FXX Comedy A Family Affair For Danny DeVito

Little Demon on FX
(Image credit: FX)

Little Demon, an animated series about a mother and daughter trying to live ordinary lives in Delaware despite Satan yearning for the daughter’s soul, premieres on FXX August 25. Danny DeVito voices Satan and his daughter, Lucy DeVito, is Chrissy. Rhea Perlman, who provides a guest voice on the show, married DeVito in 1982. 

Their son Jake is an executive producer, alongside Danny and Lucy. 

Aubrey Plaza voices Chrissy’s mother Laura, who was impregnated by Satan 13 years before. Besides Perlman, guest voices include Mel Brooks, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pamela Adlon. 

During TCA press tour, Lucy DeVito said the show touches on the good and bad that goes on in every family household. “That's the thing that our show deals with a lot, that kids and their parents can both be demons to each other, so it goes both ways,” she said. “In my household growing up, there was a lot of love and fun. But, of course, growing up is a tricky situation for every person.”

Danny mentioned some “crazy stuff” that happened when his kids were teens. “The idea of our show, Little Demon, really hits on the family issue that you go through during those teenage years, especially with all the different problems that you have,” he said, adding that Laura is “trying to keep her daughter protected from the man she fell madly in love with for one night” in Satan. 

“I don't blame them for trying to hide from me,” Danny DeVito continued, “because sometimes I can act like a real demon.”

Little Demon was created and written by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner and Kieran Valla, who are co-showrunners. Fowler, Kirschner, Valla, Plaza, Dan Harmon, Jersey Films 2nd Avenue’s Jake, Lucy and Danny DeVito, and ShadowMachine’s Monica Mitchell, Corey Campodonico and Alex Bulkley are executive producers. 

A Variety review described the show as "gory, fun," and with "fiendish potential."

Plaza grew up in Delaware, where Little Demon is set. She and creators Fowler, Kirschner and Valla have known each other since they were teens, she mentioned during the TCA session. Plaza, who was on comedy Parks and Recreation, said her role in movie Child’s Play in 2019 gave her some horror experience.

“There's something about playing a single mother in a horror film that's really appealing to me,” said Plaza. “I don't know why. That's something I'll have to talk about to my therapist.” ■

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.