Overlord and the Underwoods is a Canadian television family sitcom co-created by Anthony Q. Farrell and Ryan Wiesbrock, and is a co-production between MarbleMedia and Cloudco Entertainment.
The series focuses on a North American family called the Underwoods, whose life is flipped upside down when the second most wanted criminal in the world, their distant cousin Overlord - who is an alien, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection after he snitches on his boss and is made to live with the Underwoods.
The series was a topic of some controversy in the Canadian television industry after its production was announced in April 2021, when a newspaper article on the premiere of series creator Anthony Q. Farrell's contemporaneous The Parker Andersons included the statement that BYU TV series "couldn’t feature characters who are clearly identified as queer", due to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' views on LGBTQ sexuality, along with those of Brigham Young University, which owns the network itself.
[5] Within days, the network responded with a statement that "As a young network committed to bringing together religious and non-religious audiences, BYUtv is learning and exploring ways to partner with diverse content creators, writers and talent to implement meaningful co-viewing experiences for our target audience (children 8-15 and their parents).
While BYUtv has not referenced LGBTQ+ topics and characters in the five original scripted series it has aired to date, we desire to address subjects – including LGBTQ+ – that are important to our growing and diverse audience.