Day Dreamer

Before Jerrod Carmichael knew he wanted to be a stand-up comedian, he knew he wanted a show on NBC.

“When I was younger, that was the dream,” Carmichael says. “I wanted to be on NBC Thursday nights. That was the goal, and still is.”

He’s considerably closer to that dream — in fact, only one night away. His multi-camera comedy, The Carmichael Show, loosely based on his own life, airs on Wednesdays on — yes — NBC.

Of his early years, he says: “I grew up in Salem, North Carolina, in a neighborhood that had some good people… and some not so good people.” So the young Jerrod spent a lot of time indoors, watching Friends, Seinfeld and all of Norman Lear’s classic sitcoms. His family encouraged him to pursue comedy, and at 20 he moved to L.A.

His Hollywood stand-up gigs led to writing for a sketch comedy, Loiter Squad, which aired for three seasons on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block and brought new opportunities his way.

He had a scene-stealing turn as frat boy Garf in the Seth Rogen–Zac Efron film Neighbors. And he landed a deal with NBC for his own show.

The pilot wasn’t picked up, but it was retooled, bringing on Neighbors director Nicholas Stoller in the process.

“A lot of times, the multi-cam sitcom is so removed from reality, and audiences recognize that,” Carmichael says. “So we’re aiming for the opposite. We know audiences are smart, and we want to give them honest discussions and real topics.”

In this case, the topics — and the laughs — come from Carmichael’s interactions with his therapist-in-training girlfriend (Amber West), and his overinvolved parents (David Alan Grier and Loretta Devine).

“NBC at its best had shows that were sophisticated, had integrity and were still very funny. It’s my intention to help bring that back. I know that sounds overzealous, but it’s really a blessing to be able to make a show for them, and I just want to do my best.”