Michael Showalter on ‘Spoiler Alert,’ ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ and more

Episode notes

(Photo: Bryanna Paz / Maximum Fun)

Michael Showalter is a founding member of the sketch comedy group The State. He’s in part responsible for other cult comedy favorites like Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, Stella and more.

These days, Showalter has been spending more and more time behind the camera, as a director. He directed the Academy Award nominated drama The Big Sick, starring Kumail Nanjiani. He directed and co-created the hit HBO comedy Search Party.

He recently directed the new film Spoiler Alert. It’s a romantic drama based on the book Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies, a memoir by TV writer Michael Ausiello.

It tells the story of Michael, played by Jim Parsons, and his relationship with Kit Cowan, played by Ben Aldridge. 

Michael and Kit meet. They move in together, grow closer, grow more distant. Then, about 13 years into their relationship, Kit’s diagnosed with a rare, deadly form of cancer – a little over a year later, it claims Kit’s life.

If there’s a theme in Michael’s recent work, it’s an ability to find comedy in the darkest, most vulnerable places – and  he does it without coming off as phony or betraying the gravity of the situations they depict.

Michael joins us on the latest episode of Bullseye to talk about Spoiler Alert. Plus, what it was like to direct Sally Field, and his process when casting his movies. 

Spoiler Alert is streaming now on Peacock.