Amy Poehler and her Paper Kite Productions and Queer Eye producer Scout Productions are creating the new, much-needed, life-affirming non-scripted series at Peacock, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. The series is based on the book by Margareta Magnusson. Each episode of this show will follow an individual staring down the biggest journey, the bravest leap, and the most definitive event any of us will face in our lives: death.

Magnusson’s book, titled The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter, part of The Swedish Art of Living and Dying series, looks at the practical and cathartic art of clearing out one’s living space and belongings to ease the emotional, physical and psychical burden often placed on the loved ones surviving the diseased. Swedish death cleaning is also for the benefit of the individual in question so that they may enjoy their lives and know that the material objects and components of their past, history, and present are well sorted, prioritized, and spoken for in the future to come.

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Is this show coming at the wrong moment, with so much disease, war, and heartbreak filling our hearts and upending our lives? Absolutely not. In a culture that fears death and shuns uncertainty like its life depends on it, this show could not come at a better time. For something that everybody does at least once and that is such a natural part of one’s journey, you’d think there would be more loving, inclusive, and actionable space in society for it!

Let’s see how Poehler and Scouts’ Gentle Art aims to educate and liberate us from what we fear the most.

The Gentle Art: The Cast & Crew

     NBCUniversal

Rod Aissa, EVP of unscripted content at NBCU Television and Streaming, said about Gentle Art and working with Amy Poehler and her team:

So far, it is confirmed that Amy Poehler will narrate the series, but it is unclear if she will directly participate or appear on camera in each episode’s events. The show is yet to hire the death cleaner or death cleaners, who will enter the homes and lives of each episode’s stars and teach them how to sort through the emotional and material difficulty of impending death. This show will probably be emotionally heavy, but knowing Poehler and Scout productions, it will most likely find the joy and humor inherent in everyday life, no matter the gravity of the situation or the difficulty at hand.

Swedish death cleaning teaches the individual how to clear out their homes and bequeath their belongings to their loved ones and teaches them how to recognize what is truly important to them in their lives. It focuses on what they most want to spend their time doing and enjoying and the marks they have left on the world and the people in their lives, and the ones they have yet to make. Only once in our lives are we really, truly out of time. It seems the people behind Gentle Art look will do some amazing work teaching the show’s participants and the eventual audiences how to make the most out of and how to love every second we have.

The Gentle Art: Show Format

     Scribner

We know that each episode will be in an hour-long format, but the number of episodes per season has yet to be confirmed. Depending on the latter, Poehler, Scout, and Peacock executives might have more work to do to get this vital show up and running.

Every stage of life is beautiful and valued, and meaning can always be found even in, and often especially in, the most difficult circumstances. Ultimately, with empathy, community, education, understanding, and, as always, a bit of patience, we can face and accomplish anything we want in life, including a graceful, peaceful, and meaningful exit. Things do not cease to be beautiful or meaningful just because they have ended or transformed into a new kind of existence.

We look forward to celebrating the lives and triumphs of the participants in The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning when the show is released on Peacock.

Release Date A release date has yet to be confirmed for the series, but we hope to see it included in Peacock’s fall lineup since it was green-lit earlier this year.