Note: White Famous premieres on Showtime on the 15th of October, however the pilot is available on YouTube in the US.
White Famous follows Floyd Mooney, an up-and-coming stand up comic who can't quite seem to advance his career. Unwilling to compromise his self, he squanders opportunities given to him if he feels it compromises his race or his masculinity, much to the dismay of his manager Malcolm, and ex-girlfriend Sadie.
The pilot opens with Malcolm getting a meeting for Floyd with Jason Gold, the director of a big new movie starring Jamie Foxx. Floyd goes to the meeting, but the handshake he's given when he first arrives, the concept of the film, and some casually racist remarks that Jason makes means that he has absolutely no interest in the film and not so politely turns Jason's offer down. Throughout the pilot there's a lot of great racial commentary, and Floyd points out more than once that people of colour (especially black men in his case) are required to sell out, emasculate themselves, or generally do something somewhat degrading in order to appeal to the masses - also known as white people.
Floyd has absolutely no interest in compromising his sense of self to become more famous and advance his career, even if that means time away from his young son. Floyd and Malcolm meet up after his meeting with Jason, and Malcolm is not impressed that Floyd has ruined yet another opportunity for himself. Heated words are exchanged between the pair, culminating in Floyd firing Malcolm, something which he initially seems happy about. As we learn later on in the pilot, Malcolm just can't help but be there for Floyd and still do work for him, and I hope their relationship is something that is explored in further episodes as it seems incredibly complex and could provide some rich dramedy content.
After spending time with his son, Floyd goes for food with his best friend Ron and ends up getting into a verbal altercation with Stu Beggs (reprising his role from Californication, so clearly these two shows are set in the same universe) who mistakes him for a valet and then absolutely blunders an apology. He's not racist, because he's attracted to black women. He's not racist because he's working with Jamie Foxx on a movie. He basically uses every gross excuse in the book that white people use to prove they're not racist, when in fact they're proving the exact opposite. Ron films the entire encounter and posts it online, which then goes viral. Stu Beggs is publicly embarrassed and his casually racist comments land him in hot water, so in order to 'apologise', he gets Floyd a meeting with Jamie Foxx so he can get a part on his new movie.
In an absolutely bizarre scene that is part nightmare/part reality, Jamie Foxx offers Floyd a part in his new movie IF he wears a dress for it. Floyd considers it, but decides the concept is too emasculating for him, and that he won't do it. It was one of the weakest scenes in an overall enjoyable pilot for me, but again goes to show that Floyd has no interest in selling out, even if it does mean missing out on a big paycheck. His decision to tell Jamie Foxx exactly how he feels and to not sell out actually works in his favour, and Jamie respects him enough on that decision alone to find him another role in his movie.
And that's how the pilot ends. Floyd goes from performing to crowds in small clubs, to being in a big budget movie with Jamie Foxx. The soundtrack for the pilot was excellent, and whilst some of the jokes didn't quite land (though they might for someone else), this was a pretty enjoyable pilot and I'm excited to see the development in the characters and their relationships in future episode. I can see Floyd landing himself in some hot water in future episodes with his unapologetic way of sticking to who he is, and that could definitely have some comedic value. Overall it was definitely a solid pilot and it will be interesting to see where they're going to take the show next.
White Famous premieres on Showtime on the 15th of October at 10pm with a double episode, though the pilot can be watched in it's entirety now. What was your favourite scene or joke from the pilot? Let me know in the comments.
