https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=295&v=SjI2Lq2jlpg
Back in the ’70s and the ’80s comedies weren’t afraid to go there with controversial topics, but then they all became Cosbified, as in sugary sweet. Well tonight at 9p on NBC, The Carmichael Show is bringing back what television has lost, its balls. They are touching on issues like Ferguson and protesting, eating healthy, LGBT, religion and guns, and most shows are afraid to touch things like that with a 20′ pole.
Recently at the NBC Summer Press Day, Jerrod Carmichael, who loosely based the show on his family, explained why he opted to do that with his show. He said, “In my own standup, I don’t shy away from issues. The show is the same principle. We kind of run towards those things. They should be discussed. They should be talked about. It should be reflected in art.”
Then he shared with us why he wanted to bring his life to television. He said, “The reason I wanted to do a show and the thing that excites me most about television, is that shared (family) experience. Then he explained, “That is how my family and I watch television and during commercials was discussion time. If I could help contribute to that then that’s mission accomplished.”
Loretta Devine, who plays his mother (and got Carmichael’s mom’s stamp of approval), gave her thoughts about the show, “You want to snap people’s heads back and they are like what?” Then she added, “I remember when Archie Bunker first came on and we were like, OMG, OMG. We want to have that feeling with our show.”
A feeling Carmichael is going for when he asked us, “Why can’t we talk about the things that people are talking about? I would love to bring what is happening in the news right into the episode.” Devine wants, “People want to discuss it. Can you believe they talked about that?” As she explained, “That’s the one thing that everyone talks about, what is happening on TV.”
While with most shows, we talk about who got killed off, The Carmichael Show gets us talking about current events. They are talking about serious issues and they are making us laugh about then. What I like about this show, is they are giving us both sides of the arguments, which is more than I can say about the news networks. Then at 10p, when the show is over, families are getting together and talking about what just happened in the last two episodes. That is what television should do, but it doesn’t. That was until The Carmichael Show was willing to go there.
People seem to want it because their numbers are improving every week. As they should because it is better than all the fall comedies combined. So strong, so funny and so enjoyable, I am hoping it will back in the fall or the latest the winter. This is a show we’ve been wanting, we just didn’t know it.
So catch up on The Carmichael Show on the NBC App, NBC.com or NBC OnDemand, and then watch the final 2 episodes of the season on NBC at 9p tonight.
