Everything that’s old is new again on TV, as we’ve seen a slew of beloved casts reuniting for projects like retrospective specials for Friends and Fresh Prince, and tea-spilling rewatch podcasts like Pod Meets World. There have also been more than a few full-blown revivals along the way, of course, from Joe Millionaire to Law & Order to the upcoming returns for Night Court and Quantum Leap. ViacomCBS has been particularly enthusiastic about such revivals and continuations, particularly when it comes to iconic MTV fare such as Clone High, Daria, Yo! MTV Raps and Beavis and Butt-Head, with the latter animated series debuting its latest season on Paramount+ on August 4. Now, the company has confirmed Chris Rock’s family comedy Everybody Hates Chris is heading back to TV, sort of.
Unlike some of the aforementioned projects that are essentially just leaning back into what made them work in the first place, fans can expect some differences with Everybody Still Hates Chris, and not only regarding the title being one word longer now. For one, the new show will be a reimagining of the original series, and will now become an adult animated project, bypassing the all-ages live-action approach that made a star out of current Abbott Elementary lead Tyler James Williams.
As well, Everybody Still Hates Chris won’t be airing on the original comedy’s network home at The CW. (It was originally a Fox project that later landed at UPN before that network folded into the CW merger.) Instead, the new project is making the jump to streaming to join the Paramount+ family, but will still be keeping a linear TV foothold with episodes also airing on Comedy Central. It’s the same dual-platform approach that the parent company is utilizing with Mike Judge’s newest season of Beavis and Butt-Head, which follows the recently released feature Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, as well as South Park’s split between traditional seasons and streaming mini-movies.
But despite any and all changes, there are a couple of constants that viewers can still expect. For one, Chris Rock is 100% returning to the show in a similar capacity to his prior role, in that he’ll once again be serving as an executive producer behind the scenes, and will again be lending his vocal talents to the show as its central narrator. One can only assume that the show will not tap into Rock’s current life at all, with Will Smith’s awks apology serving as the latest chapter in the Oscar Slap aftermath.
As well, the show will stick with the original concept, in that Everybody Still Hates Chris will stick with the general concept of giving fans a humorous look back at Chris Rock’s teenage years as “a skinny nerd in a large working class family in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, during the late 1980s,” per the official release. Just maybe expect a few more jokes that wouldn’t pass muster with your least amusing grandparent.
Also taking on an executive producer role will be Sanjay Shah, a writer and EP for Apple TV+’s animated musical comedy Central Park. Not to mention a former writer and story editor on King of the Hill, tying things back around to Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge. Is it too early to start clamoring for crossovers?
Everybody Hates Chris is one of many family-geared TV shows currently streaming for those with Paramount+ subscriptions, so be sure to catch up with all four seasons again before the new series hits. When that’s done, head to our 2022 premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows will be popping up throughout the rest of the year.
