CBS announced a slew of titles and premiere dates for their upcoming fall season. Among the new shows teased was the long-awaited comedy, Poppa’s House, with father and son Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. headlining. View the video below.
Poppa’s House follows the elder Wayans as a legendary radio host whose old-school ways are suddenly challenged by a modern, new school culture. At work, he’s forced to share his mic and ideals with a new co-anchor, Ivy, played by Half & Half’s Essence Atkins. At home, his adult son, played by Wayans Jr., returns to live with him, bringing along his family in pursuit of his passions. Tetona Jackson (BET’s Boomerang) has been cast as Wayans Jr’s wife, Nina.
The series was picked up on May 9th amidst the writer’s strike along with Kathy Bates’ (Misery, Fried Green Tomatoes) Matlock reboot and crime mystery procedural, Elsbeth, from Robert and Michelle King (Evil, The Good Fight). Poppa’s House reunites the Wayans duo on screen for the first time since 2018’s Happy Together, which ran for one season. The show is co-written by both Wayanses and Kevin Hench (Last Man Standing, The Santa Clauses), and produced through Wayans Jr.’s Two Shades Entertainment along with Kameron Tarlow (Lazy Susan, Grimm). Deadline reports Hench and Wayans co-wrote the pilot with Andy Ackerman directing.
The Wayans name is legend in entertainment, for both TV and film. Wayans began his career in the 1980s with a short stint at Saturday Night Live before breaking out in FOX’s sketch comedy competitor, In Living Color with his elder brother Keenan Ivory Wayans (Im’ Gonna Git You Sucka). He then found fame in film with movies like Blankman, Mo’ Money, Major Payne, and The Last Boy Scout. By the early 2000s, he returned to TV with ABC’s My Wife & Kids.
Following his father’s footsteps, Wayans Jr. found success making guest appearances on My Wife & Kids. He broke out on the short-lived ABC comedy, Happy Endings, which ran for three seasons. He’s also appeared in films like Let’s Be Cops and this year’s rom-com, Players.
Poppa’s House arrives this fall only on CBS.