Aya Cash stars in "Welcome to Flatch"

Some people crave the bright lights of the big city, while others love the quaint charm of small towns. However, not all small towns are "quaint." A new series offers a less-than-idyllic take on life in rural America today as two young adults show a film crew around their quirky hometown.

Sam Straley ("The Kids Are Alright") and the mononymous Holmes ("I Love My Upstairs Neighbor," 2020) star as cousins and besties Lloyd "Shrub" Mallet and Kelly Mallet, respectively, a couple of aimless young people living in a Midwestern town in "Welcome to Flatch," premiering Thursday, March 17, on Fox. Filmed in a mockumentary style, the half-hour comedy follows Kelly and Shrub as they introduce viewers to all sorts of zany characters who live in Flatch.

In an apparent show of faith, the network plans to release the first half of Season 1 — seven of the season's 14 episodes — on streaming services Hulu, Fox Now and On Demand the same day as the premiere, allowing comedy fans to binge a large portion of the show's inaugural season right off the bat.

"Welcome to Flatch" is based on the British BBC Three show "This Country," which starred its creators, Daisy May Cooper ("Avenue 5") and Charlie Cooper ("Stath Lets Flats"), as cousins growing up in a small village in south-central England. Both Cooper siblings have signed on as executive producers of the Fox series along with Angie Stephenson ("Call Me Kat"), Jenny Bicks ("Sex and the City") and Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids," 2011).

The American adaptation was announced in October 2020, when it was revealed that Bicks had signed on as a writer and that Feig had signed on as a director and writer.

"Jenny [Bicks] and I are so excited to bring this amazing series to the American public," Feig said. "We have assembled a cast of comedic superstars who have taken the hilarious groundwork laid by Daisy and Charlie Cooper and made it their own."

The series features a mix of new faces and seasoned stars playing prime time's newest quirky characters. As Kelly, Holmes gets up to all sorts of no good with Shrub, including macing Shrub in the face for one of their videos. For his part, Straley's Shrub is a bit of a troublemaker, frequently defacing buildings with his "outdoor art," which he claims is part of his "thug life" in the show's official trailer.

Seann William Scott ("American Pie," 1999) portrays the town's minister, Father Joseph Binghoffer, who faces as uphill battle as he tries to guide Kelly and Shrub down a more righteous (or at least a more civilized) path. Aya Cash ("The Boys"), meanwhile, plays Father Joe's ex-girlfriend, Cheryl Peterson, the editor of the local paper, "The Flatch Patriot." It seems that Cheryl, who moved to Flatch with Joe, only to be dumped by him, still harbors some feelings for her former flame.

Holmes, Seann William Scott and Sam Straley star in "Welcome to Flatch"

YouTuber Krystal Smith stars as Mandy Matthews, a local resident who lives life on her own terms, and Taylor Ortega ("Succession") takes on the role of Kelly's "frenemy," Nadine Garcia-Parney, who's in charge of the Flatch Historical Society. There's also newcomer Justin Linville as Mickey St. Jean, who's desperate to become Shrub's best friend.

"Welcome to Flatch" has been billed as a "docu-com," but the show's social media accounts do their part to keep up the documentary ruse. Social media users can follow the accounts for "the historic town of Flatch founded in 1810," which posts funny one-liners like, "We've got two restaurants -- and one of them has menus."

TV fans may be familiar with the show's mockumentary style, thanks to other hits such as "The Office," which was a British import as well. "Welcome to Flatch" has also been compared to Christopher Guest's "Waiting for Guffman" (1996) and Canada's "Trailer Park Boys."

While some might dismiss Fox's "Welcome to Flatch" for poking fun at small-town life, it has the potential to celebrate small towns and their quirky residents, like Dan Levy's acclaimed "Schitt's Creek" and Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" did.

To that end, television audiences across the pond made "This Country" a hit: The British series was critically praised and won a number of awards, including a British Academy Television Award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2018. Daisy Cooper won the 2018 BAFTA for Best Female Comedy Performance, and her brother, Charlie, won for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2021. The show ran for three seasons (or "series," as they call them in the U.K.) and spawned a 40-minute one-off special.

It remains to be seen whether American audiences will embrace the premise in the same way as their British counterparts did with BBC Three's "This Country," but it's worth checking out.

Meet Kelly and Shrub, along with their friends and frenemies, in the premiere of "Welcome to Flatch," airing Thursday, March 17, on Fox. And don't forget that Fox is also releasing the first seven episodes of the series on Hulu, Fox Now and On Demand that same day.