Aahana Swrup
Created by Celeste Hughey, ‘The Burbs’ is a comedy mystery show that unravels almost entirely within one eccentric Cul-de-Sac. The town of Hinkley Hills, dubbed the safest town in America, witnesses the arrival of new residents, Samira and Rob Fisher, who have decided to move into the latter’s childhood home to raise their newborn son, Miles. The neighborhood marks a new experience for the mother, a city girl and litigation lawyer currently on maternity leave. As a result, the eerie house on the block, known as the allegedly haunted Hinkley House, quickly catches Samira’s attention.
Soon, a strange outsider, Gary Wilson, ends up buying the place, which has been empty for the past two decades. Naturally, it becomes a point of interest for most of Ashfield Place, especially the Lynn’s wine club that Samira has recently joined. The series utilizes its setting in the mundane suburban life as a notable tool to set thematic and storytelling narratives. As a result, the location becomes as intriguing to the audience as the central mystery itself.
Hinkley Hills References the Original 1989 Joe Dante Film, The Burbs
‘The Burbs’ is a modern-day remake of a 1989 cult classic film of the same name. The film, directed by Joe Dante and starring Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher, follows the story of Ray Peterson, a suburbanite who is convinced that his new neighbors are a troublesome bunch who are secretly a part of a satanic cult. As a result, he and his friends end up undertaking a dangerous investigation. Celeste Hughey’s Peacock series centers around a similar premise, casting Samira Fisher in the protagonist’s role as a city-girl-turned-suburbanite who is trying to unravel the mystery behind the decades-old disappearance of Alison Hinkley. The show blazes its own path with a new narrative identity. Yet, it retains some core connections to its predecessor.
The Hinkley Hills is the most prominent of these referential nods to ‘The Burbs’ in the show. The film takes place in the eponymous town, believed to be situated somewhere in Iowa. The town itself is a fictional element in the film, created as a proxy to examine themes surrounding the overarching suburban American lifestyle. In the show, the fictitious town retains this identity, sharing many of the characteristics and similarities to the original Hinkley Hills featured in Dante’s work. As such, the town ultimately remains a fictional element, rooted in the 1989 film and molded for the show in the service of its unique narrative. Although fans may be able to find similarly christened places, such as The Hinckley Hill Historic District in Calais, Maine, there is almost no direct connection between any real-life location and the on-screen suburban town.
The Fictional Ashfield Place Parallels Mayfield Place
Much like Hinkley Hills, the specific cul-de-sac Samira and Rob Fisher live in also has roots in the original ‘The Burbs’ movie. In the show, Ashfield Place is the area where the Fishers live, opposite Hinkley House, which carries a dark, mysterious history. Given the fictionality of the town Hinkly Hill, it’s no surprise that Ashfield Place itself is also a fictitious element. However, unlike the town, the cul-de-sac is a storytelling device entirely unique to the show. This is because, in the film, Mayfield Place serves as the central neighborhood where much of the plot unravels. Thus, even though the neighborhood remains a largely unique attribute of the show, it sports some thematic similarities to the cinematic location.
For instance, both Mayfield Place and Ashfield Place are employed as plot devices to explore realistic themes about the suburban community, neighborhood paranoia, and local mystery. However, instead of utilizing a real-life neighborhood, the show chooses to create a place from scratch. As a result, there’s no direct counterpart for Ashfield Place in real life. In fact, the neighborhood was built on a Universal Studios lot in California, where much of the filming for the project took place. Interestingly enough, it was the same Studio lot that served as the off-screen counterpart for Ashfield Place and Hinkley Hills in the 1989 film ‘The Burbs.’ Ultimately, the on-screen locations in the Peacock series remain works of fiction, sporting thematic relevance in reality, and roots in Joe Dante’s original eponymous film.
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