an episode where we buy an Air Conditioner that is possessed by Satan and scares us out of our apartment. “

Ever wonder how a show idea like that gets on the air? Well, similar to Mary Mack for Golan the Insatiable, Nick Weidenfeld had seen the Lucas Bros. on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and afterwards they were asked if they had any ideas for animated shows. Over the span of two years the brothers would send over story line and script ideas as the show was being produced, but as two guys whom are becoming rather big names in comedy. I told Keith I was a big fan of their Comedy Central series The Super Late Morning Show, but I was definitely curious in learning about the differences between working on a live-action series like that and on an animated series like Lucas Bro. Moving Co. Keith mentioned the fact that working on an internet-series has its budgetary downfalls but it forces the Bros. to be creative which is a challenge both of the guys readily accept and more so find a lot of fun.

With animation these kind of limitations aren’t as evident due to the fact that the animated world certainly lends itself to more creative freedom, “Developing a live-action show is a lot different than an animated one. I think in animation you have more creative freedom to expand a universe. Live-action there’s only so many re-shoots people can stand for, in animation you can get people behind your vision and do whatever you want in that world. It can be pretty overwhelming!”

In terms of cast and guest stars, this show is STACKED. Notable names include Gerard Carmichael whom Keith notes is a main supporting character. Other names include Hannibal Buress (China IL), Dan Brown, Jake the Snake Roberts(!!!!), Natasha Leggero (Brickleberry), and Eric Andre.

 Lucas Bros. Moving Co. premiers on FOX in January as part of the Animation Domination HD lineup, but we get a sneak preview of an episode entitled ‘DDT‘ on November 23rd right after an all-new Axe Cop. Check your local listings and get some preview pics here!