{"id":458105,"date":"2026-02-09T11:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/458105\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T11:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:38:12","slug":"the-burbs-og-actress-wendy-schaal-on-returning-for-tv-reboot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/458105\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Burbs’ OG Actress Wendy Schaal On Returning For TV Reboot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAs Peacock<\/a> goes home to The \u2018Burbs with Celeste Hughey\u2019s series reboot of the 1989 dark comedy, fans of the original will recognize a familiar face.<\/p>\n

\n\tWendy Schaal<\/a>, who played housewife Bonnie Rumsfield in the Joe Dante-helmed OG, recently spoke with Deadline about returning onscreen for the first time in 20 years to play librarian Judy in the series, now available to stream, and how American Dad<\/a>! just \u201cwon\u2019t let me\u201d retire.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe reason that I have been doing American Dad! for the last 20 years or 20 seasons is because of that movie,\u201d she said of the Fox\/TBS animated series, in which she voices Francine. \u201cSo, Seth MacFarlane<\/a> was one of the guys that loved that movie and kind of designed the character Francine for me from that movie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDespite the movie\u2019s apparent influence on MacFarlane in hiring her way back in 2006, Schaal admitted they \u201chad not even spoken\u201d about the reboot, on which he also serves as an executive producer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI actually read for another role that they ended up casting somebody else for, and then they offered me this role of Judy,\u201d she recalled. \u201cSo, I\u2019ve been trying to be in retirement, except American Dad! won\u2019t let me. I have not been pursuing work, I\u2019m really happy just doing American Dad! but when this came along, it was kind of like, well, this might be a fun way to be on a live set again and just go through the process. So, I accepted this, and it was just the most perfect experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn Peacock\u2019s The \u2018Burbs, new parents Samira (Keke Palmer) and Rob (Jack Whitehall) move into his childhood home in \u201cthe safest town in America,\u201d where Samira quickly becomes intrigued with the house across the street, which is supposedly haunted.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the help of her new neighbors (Julia Duffy, Paula Pell and Mark Proksch), she investigates the mystery behind the home and its new tenant (Justin Kirk). Meanwhile, Rob appears to know more about the mysterious residence than he lets on. Appearing as librarian Judy, Schaal\u2019s character also might have some insight.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter nearly 40 years, Schaal also reminisced about filming the original movie with the \u201cconstantly hilarious\u201d Carrie Fisher, who \u201cnever let an opportunity go by where she wasn\u2019t making a wig joke,\u201d as well as Tom Hanks, who \u201chonestly intimidated me,\u201d and director Dante\u2019s on-set antics.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wendy<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWendy Schaal in \u2018The \u2018Burbs\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeacock<\/p>\n

