{"id":12413,"date":"2019-01-17T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T19:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=12413"},"modified":"2019-01-17T15:35:30","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T21:35:30","slug":"duo-goes-home-in-ill-new-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=12413","title":{"rendered":"Duo goes home in ILL new series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0VUoAIVeDFI\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A few weeks after eyebrows raised and hackles sounded in various corners of <strong>Champaign County<\/strong> and the Webisphere when a trailer first made the rounds, <span style=\"color: #800000;\"><a style=\"color: #800000;\" title=\"CHAMPAIGN ILL :: Sony Pictures Television\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sonypictures.com\/tv\/champaignill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>YouTube Premium<\/strong> released 10 episodes of the new series <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong><\/a><\/span> on <strong>Wednesday, December 12<\/strong>. In this sharp-tongued comedy of errors with more heart and gumption than can be gleaned from that preview, Ron (<strong>Adam Pally, THE MINDY PROJECT<\/strong>) and Alfonso (<strong>Sam Richardson, VEEP<\/strong>) are entourage members of a successful rap artist stage-named \u201cIL Lou the Sickest\u201d (<strong>Jay Pharoah, RIDE ALONG<\/strong>) who suffers a major mishap during a music video shoot. This leaves his boys in emotional disarray and financial straits, resulting in retreat to their shared hometown of <strong>Champaign, Illinois<\/strong>. \u201cWe never had it all. <em>Lou<\/em> had it all. We were just kind of <em>there<\/em>,\u201d reasons Alf to Ronnie while sitting in \u2013 gasp! \u2013 a mere Midwestern bar and grill. Can they rebound and become the well-rounded adults they never were or will the seductive grasp of \u201cthe lifestyle\u201d pull them back in?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For good or for ill, they find out quickly that adjustment to their original digs is going to be one giant re-learning curve; those 15 years spent partying, posturing, and jet-setting with Lou since the end of high school do squat to impress their family and friends. Knowing little else, the self-proclaimed \u201cAlonzos of mourning\u201d try hard to shoehorn their hip-hop image and excessive materialism into how they interact with the domesticated surroundings, operating out of a bland two-bedroom apartment and searching for ways to scrape by until a master plan comes together. Created by <strong>Jordan Cahan, David Caspe, Daniel Libman<\/strong>, and<strong> Matthew Libman<\/strong>, whose total combined efforts have gone into such recent programs as <strong>HAPPY ENDINGS, MARRY ME, BLACK MONDAY<\/strong>, and <strong>THE MICK<\/strong>, <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> is bent on mining the most \u201carrested development\u201d humor it can out of Ronnie and Alf\u2019s predicament. <a title=\"CHAMPAIGN ILL playlist :: YouTube Originals\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLjq6DwYksrzxIg1mrvfUpCqG4caNr2695\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">The first three episodes, posted for free viewing with the remainder available to Premium subscribers, breeze by at a clip<\/span><\/a> and occasionally dare to dip into dark waters and cringe humor without wallowing in unpleasantness.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"CHAMPAIGN ILL (Sony Pictures Television\/YouTube Premium)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/Images\/CUBlog Art\/cu_champaignILL_title.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"252\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">That said, a rapid-fire preview appearing at the end of Episode 3 promises the Champaign respite will become more outrageous and dangerous as their stay continues. Appearing throughout the season of this \u201c<strong>YouTube Original<\/strong>\u201d are veterans <strong>Allyce Beasley<\/strong> (<strong>MOONLIGHTING<\/strong>), <strong>Curtis Armstrong<\/strong> (<strong>SUPERNATURAL<\/strong>), and <strong>Keith David<\/strong> (<strong>NIGHT SCHOOL<\/strong>) as Ron\u2019s parents and Alfonso\u2019s father, comedienne <strong>Danielle Schneider<\/strong> (<strong>THE HOTWIVES OF ORLANDO<\/strong>) as Ron\u2019s sister Shayna, writer\/actor <strong>Neil Casey<\/strong> (<strong>INSIDE AMY SCHUMER<\/strong>) as Lou\u2019s manager Craig, and <strong>Sabrina Revelle<\/strong> (<strong>HE\u2019S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU<\/strong>) as Alfonso\u2019s former flame Courtney. <strong>Maurice Marable<\/strong> (<strong>BROCKMIRE<\/strong>) directed the first two episodes, \u201c<strong>A Gangster Way to Start Your Day<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>Loop de Loop Fastballs<\/strong>,\u201d written by the Libmans, Caspe, and Cahan, while <strong>David Katzenberg<\/strong> (<strong>THE GOLDBERGS<\/strong>) directed and <strong>Danielle Uhlarik<\/strong> (<strong>MARY + JANE<\/strong>) wrote the third, \u201c<strong>Wowee These Guys are Good!<\/strong>\u201d <strong>Sony Pictures Television<\/strong> partnered with <strong>YouTube<\/strong> to produce <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> in <strong>Atlanta, Georgia<\/strong>, and the half-hour show is expectedly rated TV-MA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Since we viewed the first third of its season, we feel obliged to briefly address whether a program named <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> but filmed in a southern state looks or even <em>feels<\/em> like the Champaign we know. The answer is, \u201cnot really,\u201d and it doesn\u2019t bother us at all. Everything depicted in this shadow version of the Bubbly City is somewhat recognizable as suburban, while there is no obvious attempt to depict anything specific from here as a clever detail or obscure Easter egg. (The one exception in all the footage we\u2019ve seen is Ron\u2019s \u201cIL Lou\u201d sweatshirt in the teaser embedded above, which at first made us think of the former <strong>University of Illinois<\/strong> men\u2019s basketball coach <strong>Lou Henson<\/strong> with the orange coloring.) Champaign is rarely invoked in dialogue and <strong>Urbana<\/strong> goes unmentioned; their influence on this project probably starts and ends with that wordplay in the title, just like <a title=\"\u2018Raise a glass for Mike N Molly's\u2019 by Niko Dugan :: The News-Gazette\" href=\"http:\/\/www.news-gazette.com\/arts-entertainment\/local\/2016-03-17\/raise-glass-mike-n-mollys.