Like the movie, the comedy-drama series follows a group of students of color attending an Ivy League — and predominantly white –school. Issues of race will be tackled in a variety of humorous, yet likely eye-opening ways. “Warning: The following program is meant for both black and white audiences … and every other color,” the 2 minute, 18-second trailer begins.
Justin Simien, who wrote the movie, did the honors for the series as well. The acst features mainly newcomers, including Logan Browning (Samantha “Sam” White), who takes over a leading role from Tessa Thompson, along with Antoinette Robertson (The Haves and the Have Nots). But there are some familiar names returning from the movie, including Marque Richardson (The Newsroom) who plays a character named Reggie in both, Brandon Bell as Troy, and Ashley Blaine Featherson (who played Curls in the movie). The series is executive produced by Stephanie Allain Bray, Julia Lebedev, and Devon Shepard (House of Lies), the former two of whom also worked on the film.
The movie received several accolades, including an award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, as well as a 2015 Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. It currently holds an aggregated RottenTomatoes rating of 91 percent. The first two episodes of the series were previewed at SXSW, and The Hollywood Reporter said they retained the film’s “razor-sharp wit and then some,” while also lauding the transfer of the storyline from the big screen to a TV series.
All 10, half-hour episodes of the series will be available starting April 28.
