THE REL WORLD
Embark on a hilarious quest for for love, respect and a new barber in a new episode of “Rel,” airing Sunday.
Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out,” 2017) continues the time-honoured tradition of standup comedians portraying a character loosely based on their own past experiences, in a new episode of “Rel,” airing Sunday, Dec. 2, on Fox and City.
Howery looks to replicate the success of comedy legends such as Tim Allen (“Home Improvement”), Ray Romano (“Everybody Loves Raymond”), Bernie Mac (“The Bernie Mac Show”), Ellen DeGeneres (“Ellen”) and Jerry Seinfeld (“Seinfeld”), who all struck gold when they took their act to the small screen.
“Rel” centres around the titular character. He’s a nurse living and working on Chicago’s West Side, and he’s forced to rebuild his life after he discovers his wife is having an affair with his barber. Adding insult to injury, Rel must also learn to be a long-distance single father, as his wife takes their two children to Cleveland with her when she leaves.
Dealing with the implosion of his marriage and the loss of his wife, children and barber, Rel’s motto — “always believe in yourself and great things will come” — is put to the test. The laughingstock of his neighbourhood, he finds that even something as simple as riding the bus is now an unpleasant experience, as the local guys roast him relentlessly. It is impossible to escape the reminders of his wife’s indiscretions.
Not everyone in the neighbourhood is so mean-spirited, however. Rel’s friends and family do their best to help him get back on track — and back on the dating scene. There to guide him through the Windy City’s dating pool are his younger brother, Nat (Jordan L. Jones, “Disjointed”), and his best friend, Brittany (Jessica ‘Jess Hilarious’ Moore, “Wild ‘n Out”).
Nat, recently released from prison, means well and is occasionally helpful but is mostly a thorn in his brother’s side. On the flip side, Brittany is all help with her unfiltered opinions and views and does the best she can to get her bestie out of his rut, convince him to stop sulking and move on.
Twenty-five years after “The Sinbad Show” debuted on Fox, the legendary Sinbad himself returns to the network, this time in a supporting role. He plays Milton, Rel and Nat’s father, a recently widowed, pridefulbut-well-meaning man who believes his sons are utter disappointments. In his scene-stealing appearances, Milton constantly reminds his boys about how they have failed to live up to his expectations, but he also helps them in his own special way.
Over the course of the past few years, Sinbad has worked mostly as a voice actor and has focused his attention more and more on his passion for music. But now he’s back in a major way. To a younger audience, the influential comedian is now primarily known as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s antagonist in the Christmas classic “Jingle All the Way” (1996), and as an example of the Mandela Effect (when a large group of people believe in the same false memory). In this case, many believe that the comedian starred in a 1990s movie called “Shazaam,” confusing the non-existent movie with Shaqille O’Neal’s 1996 “Kazaam.”
Sinbad may not have starred in that dreamt-up film, but he certainly has a place in the hearts of many. Now he’s back and better than ever, and it’s easy to see how he’s influenced numerous comedy superstars over the years.
Over the past decade, Howery has been making quite the name for himself, much like his television father before him. After making his small-screen debut in NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” he went on to star in the short-lived revival of the sketch comedy series “In Living Color,” as well as “Friends of the People,” another sketch comedy series.
However, Howery’s big break came when he was cast as Bobby Carmichael, Jerrod Carmichael’s brother, in “The Carmichael Show.” His scene-stealing performance in Jordan Peele’s Academy Awardwinning “Get Out” (2017) further cemented his reputation as a comedic tour de force.