The Emmy-winning writer will be executive producer for the new show.
Along the same lines as Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, Lena Waithe’s new show, THEM, will feature a different series-long story each season. The first season’s full title will be THEM: Covenant and was written by Little Marvin. It’ll go something like this…
Set in 1953, Alfred and Lucky Emory decide to move their family from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood. The family’s home on a tree-lined, seemingly idyllic street becomes ground zero where malevolent forces both real and supernatural threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them.
Amazon ordered 2-seasons of THEM right out of the barrel from Waithe whose Showtime series, The Chi, was just renewed for a second season. Not to mention the movie she wrote, Queen & Slim, which is currently in pre-production. No idle hands in Lena Waithe’s house, I tell you what.
Ms. Waithe had this to say about the new series:
Little Marvin’s script stayed with me for weeks after I read it. He’s written something that’s provocative and terrifying. The first season will speak to how frightening it was to be black in 1953. It will also remind us that being black in 2018 is just as horrifying. This anthology series will examine the cultural divides among all of us and explore us vs THEM in a way we’ve never seen before.
As co-executive producer and writer for the first season (at least?), Little Marvin had this to add:
I’ve always felt that dark, surreal times deserve dark, surreal mirrors to show us ourselves. And at this point in time one of the best ways to examine fractures in our world through the visceral and raw lens of horror. I’m beyond thrilled that our series has found its home with the fine folks at Amazon.
Visceral? Raw? Color us intrigued!