\n\tRead on about how The \u2018Burbs (1989) star Wendy Schaal landed her long-running voice role on American Dad!, which led to a full-circle moment with her cameo on Peacock\u2019s The \u2018Burbs series reboot, now available to stream.<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I loved the original The \u2018Burbs. My dad and I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWENDY SCHAAL: Yeah, it has some real quotable lines to it. Honestly, I heard throughout the years it became kind of cult movie, and the reason that I have been doing American Dad! for the last 20 years or 20 seasons is because of that movie. So, Seth MacFarlane was one of the guys that loved that movie and kind of designed the character Francine for me from that movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Oh, that\u2019s so cool. What\u2019s your biggest memory that sticks out from making that movie? Whether it\u2019s a set piece or some of the grosser parts, like the bodies\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Oh, that wasn\u2019t the grosser part for me. The grosser part for me was Joe Dante setting up the shot where I\u2019m bending over a flower bed, and I was like, \u201cJoe, I don\u2019t see the camera. Where is it?\u201d And he points behind me as I\u2019m bending over this thing, and I was like, \u201cOh, come on.\u201d So yeah, me and the wardrobe person went running behind one of the false house sets, and they had a full length mirror set up in there, and I\u2019m bending over going, \u201cAm I in? Is everything in?\u201d Because I was wearing these short shorts. \u201cAre we cool?\u201d I bet you weren\u2019t expecting that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wendy<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWendy Schaal and Bruce Dern in \u2018The Burbs<\/a>\u2018 (1989)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUniversal\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: No, I was not. What was it like working opposite Bruce Dern and with Carrie Fisher and this awesome ensemble?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Well, Bruce Dern surprised me. When we first met, one of the first questions he asked me was, \u201cWhat high school did I go to?\u201d And at that point, I don\u2019t think anybody had asked me what high school I went to since high school. And the reason he did was, he was such a sports nut that he followed the teams all the way back to high school. So, I was like, \u201cHuh?\u201d So, that was my first impression of Bruce. And then Carrie Fisher is just constantly hilarious. So, I don\u2019t think there was a moment on the set that she just wasn\u2019t the funniest person to be in contact with, whatever it was. So, every once in a while, there\u2019s productions that\u2014I don\u2019t know what makes them do that\u2014but they make you wear a wig that looks exactly like your hair. It\u2019s like, if you\u2019re gonna make a wig that\u2019s exactly like my hair, why don\u2019t we just use my hair, right? But they made her do this in The \u2018Burbs, and so she never let an opportunity go by where she wasn\u2019t making a wig joke. It was just one of those ongoing things. And then Tom honestly intimidated me, in the movie. I don\u2019t know if it was his intention, but he kept telling me that he didn\u2019t understand my character. He didn\u2019t understand the character of Bonnie Rumsfeld. And I never knew. Because he was already a movie star, I think I didn\u2019t sort of hold my own, because I was thinking, \u201cOh God, is it that he doesn\u2019t understand the way I\u2019m playing it? Or what doesn\u2019t he understand?\u201d So, I always felt a little bit just intimidated by him during the movie too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: Interesting. Who are you still in touch with of the cast, or who is the last one that you\u2019ve talked to?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Nobody from the cast, but I\u2019m still in touch with Joe Dante. Oh, I shouldn\u2019t say nobody from the cast, I\u2019m a little bit in touch with Bob Picardo. He played the garbage men. We kind of go way back. So, he and I stay in touch every once in a while. And then, Joe sends me little cute animal emails.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: You\u2019ve been working on American Dad! for more than 20 years now. Did Seth tell you immediately when he decided he wanted to do this \u2018Burbs reboot? When did you come on to the project?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: No, as a matter of fact, Seth and I had not even spoken about The \u2018Burbs. I actually read for another role that they ended up casting somebody else for, and then they offered me this role of Judy. So, I\u2019ve been trying to be in retirement, except American Dad! won\u2019t let me. I have not been pursuing work, I\u2019m really happy just doing American Dad! but when this came along, it was kind of like, well, this might be a fun way to be on a live set again and just go through the process. So, I accepted this, and it was just the most perfect experience for me. They were so nice and so generous. And by that I mean, before we shot the first scene on the set, I think it was [creator] Celeste Hughey who introduced me to the crew and everybody that was present, as someone who had been in the original movie, and everybody applauded. It was just sweet, and just the whole experience was absolutely perfect. So, it was just kind of what I needed personally to visit and to have an on-camera experience. It was kind of a perfect come around.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wendy<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWendy Schaal and Keke Palmer in \u2018The Burbs\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeacock<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: That\u2019s awesome. What can you tell me about this character, Judy? It seems like she knows a lot about the mystery that Samira is investigating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Yeah, so, the regulars in this town have all lived with the rumors, and if you\u2019ve ever had an experience where there\u2019s a lot of rumors around something that you live with, you shrug it off, but some people are trying to get some kind of big thrill out of asking questions and all that. And at the same time, you kind of don\u2019t know if there really is more to it than just rumors. So, Judy is one of these characters that wasn\u2019t expecting to be questioned about this and doesn\u2019t know how to handle it, so she kind of retreats quickly and talks to her higher up back in the office to to figure out how to handle it. But Judy\u2019s also a kind of character where she doesn\u2019t know how to handle anything, so she\u2019s sort of really uptight and not fully ready to be present in the moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: We touched on it earlier, but what\u2019s it been like voicing Francine on American Dad! for 20 years now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Oh my gosh, I have to say that first of all, it doesn\u2019t feel like 20 years in any respect of my life. Not only just in American Dad! but time is like a snowball running down a hill. It gets faster and faster and faster. But it has been a consistent pleasure. It\u2019s been fun, It\u2019s been just the the right level of involvement for me in show business. I just love our cast. I love our executive producer, who directs us in the booth, and everybody that\u2019s involved. It\u2019s just changed my life. It really has.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I\u2019m glad to hear that. And did you say that Seth was inspired to hire you after seeing The \u2018Burbs?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: That was my understanding. So, when I got a call to go audition for an animation character, I was not even a voice-over artist. That was a part of my career I never explored, and I had no clue how to go about it. So, I got a picture of the character, and of course, sides, the lines that I had to do, and sat at home and came up with a voice. And when I went to the audition, I didn\u2019t know who Seth really was. I mean, I had heard of Family Guy, but I was watching things like British dramas and stuff, so I wasn\u2019t really watching animation. And I did the first audition, the first reading of it, and, he said, \u201cOK, that was great, but, you can bring it down like 75%.\u201d So, I must have been thinking Daffy Duck or something, and it was way over the top. So, he helped me out, and I didn\u2019t know until later that he drew the character and designed it for me. And thank goodness I didn\u2019t know that, because I think it really would have just made me more nervous during the audition process rather than just going at it fresh. But it all worked out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrancine Smith (voiced by Wendy Schaal), Stan Smith (Seth MacFarlane) and Roger (MacFarlane) on \u2018American Dad!<\/a>\u2018 (TBS\/Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/p>\n

\n\tDEADLINE: I know you\u2019ve done a lot of other really awesome shows and movies, and I\u2019m curious if there\u2019s any other previous role or project that you might like to revisit one day, anything that could tempt you into performing on screen again?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSCHAAL: Oh gosh. I suppose it more has to do with my relationships with people, more than projects. So, if Joe Dante ever wanted me to do anything on camera, I think I would be tempted to do that. if Mike Barker, who was one of the creators of American Dad!, executive producer, if he did a project and asked me to join him, I\u2019d be tempted. I mentioned Bob Picardo and Seth, if any of these people really wanted me to join them, I think that\u2019s my answer. It\u2019s more about the people than the actual projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Peacock goes home to The \u2018Burbs with Celeste Hughey\u2019s series reboot of the 1989 dark comedy, fans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[138463,88,220,35375,192500,92,214031],"class_list":{"0":"post-458105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-american-dad","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-peacock","11":"tag-seth-macfarlane","12":"tag-the-burbs","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-wendy-schaal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}