Jack McBrayer’s new Apple TV+ preschool show “comes from a very personal place,” he said.
“I was noticing in the world how grownups were behaving around each other and greeting each other with a lack of compassion,” McBrayer, 48, told The Post about “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show,” premiering Friday (Nov. 5).
“It struck me as odd. I think we learned basic lessons as young people from the children’s programming we grew up with. Kids today might not be able to see that, and this is an opportunity to remind them of messages of empathy, patience and tolerance.”
In the new live-action series, co-created by Angela C. Santomero, the creative force behind mega-hits “Blue’s Clues” and “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” McBrayer, Markita Prescott and recurring cast member Albert Kong teach children about acts of kindness. “Hello, Jack!” also features original songs from the Grammy-winning band OK Go with guests including Paul Scheer and Sam Richardson (“Veep”).
“I grew up with … ‘Sesame Street,’ and ‘The Electric Company’ was my early introduction to sketch comedy,” McBrayer said of the iconic PBS kid’s shows. McBrayer, a veteran of the famed Second City improv group best-known known for his role as NBC page Kenneth Parcell on “30 Rock.”
“And ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ of course,” he said. “Even as a young child I knew this show was different, with a gentle, grown man speaking directly to me on TV. It did make me feel tended to an cared for and taught many lessons regarding feelings.
“It’s one of those shows where as a kid watching and absorbing it, it might not be until years down the line you realize how it affected you.”
McBrayer said Santomero, now the chief creative officer for “Hello, Jack!” producer 9 Story, was heavily involved in all aspects of the show.
“I knew what I wanted and I had a vision for the series, but I had no idea how to make it happen,” he said. “Angela is tremendous and, as the co-creator, she’s very involved with the aesthetic. We kind of like to think of kindness as an overall umbrella where we can go deeper and have conversations about dealing with disappointment or about what it might feel like to try something new — and that how an act of kindness doesn’t have to be a huge grand gesture. The smallest thing can really make an impact.
“We wanted to make it appealing to preschool eyes through our costumers and set designers so you’ll think, ‘Well, this looks lovely.’
“It’s a pastel dream.”
While “Hello, Jack!” has an air of whimsy suitable for its preschool audience, McBrayer — who snared an Emmy nomination for playing NBC page Kenneth Parcell on “30 Rock” — takes his job very seriously.
“I have a background in comedy but I went to a conference on early childhood education and development, and 9 Story has an army of educators and psychologists … and helped develop the [show’s] curriculum,” he said.
“A lot of people, especially parents, know my background in comedy,” he said. “But I do really want to stress the point that I’m serious about this — it’s sincere and earnest — and I’m not doing this ironically or sarcastically.
“I’m in it to win it.”