In its early moments, NBC’s “The Carmichael Show” (9 and 9:30 tonight, WPXI) brings to mind NBC’s recent awful, unfunny sitcom “Mr. Robinson.” Both shows began their first episodes with characters singing. But “The Carmichael Show” improves as it goes, especially when veteran performers Loretta Devine and David Alan Grier come on screen.
Comedian Jerrod Carmichael (“Lucas Bros. Moving Co.”) stars as Jerrod, a young guy in Charlotte, N.C., who moves in with his girlfriend, Maxine (Amber Stevens West), and then has to tell his contrarian father (Mr. Grier) and religious mother (Ms. Devine) the news.
When: 9 and 9:30 tonight, NBC.
Starring: Jerrod Carmichael.
Like many shows structured around a comic — see the late TBS sitcom “Sullivan & Son” — the comic at the show’s center often ends up having to play the straight man to the funnier, crazier characters around him. That’s true of “The Carmichael Show,” too. It’s sort of an odd career trajectory: Make your name as a comic and then when you get cast as the lead on a TV series, you’re the least funny character on screen.
The good news is Mr. Carmichael holds his own as a leading man and capably bounces off his veteran sitcom co-stars.
What’s most striking about “The Carmichael Show” is its topicality. Not since “Boston Legal” has a prime-time scripted series name-checked so many current political figures (Donald Trump, of course) and news events (police shootings of unarmed black men and #blacklivesmatter). But “The Carmichael Show” does all that in surprisingly politically incorrect, entertaining fashion.
Tonight’s second episode involves protests over a police shooting, and a terrific gag relating to looting. The first episode includes the revelation that Jerrod’s father voted for George W. Bush in 2004 because of the “stimulator check” he received: “You can bomb whoever you want if you send me $1,600.”
To be sure, “The Carmichael Show” is not likely to be the next great sitcom, but its efforts to stand out by offering commentary on contemporary issues do result in a funnier, smarter show than its first impression suggests.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Read the Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook.
First Published: August 26, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
