the take
can we stop saying buddy? it feels like he's going to show up. Buddy takes the set of a 90s children's show, a very wholesome orange unicorn and an equally wholesome premise, and rips it apart with something trippy and a lot of horror. it's not exactly scary, it's disturbing, but in a pleasant way. low stakes horror. we were never truly scared, but we also never knew where it was going to go. everybody's got to watch Buddy. let's all go to happy town.
this is the hosts' commentary and speculation for entertainment, not a statement of fact about anyone in it.
the backstory
Light spoilers ahead. Buddy is a 2026 horror comedy directed by Casper Kelly, the guy behind the Adult Swim short Too Many Cooks, and written by Kelly and Jamie King. It premiered in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026, opened in theaters on August 28, 2026 through Roadside Attractions and Saban Films, and came out on digital on October 13.
The setup: It's Buddy! is a Barney-style 1990s children's show hosted by Buddy, a talking orange unicorn voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. The kids on the show can't remember their lives before it, and when one of them refuses to join a dance party, he disappears and Buddy starts turning violent. Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Patton Oswalt, Michael Shannon and Topher Grace are also in the cast.
The ayahuasca is the hosts' shorthand for the trippy turn: at one point the kids pass out after eating psychedelic flower petals, and the movie is rated R partly for drug content. Kelly shot the opening in a boxy 4:3 frame with flat, even lighting to look like 90s kids' tv before switching to horror lighting, which is exactly the take-the-set-and-rip-it-apart feeling.
where it's from
transcript
auto-transcribed from the clip audio. speakers aren't labeled and there may be small errors.
- 0:00Can you stop saying Buddy? Like, I feel like he's going to show up.
- 0:03It's a children's show with a character named Buddy, who is a orange unicorn.
- 0:08And basically, Buddy goes on a murderous rage.
- 0:12Take the set of a children's show, the premise, and then rip it apart with, like, ayahuasca and horror.
- 0:17Yes. And it wasn't exactly scary, but it was disturbing.
- 0:22Yeah. Pleasantly disturbing.
- 0:24It was like low stakes horror, 'cause I wasn't exactly scared, but then I was like, wait, and I didn't actually know exactly where it was going to go.
- 0:32Yeah. You've got to watch Buddy. Everybody's got to watch Buddy.
- 0:35Yes.
faq
- What is Buddy about?
- Kids trapped inside It's Buddy!, a 1990s-style children's tv show, have to escape its host, a talking orange unicorn named Buddy who turns violent when anyone refuses to play along.
- Who voices Buddy the unicorn?
- Keegan-Michael Key.
- Where can I watch Buddy?
- It's been available to rent or buy on digital since October 13, 2026, with Blu-ray and DVD due on December 8, 2026.
