''Loosely Exactly Nicole'' (stylized as ''*Loosely Exactly Nicole'') is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series created by Christian Lander and Christine Zander that stars Nicole Byer and premiered on September 5, 2016, on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. After MTV cancelled the series, Facebook Watch picked up the show for a second season that premiered on December 20, 2017.

Premise

As MTV explains in a promotional release:

Cast and characters

Main

* Nicole Byer as herself, an aspiring actress and comedienne looking for her big break in show business * Jacob Wysocki as Devin (season 2; recurring season 1), Nicole's roommate and best friend

Recurring

* Jen D'Angelo as Veronica, Nicole's closest girl friend *

Kevin Bigley Kevin Bigley (born October 5, 1986) is an American television and film actor, best known for playing rookie paramedic Brian Czyk on the USA Network series '' Sirens''. Biography Bigley was born in Yuba City, California, and studied acting at The ...

as Derrick, a frequent hook-up of Nicole's *

Brandon Scott Brandon Maurice Scott (born April 8, 1984) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland since 2020. The city of Baltimore uses a strong mayor-council structure for their government, meaning Scott holds strong mayoral po ...

as Raymond *

Allyn Rachel Allyn Rachel (born Allyn Rachel Lichtenfeld) is an American actress, writer and comedian best known from a variety of national commercials that began airing in the United States in 2011. She co-created the web series ''Couple Time'' with her ...

as Avi * French Stewart as Donny *

Sasheer Zamata Sasheer Zamata Moore (; born May 6, 1986) is an American actress and comedian known for her work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2014 to 2017 as well as her leading roles in the TV series ''Woke'' (2020–2022) and ''Home Econom ...

as Kim Whitfield, Nicole's childhood friend who runs a charitable organization * Ayden Mayeri as Edi *

B. J. Britt B. J. Britt (born April 20, 1982) is an African-American actor best known for his role as Antoine "Trip" Triplett on ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,'' set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe''.'' He is also known for his roles as Paul Patterson Jr. on ...

as Josh, Nicole's boyfriend

Guests

* Kerri Kenney-Silver as Bernice ("Mistress") *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Reynolds in ''The Nanny'' (1998-1999), and Muriel in '' Home Economic ...

as Nora McNab ("Danny Boom") *

Mary Birdsong Mary Evans Birdsong (born April 18, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. She has worked in the theater and voiceover work and is a regular cast member on '' Reno 911!'' Early life Birdsong was born in Florida and grew u ...

as Madison ("Green Card") *

Noël Wells Noël Kristi Wells (born December 23, 1986) is an American actress, comedian, impressionist, writer, director, singer, and musician. Wells is known for her television roles as Rachel Silva in the Netflix comedy-drama ''Master of None'' (20152017), ...

as Blix ("Big Break") *

Sheryl Lee Ralph Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical '' Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received ...

as Lynette Rhodes ("Single Black Idol")

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017–18)

Production

Development

On April 21, 2016, it was announced that MTV had given the production a series order to consist of a first season of ten episodes. Executive producers were set to include Christine Zander, Christian Lander, and Avi Gilbert. Zander was also set to act as showrunner.

Cancellation

On February 9, 2017, it was announced that MTV had cancelled the series after one season. The show was cancelled alongside '' Mary + Jane'', both of which had been developed and picked up before Chris McCarthy took over MTV in late October as president of MTV, VH1 and Logo.

Renewal

On June 12, 2017, it was announced that Facebook Watch had saved the series from cancellation and renewed it for a second season to consist of ten episodes. Christine Zander and Avi Gilbert returned as executive producer but a deal could not be reached with Christian Lander, who did not ultimately return for season two.

Reception

The first season of the show received a mixed reception from critics upon its premiere. In a positive review,

Flavorwire ''Flavorwire'' is a New York City-based online culture magazine. The site includes original feature articles, interviews, reviews, as well as content recycled from other sources. ''Flavorwire'' describes themselves as "a network of culturally co ...

's Lara Zarum described the show as "a sweetly raunchy fable about finding your voice." She also praised the series for addressing "race and gender with a light but sharp touch." In a more negative review, Mitchel Broussard of WeGotThisCovered.com gave the series two-and-a-half stars out of five and commented that, "Although it has the noblest of inclusive intentions, ''Loosely Exactly Nicole'' ultimately falls flat because it doesn't present its progressive ideas in intriguing ways and - most problematic - it just isn't very funny."

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

's Melissa Camacho criticized the show when saying, "Nicole Byer's comic abilities are evident, but the show's writing is more silly than smart. As a result, it contains scenes (such as one that presents an Asian child in blackface) that cross the line from being politically charged to just being dim and offensive. Overall, the show has a lot of potential but doesn't quite reach it."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loosely Exactly Nicole 2010s American comedy television series 2016 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows Facebook Watch original programming MTV original programming