It’s a great experience to watch a TV show miraculously becomeitself. The Break with Michelle Wolf arrived on Netflix in June already brimming with confidence. The host was coming off an astounding performance at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a real burn-this-mother-to-the-grounding for the ages. But initial episodes of The Break had the usual early-going late-night quality, scattershot gags, guest bits that somehow felt overly rehearsed and badly improvised.

And then The Break hit a new gear on July 15, in an episode titled “Sincere and Angry.” In her monologue, Wolf mentioned George Clooney’s motorcycle crash, riffing about how Clooney played Batman in Batman & Robin. “We don’t make fun of him enough for that!” she said. Well, to be fair, even Clooney makes fun of Batman & Robin too much — but shut up, Franich, she’s getting to the good stuff. “He’s the Hillary Clinton of Batmans,” Wolf said. “Perfect on paper, disappointing in reality, and nipples always rock hard.”

Read more at Entertainment Weekly

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Opening Shot: We’re at the front door of an office building. Three young black men can’t get in because they forgot the code. Can they convince the older white lady they see in the lobby to let them in?

It’s almost too relatable, but as soon as the men reach the lobby, the sketch begins flipping the script. Would they let in a guy who appears to be a vampire? And then again, heightening the game by asking the vampire to, ahem, check his prejudices at the door. “It’s 2020, baby!” Roll the credits!

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Our Take: Astronomy Club presents a balanced comedy diet, equal parts pop-culture parody, commentary on the contemporary black American experience, and evergreen satire. The first episode establishes this formula, on top of a solid framework that places the troupe inside a faux show within the show, a “reality TV” clubhouse where they’re meant to live and work together. It also serves as a solid way to not only introduce them to us viewers, but also explore the group dynamics of and among its individual members.

Read the full article at decider.com

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Between his multiple sitcoms and film projects, including the upcoming sequelComing 2 America, Kenya Barris is a very busy man, but he’ll always find some extra time when it comes to his lifelong love of sketch comedy. Barris is the executive producer behind a new sketch series debuting on Netflix next month titled Astronomy Club, which stars the sketch and improv group of the same name: Keisha Zollar, James III, Monique Moses, Jerah Milligan, Caroline Martin, Ray Cordova, Jon Braylock, and Shawtane Bowen. Barris has been a fan of the ensemble for some time, and having a big deal with Netflix means he can help the group reach a wider audience — so that’s exactly what he decided to do.

Ahead of Astronomy Club’s debut on December 6, Barris chatted with Vulture about why he thinks the group will help lead a sketch-comedy renaissance, how much he loves Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave,and what it’s like working with Eddie Murphy on Coming 2 America.

Read the full interview here.

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