''Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas'' is an American

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

television series hosted by

Wyatt Cenac Wyatt John Foster Cenac Jr. ( ; born April 19, 1976) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He was a correspondent and writer for ''The Daily Show'' from 2008 to 2012. He starred in the TBS series '' People of Earth'' and in Bar ...

. It premiered on April 13, 2018, on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. The series is executive produced by Cenac,

Ezra Edelman Ezra Benjamin Edelman (born August 6, 1974) is an American documentary producer and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming for directing ' ...

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

, Tim Greenberg, David Martin, James Taylor,

Jon Thoday Jonathan Murray Thoday (born May 1961) is a British television executive and businessman. He is the joint founder and managing director of Avalon Entertainment. Shows As a producer, he has been responsible for a number of shows, including '' ...

and head writer

Hallie Haglund Hallie Haglund (born September 5, 1982) is an American comedian, Emmy-winning writer, and producer. She is currently head writer and executive producer on Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas. Career Haglund worked as an NBC Studios page in Los Angele ...

. A second season began broadcasting on April 5, 2019. On June 7 of that year, the series was cancelled. The show takes "a satirical look at social and cultural issues from Cenac's unique perspective. Rather than sit behind a desk, he will undertake a journey to understand some of the big issues of the moment and investigate real-world solutions".

Production

On October 16, 2017, it was announced that

had given a series order to a new documentary television series presented by

. The series order was for a first season consisting of ten episodes in which Cenac would executive produce alongside

, Tim Greenberg, David Martin, James Taylor,

, and head writer

. Production companies involved in the series were slated to consist of Avalon Television. On March 8, 2018, it was announced that the series had been titled ''Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas'' and that it would premiere on April 13, 2018. On May 22, 2018, it was announced that HBO had renewed the series for a second season.

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2

Release

On March 8, 2018, HBO released a promotional poster. A day later, the first trailer for the series was released.

Reception

Critical response

In a positive review, ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

''s Danette Chavez called the show, "pointedly funny, and a necessary addition to late-night." She went on to offer the show praise and described its outlook saying, "Cenac's not interested in preaching to the choir or rehashing liberal talking points. The loose structure of the show—there's no real monologue, but there are segments and cheeky, animated asides—mirrors Cenac's desire to map out a blueprint for change. He knows this means there will be a few, if not many, wrong turns and dead ends, but he's not afraid to admit he doesn't have all the answers." In a more mixed review, Matt Zoller Seitz of ''Vulture'' called the show a "mixed bag" and said that Cenac comes across like "a man ranting alone in a basement rec room."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas 2010s American documentary television series 2018 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American English-language television shows HBO original programming John Oliver