The ‘Burbs (which is now available to stream with a Peacock subscription) offers up plenty of fun and twisty moments for viewers. Series creator Celeste Hughey and co. seemed to put a lot of thought and effort into how they wanted to craft the show, which is a reimagining of Joe Dante’s 1989 film. Of course, not every idea they had ended up making it out of the writers’ room. In fact, when CinemaBlend recently spoke to Hughey, she revealed a funny and raunchy idea the creative team initially had before they decided to drop it.
During the course of its eight-episode season, The ‘Burbs really doesn’t get too NSFW. So I was quite surprised when I asked Hughey about discarded ideas and she revealed one particularly risqué “subplot” that she and the writing team considered adding to the show. The gag in question involved a physical representation of the Hinkley Hills-based cul-de-sac, which serves as the main backdrop for the series:
We would draw the map of the cul-de-sac on a whiteboard, and we realized it looked quite phallic. So we had a whole subplot where [the characters] were looking at the map of the cul-de-sac and realized that it wasn't an old teenage drawing of something phallic, it was a map of the cul-de-sac. And we'd always be like, ‘It's a map!’ And it was just a stupid room joke that we would always go back to. And for a second we were like, ‘Should that be the plot? Like, no, no, that should not be the plot.’ I probably shouldn't have answered that one. [Laughs]
Honestly, I think this would’ve been a solid running gag, though I can understand why Celeste Hughey and her team decided not to include it. There are definitely those who enjoy their share of provocative jokes but, in this case, a phallic-looking map representing the cul-de-sac may have seemed out of left field given the relatively tame humor within the show. If anything, though, this discarded idea seems to represent just how much fun Hughey and the writers had while spitballing ideas. She also added some more thoughts:
It was like, we love a room joke that just — we pitch and pitch and like, that's the best part about being a writers room is that you can come up with totally kooky, zany things and start to pull them back and see where they can layer into the plot. But we had a lot of fun finding those jokes and, sometimes we’d be like, ‘Maybe? No, maybe not. [Laughs] We'll keep this one to the room.’
The ‘Burbs may not have any seriously racy material but, ironically enough, fans have noticed some hilariously raunchy captioning errors. (One of those technical flubs even involves breasts.) I won’t say exactly where these funny fails can be found within the series, so fans hoping to find them (if they haven’t already been fixed) should seek them out for themselves. Of course, NSFW caption errors are far from the only reasons viewers should check out ‘Burbs.
While it may not be set within the universe of the original Tom Hanks movie, this TV reboot carves out an identity of its own and offers up a fresh crop of characters played by a likable cast. The Keke Palmer-led show has been praised thus far, and Celeste Hughey and the writers deserve their fair share of credit for that. So here’s to them, the ideas that made it into the show and those that ultimately didn’t.
Head over to Peacock and stream The ‘Burbs for yourself right now. Also, keep an eye on the other titles that are premiering as part of the 2026 TV schedule.
