''That Damn Michael Che'' is an American

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

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 ae ...

series created by and starring

Michael Che Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on ''Weekend Update'' alongside Colin Jost, and the two wer ...

that premiered on

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

on May 6, 2021. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

Each episode follows a theme or incident (police brutality, unemployment, falling in love, etc.) and uses sketches and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience this from a black vantage point. It's less about being "right" and more about being honest, even at the risk of being controversial.

Cast

Main

Cecily Strong Cecily Legler Strong (born February 8, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. Strong is most notable for being a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2012 to 2022. She is also the longest-tenured female cast member in the s ...

Heidi Gardner Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She has been a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2017, beginning in season 43. Early life Gardner was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. S ...

Colin Quinn Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2 ...

Ellen Cleghorne Ellen Leslye Cleghorne is an American actress and comedian, best known as a cast member of '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1991 to 1995. Cleghorne was the sketch comedy show's second African-American female repertory cast member, succeeding Danitr ...

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and '' Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writ ...

Guest

Omari Hardwick Omari Latif Hardwick (born January 9, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring role as James "Ghost" St. Patrick, the protagonist of Starz's '' Power'' and his role as Vanderohe in Zack Snyder's '' Army of the Dead'' (2021). He is also ...

Geoffrey Owens Geoffrey Louis Owens (born March 18, 1961) is an American actor known for his role as Elvin Tibideaux on ''The Cosby Show'' (1985–1992). He is the son of United States Congressman Major Owens. Early life and education Owens was born in Brook ...

Godfrey Godfrey may refer to: People * Godfrey (name), a given name and surname * Godfrey (comedian), American comedian, actor Places In the United States * Godfrey, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Godfrey, Illinois, a village * Godfrey, Kansas, an ...

Billy Porter William Ellis Porter II (born September 21, 1969) is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical fo ...

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of ...

Chris Distefano Christopher Paul Anthony Distefano (born August 26, 1984) is an American comedian. Primarily a stand-up comedian, Distefano began his career in entertainment on MTV and MTV2's shows '' Guy Code'' and '' Girl Code''. Distefano's first hour-long s ...

* Anna Drezen *

Ziwe ''Ziwe'' is an American satirical late-night talk show hosted and executive produced by comedian Ziwe Fumudoh based in New York City. The show premiered on May 9, 2021, on Showtime. In June 2021, Showtime renewed the series for a second season. ...

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host ...

David Allen Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as Bernard on '' Damon'' (1998), as David Bellows on ''Life with Bonnie'' (2002–2004), as Joe Carmichael on ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015� ...

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show's history. He was also th ...

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Development

On July 14, 2020,

gave the then-untitled project a series order consisting of 6 half-hour episodes. The series is created by

, who also executive produces alongside

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

and Erin Doyle. Che, speaking about the project, said: "I'm really excited to be working on this show with HBO Max. It's a project I've been thinking about for a while and we have a lot of sketches we want to shoot so please wear your masks so that we can go into production." On April 19, 2021, it was announced that the series was to be titled ''That Damn Michael Che'' and would premiere on May 6, 2021. On July 22, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

Alongside the initial series order announcement, Che was announced to star in the series. On April 19, 2021, it was announced that

, and

had joined the main cast, with

, and

set to guest star.

Filming

The first season was shot throughout

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with filming commencing on November 9, 2020, and wrapping on February 1, 2021.

Music

The theme song for season 1 was "You Can't Stop Us Now" from

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

's untitled album. In season 2, the theme song was "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" from

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

's album ''

Maggot Brain ''Maggot Brain'' is the third studio album by the American funk rock band Funkadelic, released by Westbound Records in July 1971. It was produced by band leader George Clinton and recorded at United Sound Systems in Detroit during late 197 ...

''.

References

External links

* {{HBO Max 2020s American sketch comedy television series 2021 American television series debuts English-language television shows HBO Max original programming Television series by Broadway Video Television series by Universal Television Television shows filmed in New York (state)