If you blink, you’ll miss it, and that would be a real shame. The Carmichael Show premieres on Wednesday, August 26 at 9/8C with the “Pilot” followed immediately at 9:30/8:30C by a second episode, “Protest.” NBC has decided to ‘burn off’ this show in three weeks, with 2 episodes each night. The show is the brain child of Jerrod Carmichael and Nick Stoller and stars – somewhat obviously – Carmichael.
While the show isn’t perfect, it is funny and it’s smart. Maybe too smart for its own good. It tackles politics, religion, racial profiling, and Caitlyn Jenner – not necessarily in that order. One of the things that impressed me most about the first two episodes is that they just kept “going there.” And that had me wondering if it had the “powers that be” a little nervous.
According to IMDb, “The Pilot” was written by Jerrod Carmichael, Willie Hunter, and Nicholas Stoller and directed by Scott Ellis, whose many credits include
Modern Family,
Weeds, and
Frasier. The plot is a pretty standard boy and girl move in together and have to break the news to his family. How that happens is pretty hilarious. The main cast is pretty solid. Jerrod Carmichael plays “himself” and Amber Stevens West plays his girlfriend Maxine. While this isn’t West’s first foray into comedy, her previous credits include
Greek, she needs to learn not to smile while delivering almost all of her lines.
Jarrod’s parents are played by the powerhouse duo of Loretta Devine (my primary reason for wanting to watch the show!) and David Alan Grier. Both are simply outstanding as Jarrod’s very loving parents. Devine gets a lot of the best lines – including “ribvleges” – and Grier gets some dreadful puns. Both Grier and Devine can sing – which is a highlight in both episodes, but especially Devine in “Protest.”
The cast is rounded out by Jarrod’s ne’er to well brother, Bobby (LilRel Howery) and Bobby’s ex-wife Nekeisha (Tiffany Haddish). Howery does the fairly stereotypical role justice and Haddish improves over the course of the first two episodes.
The second episode, “Protest,” was written by Jarrod Carmichael and Ari Katcher and directed by Gerry Cohen. As the title would suggest, there’s a protest at the heart of the episode over the shooting of a black man by police. I told you they go there, right? The episode is thought provoking and still funny – a mix that may have left those powers that be nervous about the show’s reception. This isn’t your mindless sitcom.
Do yourself a favor – watch this show! You can catch the first two episodes of
The Carmichael Show on NBC on Wednesday, August 26 at 9/8C. The next two episodes with the promising titles of “Kale” and “Gender” air the following Wednesday, September 3. I’m already chuckling imagining how these are going to play out…
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
