*Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps have inked a deal to star in a new comedy series for Netflix titled “The Upshaws.”
The series centers on a working-class Black family in Indiana struggling with how to make things work without a blueprint on how to do it, Variety reports.
Sykes and Epps are executive-producing the show along with “Insecure” writer Regina Y. Hicks. Hicks and Sykes will also serve as co-showrunners on the series.
Both Sykes and Epps released comedy specials on the streaming platform this year, with Sykes’ “Not Normal” currently nominated for two Primetime Emmy awards, including Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).
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(May 10, 2019 – Source: Getty Images North America)
She previously shared with Entertainment Weekly the process of putting a comedy set together in this age of Donald Trump.
“This was weird, because after the election, it got really tense doing stand-up. The audience is just so polarized, either you love everything about Trump or you hate everything about Trump. For me, a comic who talks about what’s happening in the world, I either had to talk about it or, when I didn’t, it felt like I wasn’t addressing the orange elephant in the room,” Sykes explained.
“And I really shied away from doing stand-up. It was really stressful, but then I said, “Just hit it head on,” because things just got so crazy and, to me, it wasn’t even about Trump, it was more about us and our reaction to it. Because it’s not normal. Once I was able to hit from that approach, it just developed pretty quickly and I was having a lot of fun with it. Also, I open the show with, if you came to see me and you voted for Trump, you’re just a bad decision maker. [Laughs] You just don’t get it.”
Meanwhile, there is no word yet on when “The Upshaws” will be released, but you can catch Epps this fall on Netflix in “Dolemite Is My Name” starring Eddie Murphy.
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