Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show

Six episodes in, Jerrod Carmichael's 2024 reality series has been often harshly cathartic and sometimes acutely funny. The reality aspect is no joke as he pulls no punches in making public the personal challenges of being a successful comedian who came out just two years ago. A charismatic personality, Carmichael shifts mercurially between introspective and cruel, but it's hard not to root for him. I got hooked when he painfully confessed his unrequited love for his best friend in the first episode. So far, it has cut deepest with the episodes focused on a road trip with his errant father and a frigid homecoming with his deeply religious mother. Some moments border on exploitative, yet it may be the best, bravest thing on TV now.

This is uncomfortable in a way that really makes you think about what's going on. Jerrod is an unmistakable force, even when he's being a horrible human being. That he can put this on the screen.... Is he truly just a manchild making up for lost time? A man playing five-dimensional chess with your viewing? Somewhere in between? It's uncomfortable and riveting, with some very funny moments. Is it what reality television should always be? If you think Married At First Sight is high quality, this probably isn't for you. If you want a challenging view of how an imperfect individual navigates his new-found fame without being afraid to show his warts, this is a great choice.

This show is incredibly beautiful. I made an account just to review this because of how undeserving the bad reviews of this show are. You can tell they only watched one episode and/or they are missing the WHOLE $%^** POINT. If Jerrod has no fans, I'm dead.

This show is incredibly beautiful. I made an account just to review this because of how undeserving the bad reviews of this show are. You can tell they only watched one episode and/or they are missing the WHOLE $%^** POINT. If Jerrod has no fans, I'm dead.

This show is incredibly beautiful. I made an account just to review this because of how undeserving the bad reviews of this show are. You can tell they only watched one episode and/or they are missing the WHOLE $%^** POINT. If Jerrod has no fans, I'm dead.

Raw, Real, Heartbreaking, Brave, Unique, Different, Loving, Hopeful. I want to see more. I was happy to see tape of Jerrod and family from years ago. It seemed to show a lot of love between Jerrod and his Mom. It appears his Mom was naive when she was young and found the help she needed by giving her life to Christ and believing all that is in or at least, interpreted by some, as to what the Bible says. This seemed to help her deal with the difficulties in her marriage. Jerrod realized, at some point, he was not living his truth. When he told his truth, that really put a strain on the relationship between he and his Mom. I think the only thing that is coming between the love that his Mom, Cynthia has for Jerrod is, what SHE BELIEVES is the interpretation of the Bible regarding homosexuality.

But the brilliance of this show is not to necessarily hyper-fixate on Jerrod in any self-aggrandizing way. Carmichael uses this meta-styled documentary to address universal conflicts that come with being gay and colored in America.

Simply put - I don't even like Jerrod or care about his life - but to get this unique of a perspective into gay black culture has not been executed anywhere else on this level. Even if this was 100% fictional, it's still an incredible experience.

Other topics such as infidelity and religious intolerance are brought up as well, but it doesn't always resolve itself as Carmichael acknowledges that he doesn't have the solutions.

Carmichael knew that he could use his public image to therapeutically extend and relate to many viewers. I can certainly see this show helping people struggling with addiction, family issues, identity issues, etc. (Personally, having left the Pentecostal church due to its homophobia, the episodes of Jerrod with religion hit very close to home.)

And massive props to the editing and production team linking all of these episodes so richly. Even if scenes from this are staged, it's still incredibly impressive.

Highly recommend to watch if you're a minority or wanting to see something so original come out of the Black/LGBTQ+ community.