The second season of the funniest show on television just began and you probably haven’t even ever heard of it. Detroiters is the buddy comedy between best friends, Sam and Tim, and their pathetic yet somehow still standing Detroit ad agency, Cramblin-Duvet.
It airs weekly on Comedy Central (the first three episodes of the new season are available online) but has seemingly flown under the radar. Yet, whenever I’ve bring the show up, someone inevitably says “Oh, that’s the funniest show I’ve seen in years.” In a TV landscape where shows are often reflecting or in dialogue with the rising political and social tensions in the US (think: Handmaid’s Tale, Orange Is The New Black, Queer Eye), Detroiters remains delightfully isolated from our chaotic world. While that could potentially come across as irresponsible—who can make a show without tapping into 2018's ubiquitous existential dread?—it comes off as a much-needed respite.
Each episode focuses on a new account the Cramblin-Duvet team is either hoping to secure, or practically at risk of losing. This structure brings in an incredible cast of cameos, including, in the season two premier, Tim Meadows, and in the first season, Jason Sudeikis, Keegan Michael-Key and Cecily Strong. Sam and Tim are portrayed by Sam Richardson (Veep) and Tim Robinson (SNL), who have been collaborating for years in Chicago and at The Second City. Their use of slapstick and simply following the dumb fun makes for some of the most refreshingly hilarious comedy I’ve enjoyed in years.
What’s most wonderful about the show, and why I’ve been recommending it to everyone who’ll give me five minutes to pitch it, is that the show says yes to itself. Are Cramblin-Duvet’s ads terrible? Absolutely. Are Tim and Sam incredibly proud of their work? Always. Do they love one another endlessly? Absurdly so. Do the good people of Detroit keep giving them a second chance? Over and over again. Detroiters is thirty minutes of best friends who want the best for one another and watching that joy, and laughing along, feels like the most therapeutically responsible thing to do these days.
