CBS' "Superior Donuts" Tackles Tough Issues, Seventies Style

Based on a play by Tracy Letts Superior Donuts stars the incomparable Judd Hirsch and rising star Jermaine Fowler as Arthur Pryzbyszewski and Franco Wicks respectively The former is the old fashioned proprietor of the local neighborhood donut shop for which the show is named and the latter is his newest hire a young black man whose outlook on life is a little more up to date Hirsch and Fowler are pictured at topThe roster of supporting characters has its fair share of heavy hitters as well David Koechner Anchorman plays a patron named Carl quotTushquotamp160Tushinski who lives life gigtogig via a fax machine he lugs around Katey Sagal Sons of Anarchy and about 1000 other cool shows plays a Chicago beat cop named Randy DeLuca who spends a decent amount of time in the shop both on and off duty Comedian Maz Jobrani who plays the money hungry Fawz a local business owner and landlord in the Chicago neighborhood that drops some of the best punch lines in all of the dialogueThe characters also include DeLucaamp8217s rookie partner James Jordan Darien SillsEvans Francoamp8217s best friend Sweatpants Rell Battle and Maya Anna Baryshnikov a notsourban Millennial who happens to spend a lot of time in the shop Fowler SillsEvans and Sagal are pictured below left to rightWhen the series began the show peddled the usual sitcom wares It had a sort of Odd Couplelike dynamic with Arthur being a bit stuck in his ways almost to the point of accepting his shopamp8217s demise in the face of corporate competition from franchise coffee shops popping up due the gentrification of his neighborhood and Franco being the enthusiastic idealist with a knack for the arts and a shared disdain for the changes in his neighborhood and how they affected the poor who are the communityamp8217s true inhabitantsAfter some headbutting asscovering and lessonlearning the two seemed to have found themselves on the same side of something though their differences of opinion and Francoamp8217s youthful antics ultimately became the focal point of pretty much every episode or so it seemed Upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that Superioramp8217s true journey is the one towards empathy and trust with its true message being that no one is superior regardless of whether he or she is a cop shop owner Middle Eastern business man or young black man coming up in a rough neighborhoodThat message of equality is driven home even further by the upcoming episode The Amazing Racists to be telecast March 13amp160at 9 pm ET The episode revolves around the racial profiling of Franco during a amp8220routineamp8221 stopandfrisk by an Asian police officer Weamp8217ve all seen these types of episodes before especially when Nineties sitcoms featuring people of color are taken into consideration Go even further back to classic shows like All in the Familyamp160The Jeffersons and Good Timesamp160 the Norman Lear comedies of the Seventies that started it all amp160and it becomes increasingly apparent that weamp8217veamp160been down this road in some way shape or form over and over againSocial injustice is something that most Americans are familiar with in some capacity and given our current political climate taking on this material is risquamp233 at best and even then is arguably not worth the risk for some showrunners To that end Superior Donuts doesnamp8217t fumble running the ball straight into the metaphorical end zone with a considerable amount of grace and purpose Remember The Wayans Bros Shawn and Marlon would have approached this sort of issue with all the poise of Def Comedyera comedians and the result wouldamp8217ve been much more polarizingSuperior on the other hand managed to navigate these waters in a way that didnamp8217t leave me feeling offended or preachedto which was a pleasant surpriseThis isnamp8217t the first time this show has dealt with the issues of race and perception In its short run to date it has tackled mostly through comicrelief the way police see young black men the way an influx of hipsters can ruin almost any neighborhood and the way protesting and personal harassment are on opposite sides of the same thin line I also believe Mayaamp8217s presence is a representation of young white privilege She is intelligent idealistic and almost hyperaware of the social climate although it has yet to be revealed that sheamp8217s ever actually been in the same boat as the people these issues really affect like Franco or SweatpantsAll in all Superior Donuts has exceeded my expectations in more ways than one It has a super diverse cast although itamp8217s missing a Latino that above all else makes me laugh and it has the proper players in place for those serious moments when the pendulum inevitably swings the other way Creators Bob Daily Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman have finally found a way to make me want to watch a multicamera sitcom again and you know what Iamp8217m not mad at itSuperior Donutsamp160is telecast Mondays at 9 pm ET on CBSClick 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CBS' "Superior Donuts" Tackles Tough Issues, Seventies Style

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Ainsley Andrade

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CBS' "Superior Donuts" Tackles Tough Issues, Seventies Style

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