'Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show' Star Jack McBrayer Talks Learning From 'Mr. Roger's Neighborhood,' Teases Season 2 Guest Stars in Apple TV+ Series (Exclusive)

By Stephen Andrew

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show Season 2 debuts Friday on Apple TV+, and it's bringing some special guests for new fun and adventures. Ahead of the premiere, PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with series star Jack McBrayer (30 Rock, Wreck-It Ralph) about what's in store this season and he teased that viewers can definitely expect more special guests. McBrayer also shared what inspired the series, saying that he felt the world could stand to once again learn the lessons previously taught by shows like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

"The whole idea for the show came about when I started noticing how people were treating each other in the world," the comedian said. "I was like, 'Well, this is disappointing. The lessons of civility, and compassion, and kindness, these are lessons we learned at a pretty early age. These are lessons we learned from programs like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. What's going on?' So I was like, 'You know what? Let's revisit this. Let's see what we can do to talk about these kinds of things in 2022.' And so, that's where the idea for the show came from, and it's been so fun."

He went on to say, "'Intentional' is a word that we use quite a bit because my background is in comedy. But I wanted to do all of this with meaning, and sensitively, and appropriately. So that's when you bring in the experts, and I was more than happy to do so."

When it comes to what Season 2 has in store, McBrayer assured parents that they are not taking any hard turns. "Pretty much more the same," he said. "Definitely a continuation of what we're trying to convey. Season 2, we probably see some more themed episodes. We have a great many more guest stars at this point." McBrayer added, "Really, really fun people who said yes to joining us in Clover Grove. But it really was just a delight to be able to continue telling these stories with characters that we've introduced y'all to. And also, too, I mean, just logistically, we were all more comfortable with each other, and with the schedule and with the scripts and everything, it just became an easier groove for everybody."

Finally, McBrayer took time to praise his young Kindness Show co-stars and their parents. "I got to say, but to be fair, these children that we have on, Hello, Jack! Are professional," he said. "They knew their lines better than me. They would hit their mark. It was wild. Also, their parents were delightful. Because we all heard horror stories and stuff, not even a little bit of the case. These kids were great."

He continued, "It was very important to me to make sure that the children on our show had such a positive experience that they would carry those memories with them forever. And I'm pretty confident that I was successful in that. They were just delightful. We all call each other on our birthdays. It's the best." 

Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show Season 2 debuts Friday, Oct. 7, on Apple TV+. All episodes of Season 1 are currently available on the streaming service.

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