Even though Key & Peele left Comedy Central two years ago, its fans are still mourning the loss. Over five seasons, the duo established itself as an incisive comic voice—particularly when it came to sketches centered on race. Now, though, it seems the comedy network might have found a way to fill the very specific hole left by the show's departure. On Tuesday, the network announced nine pilot orders and three series pick-ups. And though there are several exciting projects on the lineup, one of the pick-ups particularly stands out: a show called The New Negroes, “a socially aware stand-up and musical series showcasing a collection of new and established comedians.” In other words: this seems like a property that could very well hit the same sweet spot as Key & Peele.
It’s possible that the upcoming series’s title will be a bit of a liability, sending its desired audience running for the hills—similarly to how some CW devotees immediately wrote off Crazy Ex-Girlfriend even before it premiered. But as the show’s executive producers and hosts, Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle, explained to The New York Times last year, when performing The New Negroes at the New York Comedy Festival, their goal is to challenge viewers’ preconceived notions about what it “means” to be black. For the TV version, Vaughn and Eagle will be joined by E.P.s Betsy Koch (Funny or Die) and Lance Bangs (Better Things, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail), who will also direct. Obviously, those who miss Key & Peele shouldn’t expect Vaughn and Eagle to copy exactly what Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele did on their series—but it seems as though there will be be plenty of common ground between the two projects.
As for the pilots, there are several that immediately pique interest—though of course it’s wise not to get too invested, since unlike The New Negroes, none of them have yet been picked up as series. One project, still untitled, comes from Saturday Night Live head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, with Lorne Michaels himself set to executive produce alongside both of them and Andrew Singer of Broadway Video. The series would follow “two struggling siblings who are forced to re-evaluate their lives when their much younger 12-year-old brother becomes instantly famous without trying.” Should the series get picked up, it will be interesting to see how Kelly and Schneider balance their new writing duties with their NBC gig.
And speaking of S.N.L., Comedy Central also ordered a pilot from the sketch show’s onetime Digital Short svengalis, Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone—better known collectively as the Lonely Island. Like their 2016 feature film, Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping, the show will have a mockumentary format and focus on celebrities. The difference? The celebrities on this show will be real, and will take comedian host Neal Brennan back to their respective hometowns for a weekend trip. “In each episode, things veer off the rails and pleasant strolls down memory lane take unexpected turns which reveal surprising backstories and hidden details about high-profile stars,” Comedy Central says. Brennan will executive produce, along with Samberg, Schaffer, Taccone, and Lindsay Hannon.
But the pilot with the most tantalizing potential might actually be a still-to-be-titled project from comedian, YouTube star, activist, and onetime Nightly Show contributor Franchesca Ramsey, who plans to round up “the most diverse set of comedians on TV” to “heal America through brutal comedy, surprising guests, and breakdowns of the most pressing cultural issues you never knew you cared about.” Given the mixed reaction to the network’s recent decision to name Jordan Klepper—”yet another white guy,” as some detractors of the decision pointed out—as Larry Wilmore’s replacement, and many Daily Show fans’ dashed dreams of Jessica Williams taking over for Jon Stewart, it seems high time that a black woman got her shot at a politi-splainer program on Comedy Central—even if the concept is a little well-worn right now. Assuming the series gets green-lit, this one could make history.
