Kristen Wiig Does '80s Melodrama

So Kristen Wiig's new Funny or Die miniseries The Spoils of Babylon looks like my grandmother's favorite TV thing ever, The Thorn Birds, had an orgy with a severe head trauma and then got drunk on ayahuasca tea. And that is 100% a compliment to this could-it-really-be-this-weird-oh-yep-this-is-weird series from the mind of faux-author Eric Jonrosh (also known as Will Ferrell to the rest of you). There's a chance that description is offensive, but I'm pretty sure Wiig and Co. will be doing much worse on this dark and surrealist comedy-drama-thing.

But it's not just Wiig that makes an appearance in this in-every-sense-of-the-word melodramatic event series from the FoD folks. More surprising, perhaps, is the accompanying cast: Tobey Maguire, Haley Joel Osment, Tim Robbins, and even Val Kilmer all make appearances in the 2:00 trailer below.

The 80s fever dream tells the apparently sorrow-filled and utterly fucked-up tale of the Morehouse family. Rich with oil and drunk with power, things seem to unfold quite perilously from the onset, in that David Lynch meets a sleep-deprived stoner sort of way. Shenanigans run wild as Cynthia (Wiig) is forced to contend with her feelings for adopted brother Devon (Maguire), her bizarro father Jonas (Robbins), and her eeeeeevil son, played by Osment. (Bring on the bad wigs, y'all.)

Equal parts larger-than-life, stylized, and dark, the whole thing looks like a surrealist clusterfuck of elephantine proportions — and gosh dangit if that sort of nuttery doesn't just set my absurdist heart on fire. Needless to say, if you're a total weirdo with a dark and kinda-sorta creepy sense of humor, this might be the IFC show for you. I mean it even features TV's currently-obsessed-with plot point du jour: sibling lovers. Move over, Lannisters — there's a new power-hungry coupla incestuals in town.

Obviously, you should be very excited.

The Spoils of Babylon premieres on IFC Thursday, January 9, 2014.