Jack McBrayer Talks New HGTV Series Zillow Gone Wild & Conan OBrien

August 16, 2024

The Big Picture

Jack McBrayer hosts HGTV's newest series, Zillow Gone Wild , a show based on the popular Instagram account exploring unique homes.
McBrayer's comedic background infuses humor into exploring bizarre homes.
In an exclusive interview with Collider, McBrayer also talks about his friendship with Conan O'Brien and Alexander Skarsgård.

Inspired by the enormously popular Instagram account with over 2 million followers that tracks America’s quirkiest houses, HGTV’s digging its home and garden heels into the social media landscape to bring us our next obsession: Zillow Gone Wild. Having garnered immense popularity on social media following its inception four years ago, the account offers a refreshing departure from typical real estate listings and the perfect opportunity for the small screen treatment. Hosted by Late Night With Conan O’Brien alum and 30 Rock star, Jack McBrayer, the series invites viewers to join the Emmy-nominated actor on tours of the most outrageous, one-of-a-kind homes sellers put on the market. In an exclusive interview with Collider about Zillow Gone Wild, which premieres May 3 on HGTV and Max, McBrayer admits the show is a smart, effective way for “people to express themselves” through their homes. It’s also an element he says allowed him to think of houses differently during his tour across the country.

While in conversation with Collider about the series based on the idea by the show’s executive producer Samir Mezarahi, McBrayer says Zillow Gone Wild works effectively to bridge the gap between television fans and social media users for an escape that embraces inventive ways to market a unique property. “What’s interesting about this show is the social media that it is tied to is really based on real estate listings, which I think all of us are guilty of just perusing in our downtime just because we’re naturally curious people,” McBrayer says. “I’m a little reluctant to say voyeuristic because that sounds a little creepy, but as humans we want to see what other choices people are making and how they’ve decided to surround themselves, again, just to express themselves through their own home.”

McBrayer tells Collider he is “thrilled” to be the host of the social media account’s real-life version and take audiences for a spin on the wacky and weird of non-traditional homes and their unique history in nine weekly episodes. In addition to his mission to find the strangest and most extraordinary homes, McBrayer reveals how working with former boss and longtime friend, Conan O’Brien influenced his humor and whether he’d ever work alongside his bestie, Alexander Skarsgård.

Jack McBrayer Reveals What Makes a ‘Zillow Gone Wild’ Home Stand Out

As each humble abode gets ranked on attributes among the most wackadoo, creative, and committed, HGTV will proclaim by the end of the series which home is the wildest of them all. In keeping with its social charm, audiences can enter for a chance to win $25,000 by correctly guessing which home will be crowned the “Wildest House.” When it comes to what McBrayer’s favorite homes were on Zillow Gone Wild, he admits it’s a bit of a “tricky question” because each of the 24 homes he saw were unique in their special way.

“Some of my favorites are actually more tied to the stories behind them because I got to meet with all the owners of each of the houses,” he tells Collider. “In some cases, it was a selling agent and in some cases, it was the people who had purchased the home because of the choices made prior. But for me, what was most touching and special was hearing those stories from the people.”

McBrayer reveals there was a house in Lake Tahoe being sold by a woman who had grown up on the estate. But what was immensely special, was how personal it was to her. “This is the house that her father built. What was so unique about it is it was built on top of a mountain, and instead of blasting the boulders to create the house, they built the house around the boulders, so the boulders are inside the house,” he says awestruck. “It was wild, but it was lovely to hear the story. It was quite poignant.”

Jack McBrayer’s Comedy Background Informs His Hosting ‘Zillow Gone Wild’

The comedic actor who first gained exposure on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and earned Emmy acclaim on 30 Rock across seven seasons as NBC page, Kenneth Parcell, has been one of the funniest of our generation. With a plethora of funny roles over the years, including voice-over work in Wreck-It Ralph and Big Mouth, it’s safe to say his background played a big role in prepping him to be at the center of these weird, bizarre homes. “Sometimes comedy can be a good icebreaker, especially depending on the home you’re going into. What I’m very grateful for is even though my background is in comedy, I was pretty upfront with HGTV. I was like, ‘Look, just so we’re clear, I’m not snarky or cynical. I’m no Joel McHale,” he laughs, giving the thumbs up. “‘But I’m this guy!’”

With HGTV telling McBrayer they were “very open” to that attitude, he shares how they want the show to be a “celebratory and exploratory” escape for audiences. “So, it felt good. It felt good across the way. But a sense of humor helps anybody in any line of work, so it made it easy,” he said, adding how he also tackles every home with a general rule of thumb: “Be a good house guest.”

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“Be the person that you would want to come into your home,” he adds. “These people are opening up their homes, their private spaces to us and a camera crew, so I’m like, ‘Be a good guest,’ — never show up empty-handed. So you come in, and then you just be a good conversationalist, ask questions, listen to the answers, expand on those. I’m not gonna lie, a background in improvisation was very, very helpful in a job like this. On top of the fact that everybody was just lovely, everybody was just a delight.”

Jack McBrayer’s Time With Conan O’Brien Helped Him Embrace Absurdist Humor

Having appeared in over 80 sketches on Late Night With Conan O’Brien between 2002 to 2004, McBrayer is having a full circle moment with his longtime friend as the two now share space on Max with their respective shows — Zillow Gone Wild and Conan O’Brien Must Go. Knowing that his time on the NBC talk show with the orange-haired host played a huge role in starring on 30 Rock, McBrayer reveals working with O’Brien was not just fun, but an experience that allowed him to learn a lot about comedy.

“I learned pretty early on in my comedy career, it was like, just be your authentic self, and if my authentic self is a little bit weird, guess what? I’m gonna lean into it,” he says. “The good news is there are people who subscribe to that and people who will hire you for the job. It is a wonderful coincidence that me and Conan, our sense of humor aligns, but also, too, I’m just so grateful for that idiot — I mean, yeah, it’s very likely if you trace it all back I might not be in this meeting right now with you if I had not met that gentleman, Conan O’Brien. Conan Elizabeth O’Brien.”

McBrayer adds an amusing tidbit for fans of O’Brien, stating the two of them, with Joel McHale, have an annual tradition at O’Brien’s house every year: “A tradition at Conan O'Brien’s holiday party is at the end of the night, it’s me, Conan and Joel McHale just eating all the leftover ham with our hands. And it’s fun!”

Will Jack McBrayer Ever Star in a Project With Best Friend Alexander Skarsgård?

Fans of McBrayer will be happy to know that the Zillow Gone Wild star would, indeed, like to star alongside something with his best friend, Alexander Skarsgård. Since 2012, the two have been inseparable. The Swedish actor and the Georgia native not only accompany one another to awards shows like this year’s Emmys but they are also known to vacation together. Yeah, we’re all low-key charmed by this friendship, too!

“I would give a limb to be able to work with Alexander Skarsgård! It was so funny because I got to be his plus-one to the Emmys when Succession was winning everything, and so I know that so many people were like, ‘Jack's not on Succession, is he?’ But I was like, could you imagine? ‘Hey, y’all, let’s do business. Oh, rich people. Rich people! Politics,” he laughs. “It’d be like Sucksession: ‘This ain’t good.’”

Zillow Gone Wild airs on Friday nights at 10:30 p.m. EST on HGTV and streams on Max the same night.

Watch on HGTV & Max

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