Rebel Wilson new show, Super Fun Night, based on some real-life moments

Rebel Wilson new show Super Fun Night

Rebel Wilson new show – Super Fun Night — comes to ABC on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 9:30pmET/PT. “I’m just a girl from the bush who is very, very lucky,” Rebel Wilson tells us. Luck may have a little to do with some of her success, but don’t let Wilson’s modesty fool you, as she’s truly one of the funniest females in the business today.

Rebel Wilson new show Super Fun NightFrom her hilariously creepy, touchy-feely sister/brother thing in Bridesmaids to a cappella great Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect, Americans can’t get enough of the Australian funny girl. ABC was quick to recognize the opportunity and signed Wilson to serve as creator and executive producer (along with Conan O’Brien) and star of its new comedy Super Fun Night. Wilson plays the socially awkward Kimmie who, along with her two misfit friends, branches out of her Friday night comfort zone with disastrous outcomes.

In real life, Wilson confesses, she geeks out over musical theater and may not have been all that different from Kimmie growing up. “I was extremely geeky,” Wilson says of her high-school days. “And the two girls on the show were kind of based on two of my best, best girlfriends in high school. I was very studious, very academic.”

Wilson based the premise of the series loosely off an evening ritual she shared with her sister Liberty called “Friday Night Fun Night,” where after her sister’s shift at the candy factory they would divvy up the extra candy scraps while watching a DVD. “I started to think maybe there’s more fun than this, even though, at that time, I did think that was really fun. So I kind of strategically tried to go out into the world and force myself into these social situations, and then that’s where all the true stories come from in the show.”

Conan O’Brien serves as an executive producer of the series and credits Wilson as being one of the most likable performers he’s seen in a long career in television. Wilson jokes that it’s pretty cool to have a heavyweight like Conan involved in the series. “Like in case I want to pull out a tit or something in an episode, and ABC says no — then we got to get Conan involved. He’s kind of like my henchman if I need him.”

As funny as the series is, the show does have some really poignant and touching moments, and intentionally so. “The purpose of the show to me is to really inspire girls who don’t think they’re cool and popular or pretty and all that, to get out there and that they can have fun and exciting lives, too.”

Super Fun Night airs on ABC Wednesdays at  9:30pm ET/PT  beginning Oct. 2