A review of CBS' newest comedy 'Poppa's House'
Father-son duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. brought the funny tonight (Oct. 21) during the premiere of their new comedy Poppa's House.
Created by Wayans and Kevin Hench, the show follows "Poppa", played by Wayans (My Wife and Kids), a longtime radio show host whose professional world takes a turn with the arrival of a female cohost played by longtime Wayans family collaborator Essence Atkins (Half & Half, Marlon). Meanwhile, Poppa's home life is just as eventful having found himself divorced but somehow still parenting his 35-year-old son "Damon", played by real-life son Wayans Jr. (New Girl), an aspiring filmmaker, husband and father of two.
In the pilot episode, both father and son face the same challenge: having to decide if fighting for their jobs is worth it.
Although this isn't the first time fans have seen Wayans and Wayans Jr. together - they acted alongside each other in My Wife and Kids (2000), The Underground (2006), Happy Endings (2011), New Girl (2011), and Happy Together (2018) - this is the first time the project is centered around them as father and son. And they did not disappoint.
And while it has been two and a half decades since fans were introduced to smart-mouth but loveable husband and father Michael Kyle in My Wife and Kids, Wayans' comedic timing is still as sharp and his bald head still a running gag, even while sporting a new gray beard.
Through naturally funny chemistry and banter, which, at times, feels so real you forget you're watching a sitcom and not the duo off screen, these same-named Wayans, along with castmates Atkins, Boomerang's Tetona Jackson ("Damon's" wife), and beloved Cosby Show alum Geoffrey Owens ("Damon's" father-in-law who has a questionable and hilarious past with Poppa), give viewers a very likeable half hour of laughs, genuine storylines, the balance between old school and new school, and most of all, something to root for: family.
So, while Poppa's House may be "new to The Neighborhood", the fellow CBS comedy which it airs immediately after on Mondays at 8:30pm EST, it has already proven it's here to stay.
