While everyone dreamed of a Parks and Recreation revival after the one-off Zoom episode in late April, a wonderful, wacky replacement has been sitting on Apple TV Plus, waiting for more attention.
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia masterminds Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz, is a workplace sitcom set at the office of an MMO game developer. The nine-episode first season is hilarious, heartwarming, and relatively unflinching about the game industry’s shortcomings, even with Ubisoft’s direct involvement. Led by McElhenney as the diva creator Ian (pronounced “aye-ahn,” just because), the show boasts breakout stars (please, please, put Charlotte Nicdao on your radar) and familiar faces like Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, and F. Murray Abraham stretching their personas to new limits. It’s a joy. Go watch it!
And then prepare yourself for one additional chapter: Mythic Quest will return on May 22 with a brand-new episode, “Mythic Quest: Quarantine,” shot by the self-isolating cast on their iPhones, Apple announced Friday.
“Lots of workplaces are figuring out this whole working-from-home thing, and the gaming industry is no different. Virtual meetings are a new and special kind of hell, so I think people will relate,” McElhenney said in a statement. “Yes we’ve all had low points, but there have also been incredible moments of triumph and we wanted to celebrate that.
“We needed to shoot this episode fast without sacrificing quality. Thankfully, we’re living in a time when everyone’s got a camera in their pocket. Having an iPhone coupled with the ingenuity of our crew, allowed us to make this unique piece of television in just days. We hope people enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Here’s the official synopsis for the new episode:
“Mythic Quest: Quarantine” is a new, half-hour installment that finds the team behind the biggest multiplayer video game of all-time tasked with working from home. Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) and Ian (Rob McElhenney) struggle with solitude, while Brad (Danny Pudi) and David (David Hornsby) start a charitable competition. Assistant Jo (Jessie Ennis) tries to explain video-conferencing to CW (F. Murray Abraham) with mixed results. To produce the episode, the cast and crew worked remotely in multiple locations across the country.
As Nicdao told us during an interview earlier this year, Mythic Quest was just ramping up production on season 2 when shelter-in-place orders forced Hollywood productions to shut down. It’s unclear when the Apple TV Plus series will return, but for now, all of season 1 is out and ready to binge for those also stuck at home. (Everyone?)
Disclosure: Polygon gave permission for its name to be used in Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, but did not otherwise have any editorial involvement with the show.
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