In 2019, Jerrod Carmichael produced and starred in a double feature documentary special for HBO that followed the comedian back to North Carolina, where he confronted his parents and sisters about their lives and upbringing. A lot has changed since then. Carmichael won an Emmy for his 2022 special, Rothanielin which he declared himself gay, hosted Saturday night live and the Golden Globes, and appeared in a supporting role in the Oscar-winning film, poor things. He has now turned the cameras on himself to offer an intimate and revealing look at his life since then. Rothanieland the first of eight weekly episodes might make you wonder how revealing and intimate a comedian could or should be.
JERROD CARMICHAEL REALITY SHOW: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: Carmichael, pausing for several moments to reflect while sitting in front of the audience performing standing up. “I fell in love with my best friend,” he finally tells us, adding: “One in 10, I don’t recommend it.”
The essence: We cut to a flashback scene with Tyler (if you don’t see it immediately, we’ll all find out later that it’s Tyler the Creator), with Carmichael narrating from the stage how he had revealed his feelings to the rapper, only to be later Rejected in a note voice that said “hahaha, stupid bitch,” which Carmichael later told his therapist.
Someone in the comedy audience hearing this story shouts, “tell the truth!” But Carmichael has other ideas. He wants to show us the new truth about Him. Because? “Cameras make me feel more comfortable,” he says directly to the camera in a recorded confessional. “I keep saying I want to live more sincerely.” And off we go, and even the camera crew is caught on camera.
But the first of Carmichael’s friends to appear is wearing a face mask and muffled in voice, labeled Anonymous but clearly a close comic collaborator whose name rhymes with Mo Murnham, who rushes to rain in the new parade. Carmichael’s reality shows. When I use these cameras, it’s like there’s sarin gas in the room and I’m masked,” he says. “Because I’m not going to expose myself to this shit.” Although this is not the last we will see of this masked hero/antihero.
This first episode focuses on the lead-up to the Emmys, where Carmichael was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for Rothaniel. A montage of her talk show appearances celebrates Carmichael and allows him to express her anxiety about how her religious mother really feels about her coming out, or watching him talk to her. so much frankness about it on television. Carmichael spends the days leading up to the ceremony in a hotel room, nervously texting Tyler the Creator to invite him as his guest/date to the Emmys and telling a Los Angeles comedy audience about his concerns, including a review of half show your phone hoping it’s your answer only to make jokes about how those text notifications almost always come from Carmichael’s personal assistant.
A childhood friend visits him in Los Angeles and gives him advice on how to deal with both his unrequited love and his relationship with his mother. On the dating front, Carmichael says, “Part of me wants to play Musical Chairs on Grindr the day of,” and we’re in a montage of scenes in which he hosts multiple Grindr matches in his hotel room for sexual encounters, one of who sticks around to watch Carmichael try on possible Emmys outfits.
Tyler agrees to meet Carmichael in his hotel room to talk about why they haven’t spoken since Carmichael professed his love for him. “That was a lot to unload,” the rapper responds. “I still don’t know how to respond.” Despite asking Carmichael for “the ideal answer,” he offers something quite different: he orders food, calls the comedian his brother, and goes out to the hotel room balcony to fart. The camera zooms in on Carmichael’s face to show us how devastated he is by all of this.
In the end, Anonymous attends the Emmys with Carmichael, and we later see the comedian on stage at a Los Angeles theater with him strolling across the stage holding his Emmy. “That strong applause is nice, but it will go away and I will be left alone with this statue,” he confesses. He also says his mother left him a voicemail and someone in the audience yells for him to play the recording on stage. Turns out she’s happy for him! So far, so good?
What documentaries will it remind you of?:This really serves as a follow-up to the two Carmichael home movies he filmed for HBO in 2019.
Our opinion: No matter how much Carmichael wants this, Anonymous (Bo Burnham) says the director and editors will choose to frame his reality as they see fit.
“It’s an exhibitionist,” he says.
Carmichael replies, “Yes, but what’s wrong with that?”
“There’s the public and the private, and then there’s the masturbatory public,” Burnham says, arguing that what Carmichael is doing amounts to shoving the camera up his own ass. “But I care about you beyond this.”
Making this a full series of eight half-hour episodes will force viewers and fans to ask themselves how far they want to follow Carmichael on his journey of self-discovery. Future episodes show him getting a new boyfriend but struggling to be faithful to him, wondering how willing he is to help a childhood friend make it as an actress, going on trips with his father, pushing a comedian (Jamar Vecinos, seen on Hulu This fool) to make her own act more personal and vulnerable, and eventually come to terms with her relationship with her mother.
Most pilot line: When Carmichael explains the purpose of this series as “I’m trying to Truman Show myself.”
Sex and skin: We see before and after several encounters between Carmichael and his Grindr matches, and some kissing and cuddling, and some underwear shots, but no direct sex or nudity. Still.
Parting shots: The last shot before the credits is seen from inside a car as Carmichael is hunched over, vomiting outside as Anonymous asks, “Did you get it all out?” (From the mushrooms we saw him take earlier, perhaps?) “Yes,” Carmichael responds. Then, as the credits roll, we see his friend enjoying a male stripper dance, while Carmichael sits alone in silence at the strip club.
Sleeping star:While Carmichael remains front and center for almost the entire episode, the premiere definitively and defiantly rewards Anonymous’ presence. But don’t get your hopes up that he’ll provide commentary throughout the series.
Our call: Is this series directed at us, his mother or just him? Maybe all of the above. So if you’re not already a fan of Carmichael’s, STREAM this first episode to decide for yourself if you’re ready for what’s to come. However, there’s certainly nothing here that will surprise fans who have seen him become increasingly self-reflexive and performative, from the cleaner sitcom version of Carmichael he first hosted on NBC, to his HBO home movies from 2019, until Rothanielso far this.
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