The Midnight Gospel, the surreal animated Netflix series from Pen Ward (Adventure Time) and Duncan Trussell uses actual interviews that Trussell has conducted as part of his podcast, the Duncan Trussell Family Hour. They are all very funny, but also poignant, and the animation uses this and remixes them to provide its own point as well. Despite the fact that the show only released days ago, Netflix has now shared what is arguably the most devastating part of the entire thing online for everyone to watch, but honestly? It’s even better in context, and you should probably watch the show first.
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Significant spoilers for The Midnight Gospel follow below. You’ve been warned.
But if you’re still here and want to see, the clip, which you can check out below, sees Trussell as Clancy speaks with Clancy’s mother, who also happens to actually be Trussell’s mother. The fact that the show uses real interviews for the base of it gets complicated here, and that’s about as simple as it can be described, unfortunately. Anyway, the clip is specifically taken from the last episode currently available on Netflix, and features a conversation between Trussell and his mother (Clancy and his mother) about his mother’s years-long fight with cancer. It is… a doozy.
If you need a good cry, watch this real-life mother and son have a powerful conversation about her mortality.
(📺The Midnight Gospel) pic.twitter.com/OfNegyvgzN
— Netflix (@netflix) April 22, 2020
When asked how they chose which interviews to feature, Ward was fairly clear about how this one, specifically, ended up in rotation.
“I leaned towards interviews that touched on practicing kindness.. I learned to throw that word around a lot this year ‘practicing.’ It really takes the pressure off when you’re just practicing kindness haha.. which has really helped me! I really like that word,” he said. “I also chose conversations that look death in the eyes.. because it’s scary.. facing death helps me appreciate life.”
Have you had a chance to check out The Midnight Gospel yet? Or are you excited to get your first taste? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things animation!
The eight-episode first season of The Midnight Gospel is now available on Netflix. It was created by Pen Ward (Adventure Time) and Duncan Trussell, and stars Trussell as Clancy, a spacecaster who interviews a variety of different subjects. The show uses material originally included as part of the Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast with animation from Titmouse. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the animated series right here.
