The actress stars in Peacock’s new dark comedy series, which premieres on Feb. 8.

Keke Palmer looks picture perfect in EW’s The ‘Burbs cover shoot — see all the exclusive photos

The actress stars in Peacock's new dark comedy series, which premieres on Feb. 8.

By Sarah Rodman

Sarah Rodman is the Entertainment Editor, covering TV and music for EW.

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January 22, 2026 1:00 p.m. ET

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'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW. Credit:

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While some say the suburbs are sleepy, that's not always the case.

"The suburbs actually is tea," says Keke Palmer, star of Peacock's upcoming new series *The 'Burb*s, an eight-episode adaptation of the 1989 Tom Hanks film where a bunch of nosy neighbors become paranoid when an odd new family moves into their 'hood. "You think s--- is going on in the city, but wait till you see the arcs of the lineage of a suburb that's been going on for 20-plus years."**

In this version of the classic tale, Samira Fisher (Palmer) and her husband Rob (Jack Whitehall) move back to his childhood town to raise their newborn son away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but it doesn't take long for Samira to suspect that something is off in the seemingly idyllic Hinkley Hills. What are her new neighbors hiding behind their perfectly trimmed hedges?

Check out **'s full cover story to find out more about *The 'Burbs*, which also stars Paula Pell and Julia Duffy, and is helmed by first-time creator/showrunner Celeste Hughey (*Palm Royale, High Fidelity*). And take a peek at Palmer's fun photo shoot below, ahead of the dark comedy's Feb. 8 premiere on Peacock.

Welcome to the neighborhood

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer gives a wave in gingham.

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Keke Palmer was immediately drawn to the role of Samira Fisher after reading the script for *The 'Burbs* pilot: "I was like, 'Give me more! Where does this go? I have questions!' It kept making me lean in."

Pie, anyone?

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer holds a cherry pie.

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The actress was also drawn to the genre fluidity of the show, which blends light horror, suspense, comedy, and drama.

"It's funny, but it's also real," she notes.

Won’t you be my neighbor?

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW.

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"She's a lawyer," Palmer tells EW of her character Samira, who's on maternity leave and whose spidey senses are tingling soon after moving to Hinkley Hills. "How much of that plays into her going on this search to try to figure out what is happening in the neighborhood? How much of this is tying into her being a mother and trying to find her independence and latch onto the things that made her feel like herself, so now her next little thing that she is going to do is solve the mystery in the neighborhood?"

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW.

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"It's so many things happening," Palmer says with a laugh of all the notes she gets to play in *The 'Burbs*. "It's 'Black girl in the new neighborhood,' it's postpartum, and it's 'Something really is going on here and nobody believes me, so now I'm gaslit and I don't know what I'm doing.'"

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW.

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"We were constantly developing it," says Palmer of fleshing out her character, who is a Black woman living in a predominantly white suburb. Both she and creator/showrunner Celeste Hughey agreed that ignoring race would be inauthentic, but they wanted to handle it realistically in a manner consistent with how they saw Samira — and, by extension, her husband Rob.

"It was always in the back of my mind to make sure that I'm representing this nuanced person," explains Palmer, "careful with the tropes, but also leaning into the humor where it makes sense."

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer kicks up her heels.

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**"Keke was always, in my heart, the person who should star in this show," reveals Hughey. "I think of her as the modern Tom Hanks. She has the comedy chops. She has the dramatic chops. She is charismatic and undeniable, and I think still carries the torch of the original movie, but she can make it all her own. She's a unicorn."

Secret garden

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW.

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Having been in the business for 20-plus years, Palmer has an extensive list of credits. However, *The New York Times* best-selling author is often recognized for her gig as the Emmy-winning game show host of *Password*.

"People on the streets will say, 'I love you on *Password*' or 'I love your Instagram page,'" she shares. "I'm moving into a stage now where the hope and the desire is that people understand that when I say it's 'a brand,' I really mean that it's a brand — and that one of the functions is acting, and that that was always how it was," she says of her seeming ability to be in multiple places at once. "But so is community leadership. So is hosting, and being a personality, and being curious and having deep conversations. As is wellness and lifestyle. Sometimes it can seem like a lot, and people don't know where to look, but I think it's important. These last couple of years have been a big part of the conversation that I've been having with my audience, and what I've been building with my company. It's an exciting shift."

Neighborhood watch

'The Burbs' star Keke Palmer photographed exclusively for EW.

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Palmer's costars also adore the actress.

"Keke is such an amazing actor, and just a charismatic spirit and is hilarious — but also can get weighty when she needs to," notes Paula Pell (*Girls5Eva)*, who plays Samira's neighbor Dana, a former Marine who enjoys her wine. "I was extremely in love with her by the end, as we all were. She was just pure light."**

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