This piece contains spoilers for Knuckles on Paramount+!
If I were to tell you one of the funniest shows of the year was a spinoff of a video game adaptation about a hedgehog that can run really fast, you may be surprised — unless you’re already a fan of the blockbuster Sonic the Hedgehog film series, that is. Still, spoiler alert, I am here to tell you exactly that. The limited series Knuckles has been unleashed on Paramount Plus and it’s an unbelievably uproarious homage to classic comedies of all varieties.
The series centers on the red alien known as Knuckles the Echidna (Idris Elba), who is trying to make Earth his home after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Though his fellow heroes, Sonic (Ben Schwartz) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), have found adapting to life on Earth easy, things aren’t so simple for the lone warrior Knuckles. Instead, the series frames him as one of the most hilarious Hollywood tropes: the unwanted house guest. From Uncle Buck to Ed in Shaun of the Dead, there’s something delightful about a person — or, in this case, creature — who doesn’t know when he’s not wanted. But Knuckles takes things to the next level, acting more like an ALF-style fish out of water who in his funniest moments pushes Maddie Wachowski (Tika Sumpter) to her breaking point after turning her living room into a gladiatorial war arena, skulls and all. It’s a funny enough setup that the series could have coasted on it, but instead it takes a wild turn when Knuckles runs away, teaming up with the franchise’s forever sidekick, Wade Wipple (Adam Pally).
In an inversion of what made the Sonic films so popular — James Marsden’s straight man confusion played against Sonic’s comedic shenanigans — Knuckles has Idris Elba play a completely sincere performance against the silliness of Pally’s nostalgia-obsessed comedy relief. It’s a role that Elba tackles with relish, somehow making a red CGI echidna bring to mind classic straight men of comedy like the Marx Bros’ Margaret Dumont, Bud Abott, and more recent additions to the canon like Parks and Rec’s Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott). The script has a lot of fun with this, especially in early episodes where Knuckles regularly shuts down Wade’s romantic wondering and questioning with a simple and decisive no. With just that single word, Elba delivers comedy gold, his harsh intonation and deep sincerity playing perfectly against the chaotic blumbering of the eternal manchild Wade, who is desperate to live up to his father’s legacy as a great… bowler. Yes, Knuckles is a six episode miniseries about a giant talking animal and a middle aged man going bowling in Reno, and with that wildcard twist it becomes even funnier.
The 1996 Farrelly Bros. bowling movie Kingpin looms large as an inspiration here, with Knuckles also opting to send its leads on a road trip to the third biggest city in Nevada for a winner-take-all bowling tournament. The show delights in establishing Wade as a slacker bowler striving for perfection. He has a local badboy rival, Jack (Julian Barret), with such little faith in Wade’s skills for the tournament that he replaces him with an eight-year-old Girl Scout. Although that aspect takes the show out of Kingpin territory somewhat, the premise realigns by establishing Knuckles as Wade’s teacher, echoing the mentorship relationship at the core of the movie. Whereas the original then saw Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Vanessa Angel ride off on a debaucherous romp across America, Knuckles and Wade take a far more wholesome jaunt from Montana, stopping at Wade’s family home along the way where they tackle another classic comedy setup: the family dinner.
It’s in Episode 3 that Wade and Knuckles hide out at Wade’s childhood home where his mother, Wendy (Stockard Channing), and sister, Wanda (Edi Patterson), have gathered for Shabbat dinner. While the siblings squabble and ruin the family occasion, Wendy and Knuckles bond while watching Pretty Woman. It’s a charming moment that sees Knuckles soften for the first time, but only long enough for the dinner to be interrupted, not by squabbling children or burnt food ala National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation but by bounty hunters, leading to a fantastically choreographed action sequence that sees Hollywood legend Channing and Knuckles beautifully beat up their foe all while the Shabbat candles burn. It’s a wicked take on the family dinner gone wrong that ups the action ante in an otherwise comedy-focused episode.
If you were worried that British comedy legend Julian Barrett was a mere cameo, fear not! He reappears for a reinterpretation of the epic showdown that pokes fun at everything from Evel Knievel to samurai movies. After a stunning practical effect sequence that echoes similar parody training sequences in Hot Rod and Wet Hot American Summer — while also playing with the “Spirit Guide” trope that Hollywood has used so many times — Wade becomes an unlikely champion. Wade’s spirit guide is none other than the ghost of Knuckles’ dead master, Pachacamac (Christopher Lloyd), who trains him in a bowling alley with lots of puppets and Barrett singing a rock opera about Knuckles tragic history called “Flames of Disaster.”
Once he’s trained and reunited with Knuckles, it’s time to win their Tournament of Champions, taking us back to its sports comedy roots as well as leading us to one of its biggest laughs. Arriving in Reno with mom and sis as backup, the Kingpin hits just keep on hitting when we’re introduced to Wade’s father, the flamboyant bowling legend Pistol Pete, who callously abandoned his son years ago at a T.J. Maxx. Pete Whipple is played by the masterful Cary Elwes, who reinterprets the manic energy of Bill Murray’s Kingpin performance as Big Ern McCraken. Both bowlers are flashy on the lanes, with Big Ern sporting a translucent ball with a red rose suspended inside of it while Pistol Pete’s clear ball encases a teacup.
Speaking of balls, we would be remiss not to mention another massive inspiration that connects directly to one of Knuckles’ biggest Easter eggs. Dodgeball is another classic underdog comedy about an obscure sports tournament in Nevada and one of the film’s most enduring jokes is ESPN8 The Ocho. This once-fake subchannel of the very real sports network has now become a very real gag that ESPN holds annually every August. Original ESPN8 commentators Cotton (Gary Cole) and Pepper (Jason Bateman) have been replaced by Dylan (Rob Huebel) and Gary (Paul Scheer), giving us the blow-by-blow of Wade’s bowling showdown with his deadbeat dad. Of course, terrible dads are a big part of Hollywood comedy history and Cary Elwes delivers another stellar bad dad into the canon of awful parenthood.
Some might say a spinoff series should add important lore or drama to a franchise, but sometimes you just need a really random six episode series about self-discovery, bowling, and Idris Elba playing a giant echidna who loves challah bread and Stockard Channing.
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more.
