Robert McCammon’s cult classic horror novelStingeris getting the screen treatment, with a twist, from Ian McCulloch inTeacup. Prior to the Peacock horror show, McCulloch had primarily worked as a recurring writer and executive producer in the world of television, having contributed to the likes of NBC’sChicago Fire,Taylor Sheridan’sYellowstoneand the short-lived Stephen Dorff neo-Western dramaDeputy. While only a writer for 2–3 episodes of each, McCulloch was a consulting producer for far more of each series, withChicago Firebeing his biggest tenure for all 23 episodes of season 4.
WithTeacup, McCulloch takes a very unique approach to adapting McCammon’s novel, doing away with a large amount of it and instead focusing the story on three families on a rural Georgia farm rather than a small town. The families find themselves trapped by a circle painted by the mysterious McNab, a man wearing a gas mask who warns not to cross the circle’s borders, nor trust anyone. The group then find themselves encountering a series of bizarre occurrences, all of which seem to stem from something supernatural or paranormal that is threatening them all.
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The Handmaid’s Tale’s Yvonne Strahovskileads the ensembleTeacupcast alongsideGrey’s Anatomy’s Scott Speedman,The Ranch’s Kathy Baker, Émilie Bierre, Caleb Dolden,Echo’s Chaske Spencer,Evil’s Boris McGiver andSmile’s Rob Morgan. WithThe ConjuringUniverse creator James Wan also onboard as an executive producer for the adaptation, the show proves to be a winning mix of mysterious worldbuilding, haunting imagery and gripping performances.
Ahead of the show’s premiere,Screen Rantinterviewed creator Ian McCulloch to discussTeacup, the challenges of making changes from McCammon’s novel to better fit his kind of storytelling, balancing character development with meting out answers to the show’s mysteries, and the chances of the show continuing beyond its debut season.
McCulloch & The Writers Room’s Mantra Was “Less Is More” For Adapting The Novel
“…McCammon is very much on board with the show.”
Screen Rant: I’ve seen the first half ofTeacup, and I am quite gripped by what I’ve seen thus far. Now, I know when the trailer came out, you had that whole letter talking about wanting to keep some of Robert’s source novel while still holding on to the kind of stories you want to tell. Was there anything from the novel that you actually found you were debating on whether to keep or whether to cut going into this show?
Ian McCulloch: Absolutely, there were a lot of things in the novel that I thought, “Oh, if we could do this.” But once we made the decision to tell the story much smaller, a ground-level story about three families, as opposed to an entire town, you have to pick and choose. The mantra in the writer’s room, and pre-production, and in production was, “Less is more. Less is more. Less is more.” The book, I think, is very big and flashy, and there’s a lot of set pieces and characters and things to look at.
We wanted to do something more in the Jaws mentality, meaning the less you see the monster, the longer you have the audience involved, the more effective it’ll be when you do see something horrific. Not that there is a monster in our show — but maybe there is. I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I could tell you, I know what happens, but I’m not going to tell you, so you can watch it. [Chuckles] So, less is more, so we had to pick and choose. And then, the great thing is if we are so lucky to have subsequent seasons, then we’ve got this treasure trove of things that we can pick and choose and bring into our show’s world from the book, because McCammon is very much on board with the show.
He came to set and had a blast, and it’s just, yeah, a different experience. I think that’s what makes an adaptation exciting when it’s not word for word, sentence for sentence, character for character, because otherwise, you could read the book, and you’d know exactly how it’s going to go.
Peacock Left McCulloch To Slowly Roll Out Answers (Up To A Point)
“It was a challenge to make sure that we were being true to the mythology that we’d adapted from the book.”
I would love to touch on that, too, because you also mentioned it being a puzzle box mystery show, and there’s such a fine line to walk with those shows between giving audiences answers while also still keeping the focus on characters. How challenging was that for you and the writers room to really find the right pace to give audiences some insight to what’s going on while still keeping us hooked all the way to the end with these characters?
Ian McCulloch: In the writers room, the challenge was, “How do we give the audience clues, little breadcrumbs, without revealing any of the secrets, and without it becoming expositional?” Which is a writer’s nightmare, is at least a screenwriter’s nightmare, is if you feel your characters giving exposition, you know you’re doing something wrong. You shouldn’t have to do that. And to the network’s credit, the first half of the season, they did not ask us to give any answers. By episode 5, they said, “Okay, enough is enough, you need to tell us what’s going on a little bit.”
But they trusted us, and I don’t think it was ever a challenge. It was never a struggle. It was a challenge to verify that we were being true to the mythology that we’d adapted from the book. You’re playing by certain rules, and playing by those rules and not giving away how things work. It’s a balance, but it was more fun than it was a struggle, or, I guess, a challenge. It was a challenge, sure, but it was more fun. That’s been the key through the whole thing.
McCulloch Has “Some Ideas” ForTeacup’s Future (But With A Catch)
“I want to be surprised as to what happens…”
So, you just made a mention of subsequent seasons. Obviously, we can’t get into spoilers, and I haven’t seen the second half of the season, but have you laid the groundwork and have, in your mind, where subsequent seasons can go with the show?
Ian McCulloch: Both yes and no. I have some ideas, but I am a writer who doesn’t like to make his job easy, meaning, I don’t know what happens in the end. I write as an audience member. I like to see what happens as I write, which, by the way, I don’t recommend that. It’s really difficult and not the smartest way to do things. [Chuckles]
But if I knew everything that happened — say it was going to be six seasons — then I’m not having fun. Then, I’m just dictating, I’m just a court stenographer. I want to be surprised as to what happens, as to what a character does, as to where things go. So, do I have some ideas? Yes. Do I know what happens? Absolutely not.
AboutTeacup
TEACUP follows a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat to survive. Inspired by the New York Times bestselling novel Stinger by Robert McCammon.
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The first two episodes ofTeacuppremiere October 10 on Peacock, followed by two episodes every Thursday.
Teacup
Cast
Teacup is a horror thriller series that follows a group of people thrust into the middle of rural Georgia who must face off with an unknown threat to stay alive.
