Pen15 Animated Special Trailer Anna And Maya Go On Vacation

The intriguing synopsis for the special, courtesy of Hulu, suggests that Anna and Maya are still tumbling through the pain and awkwardness of adolescence: “On vacation with Curtis, Anna and Maya are introduced to new crippling insecurities. The girls try to ignore them but a mystical turn makes their self doubt impossible to forget.” The series started out as a niche hit with the novel premise, featuring two 30-something women (Konkle and Erskine) as preteens, and its now a multi-Emmy-nominated favorite, with nods this year for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

Konkle recently explained to IndieWire how the show has paved a safe space for audiences to revisit the pain and shame of their adolescent days. “I think the surprise has continually been that the more specific, shameful, secretive the story is, the more people will relate to it. I think our assumption had been, okay, the more specific we get, the more we’re going to alienate people, but that’s our individual story, so it’s important,” Konkle said of feedback they’ve heard from the show’s audience. “The more specific the story is, the more messages we get that are like, ‘Literally these five things all happened to me and it’s like out of my diary,’ you start to realize how universal the shame is. Maya and I have each other to encourage the other to talk about [these memories] and say, ‘Wait, no, that’s important’ or ‘That happened to me, too,’ but we’re best friends and it’s easier for us to encourage each other.” From the Awesomeness studio, “Pen15” is created, written and executive-produced by Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, and Sam Zvibleman. Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Becky Sloviter of The Lonely Island, Marc Provissiero and Brooke Pobjoy from Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, and Debbie Liebling also serve as executive producers. Watch the trailer below. A release date for “Pen15” Season 2, Part 2 has not yet been announced.