Full disclosure: I love Jerrod Carmichael. He may very well be my favorite active comedian. I don’t know how many times I have watched or recommended his HBO special “Love at the Store,” but I’d be willing to bet any reasonable guess would be far too low. On his HBO special, Carmichael is supremely loose, confident and comfortable. It is absolutely hilarious while still pushing the boundaries on usually taboo topics like race, domestic violence and sexual assault.
It’s very hard to envision the relaxed and edgy Carmichael being the center of a focused 20-or-so minute sitcom with decades of constricting structure applying to it. For instance, my favorite joke from “Love at the Store” revolves around a conversation Carmichael has with his father on September 11, 2001. In the sketch, he muses that he was far more focused on the release of Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint” than the tragedy unfolding on that fateful day. It’s nearly impossible to imagine that exchange from his bit being acted out during primetime NBC.
This being said though, the first two episodes of “The Carmichael Show” have been surprisingly good. The show is based around a fictionalized version of Carmichael’s family and girlfriend. His family is played by a cast of relatively veteran actors who play their parts with an obvious over-the-top flare that seems designed to invoke and harken back to some of the absurdity with which punchlines were often delivered on the multi-cam sitcoms that have come before it.
Because of this absurdity and Carmichael’s already wry sense of humor, “The Carmichael Show” so far has taken on an almost satirical feel. In the pilot, for example, Carmichael and his family discuss several facets of complex issues in the realms of politics and religion, but in a ranting way that allows Carmichael and his live-in girlfriend (played by Amber Stevens-West) as well as the audience to sort of look down at and laugh at the debate as a whole without really engaging with the arguments themselves. This could easily come off as condescending or as though Carmichael is a little too pleased with himself, but the show does a good job of using Stevens-West’s character to ground Carmichael’s fictional self and take him to task when Carmichael, and consequently the show, are feeling a little too clever for their own good.
While I would have absolutely loved to have seen what Carmichael would be able to do with his line-crossing brand of comedy on even a basic cable network (FX now has a comedian-centered half hour hole for at least a little while), “The Carmichael Show” is good enough not to deserve dwelling over what could have been. It’s a very good network comedy at a time when television is lacking in just that.
It’s going to be interesting to watch as Carmichael converts his stand-up into a sitcom as a first time TV writer (I don’t see ‘Consultant Writer’ for Tyler, The Creator’s “Loiter Squad” as anything close to resembling a standard writing gig). “The Carmichael Show” may be just six short episodes but it’s absolutely worth it because of its smart satire and witty comedy.
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