Taika Waititi's New Comedy Reservation Dogs Should Absolutely Be on Your Radar

From cocreators and executive producers Harjo and Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy centreed on a group of four Indigenous teens, who call themselves the Reservation Dogs. After the death of their friend Daniel, the group decides that the best way to honour him is by fulfiling his dream of getting to California. Blaming their rural Oklahoma town for his death, the teens will stop at nothing to make his dream their reality.

As the titular Reservation Dogs, the series stars D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear Smallhill, Jacobs as Elora Danan, Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack, and Lane Factor as Cheese. The group's main obstacles of the conspiracy-obsessed Big and rival gang leader Jackie are portrayed by Zahn McClarnon and Elva Guerra, respectively. The Indigenous representation isn't just on screen, as every writer, director, and series regular on the show is also Indigenous.

"It was the first time I had ever experienced the feeling of home on set and community and the fact that it was our space that we were walking into," Jacobs said during the Tribeca Film Festival panel. "This one was by far the most . . . Indigenous set I'd ever been a part of."

Principal photography wrapped on Reservation Dogs shortly before the official trailer dropped. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series will premiere exclusively on FX on Hulu on Aug. 9.