TV

‘What Would Diplo Do?’ Just Had Its Surprise Australian Premiere At Video Junkee

"I bet if Jesus was on Twitter, he would have more followers than Buddha."

by Tom Clift  29 July 2017

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It’s finally here fam. A year after James Van Der Beek first took on the role of Diplo in this viral promotional video for the record producer’s Mad Decent Block Parties, Viceland’s six-part comedy series inspired by the clip had its Australian premiere in a surprise screening at Video Junkee in Sydney on Friday night.

Set to air on SBS Viceland in August, the series is a Spinal Tap-style send-up of DJ superstar culture, and takes great pleasure in taking the piss out of its title character and his ridiculous lifestyle. “If Buddha said we should have no material possessions, then why was he so fat,” ponders Diplo/Dawson to himself early in episode one. “I bet if Jesus was on Twitter, he would have more followers than Buddha…Jesus was so global.”

For what it’s worth, Diplo is himself an executive producer on the series, so he’s clearly fine with being mocked. The producer previously described the series as “somewhere between iconic and ironic,” while Van Der Beek told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that “the only way to do a show like this is if somebody is completely game,” adding that the real Diplo “is so confident in his ability that he’s just allergic to taking himself seriously.”

The secret screening closed out the first day of the inaugural Video Junkee, Junkee’s two-day festival for creators and lovers of video held at Sydney’s Carriageworks. SBS also screened an episode of the Swedish crime drama Farang, which will hit SBS On Demand on August 3.

Meanwhile, Viceland recently released a clip from What Would Diplo Do? online, which you can check out below.

What Would Diplo Do hits SBS Viceland on Tuesday, August 8 at 8:30pm.