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

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by Christian Lander and Christine Zander that stars

Nicole Byer Nicole Byer (born August 29, 1986) is an American comedian, actress, and television host. She is known as the host of the Netflix comedic reality bake-off series '' Nailed It!'' (2018–present), for which she has received four Primetime Emmy ...

and premiered on September 5, 2016, on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. After MTV cancelled the series,

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch (currently rebranding to Facebook Video) is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and it was available to all U.S. ...

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

as herself, an aspiring actress and comedienne looking for her big break in show business *

Jacob Wysocki Jacob Wysocki (born June 20, 1990) is an American actor and comedian. Life and career Wysocki became interested in acting while still at Narbonne High School. During these years, he also performed with ComedySportz and started to act in scho ...

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 Warren 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 ...

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, mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, since 2020. He was the president of the Baltimore City Council from 2019 to 2020, having been elected to the p ...

as Raymond *

Allyn Rachel Allyn Rachel is an American actress, writer and comedian, best known for her roles in a variety of national commercials and as the voice of "Bee" in the Netflix animated series, '' Bee and PuppyCat''. Life and career Allyn was born in Pikesvi ...

as Avi *

French Stewart Milton French-Stewart (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor. He played Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun'', Inspector Gadget in the superhero comedy film '' Inspector Gadget ...

as Donny *

Sasheer Zamata Sasheer Zamata Moore (; born May 6, 1986) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. She is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2014 to 2017. Since her departure from ''SNL'' ...

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

Ayden Mayeri Ayden Mayeri (born October 1, 1990) is an Iranian-American actress, comedian, and writer, known for her work in both television and film. On television, she had a recurring role in ''Homecoming'' (2018) and starred in the Peacock comedy '' Mr. ...

as Edi *

B. J. Britt B. J. Britt (born April 20, 1982) is an 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 ''Bein ...

as Josh, Nicole's boyfriend

Guests

Kerri Kenney-Silver Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'', for which she has been nominated for four Prime ...

as Bernice ("Mistress") *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She first garnered popularity during her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Following her departure from ''SNL'' ...

as Nora McNab ("Danny Boom") *

Mary Birdsong Mary Evans Birdsong (born April 18, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. In addition to her work in theater and voice acting, she was a regular cast member on '' Reno 911!'' and appeared in the HBO series '' Succession''. ...

as Madison ("Green Card") *

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

as Blix ("Big Break") *

Sheryl Lee Ralph Sheryl Lee Ralph (born December 30, 1956) is an American actress and singer. Known for her performances on stage and screen, she earned acclaim for her role as Deena Jones in the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she was nomi ...

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 Mary Jane may refer to: People * Mary Jane Adams (1840–1902), Irish-born American writer and philanthropist * Mary Jane Aldrich (1833–1909), American temperance reformer, lecturer, and essayist * Mary Jane Alvero (born 1970), Filipino en ...

'', 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

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'' was 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 ...

'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 American nonprofit 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 American English-language television shows Facebook Watch original programming MTV original programming