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">the alliterative <strong>MIKE &amp; MOLLY<\/strong> once referenced-not-really a former downtown bar<\/span><\/a>. As it stands, <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> is an enjoyable lark (if an acquired taste) that benefits from witty (if profane) scripting and an easy chemistry between Pally and Richardson.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.<\/em> Adam Pally <em>must<\/em> have learned about Champaign prior to <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong>. He starred alongside <strong>Zoe Lister-Jones<\/strong> in her acclaimed \u201cmarried-with-a-band\u201d dramedy, <strong>BAND AID<\/strong>, which was her follow-up production to <a title=\"IOW: CONSUMED in moderation :: C-U Blogfidential\" href=\"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=9510\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">CONSUMED<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.2<\/em> Two of YouTube\u2019s co-founders and fellow UIUC alumni, <a title=\"\u2018The revolution wasn't televised: The early days of YouTube\u2019 by Todd Wasserman :: Mashable\" href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/2015\/02\/14\/youtube-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Steve Chen<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\"> and <strong>Jawed Karim<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, <em>must<\/em> have heard about <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> by now. Right?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.3<\/em> <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong> has a theme song of sorts, IL Lou\u2019s slow churner \u201c<strong>Jet Lag<\/strong>\u201d as performed by Jay Pharoah, although it\u2019s only heard at full strength in the first episode. <a title=\"\u2018Jet Lag\u2019 by Jay Pharoah from CHAMPAIGN ILL :: YouTube Music\" href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mGPNOvRlfzd3Uo1rKwxIfzrCrbSpqT0zM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">You can add it to a listening list<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.4<\/em> We\u2019ve found few reviews of <strong>CHAMPAIGN ILL<\/strong>. <a title=\"\u2018Champaign ILL\u2019 Review: Adam Pally and Sam Richardson Pop in Sharp YouTube Comedy\u2019 by Ben Travers :: IndieWire\" href=\"https:\/\/www.indiewire.com\/2018\/12\/champaign-ill-youtube-review-adam-pally-sam-richardson-jay-pharoah-1202027593\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">At least <strong>Ben Travers<\/strong> of <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">IndieWire<\/span><\/strong> likes it<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.5<\/em> <a title=\"IOW: STRANGE to see no BloNo :: C-U Blogfidential\" href=\"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=9261\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">\u201cKeep repeating, it\u2019s <em>not<\/em> a documentary \u2026 <em>not<\/em> a documentary \u2026 <em>not<\/em> a documentary \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.6<\/em> In the first issue of <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">MICRO-FILM<\/span><\/strong>, <a title=\"It was 10 years, 2 hours ago\u2026 :: C-U Blogfidential\" href=\"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=1319\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">published 20 years ago in late 1999<\/span><\/a>, we covered an independent production filmed in <strong>California<\/strong> called <strong>PURE KILLJOY<\/strong> because it sounded interesting and had a local connection in producer and uncredited co-screenwriter <strong>Lane Soelberg<\/strong>, who regularly jetted between <strong>Los Angeles<\/strong> to work on the movie and the C-U to complete his Master\u2019s in business administration at UIUC. The proper titling of this <em>noir<\/em>-fed mind bender, as seen in its publicity materials, is <strong>pURe kILLjoy<\/strong>. It\u2019s a curious observation if you immediately looked at its capital letters. Soelberg did tell us in confidence that \u201cUR\u201d and \u201cILL\u201d had nothing to do with Urbana; it is actually a sort of portmanteau for \u201cyou are ill\u201d in reference to the mental state of the main character, Fred Derf (<strong>Gregg Rubin<\/strong>). The movie itself has gone AWOL like so many other Nineties indies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>p.s.7<\/em> Yes, this is the first of several <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">MICRO-FILM<\/span><\/strong> references we\u2019ll make in 2019. WR ILL MF like that.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"CHAMPAIGN ILL (Sony Pictures Television\/YouTube Premium)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/Images\/CUBlog Art\/cu_champaignILL_poster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"668\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;To be or not to be about Champaign, IL&#8221; is not the question here. &#8220;To be or not to be a funny show called CHAMPAIGN ILL and starring Adam Pally and Sam Richardson&#8221; is the more accurate query. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,376],"tags":[2023,2026,2020,2025,2028,2024,2027,2022,2021,1243],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcast-dates","category-gone-hollywood","tag-adam-pally","tag-atlanta-ga","tag-champaign-ill","tag-curtis-armstrong","tag-jay-pharoah","tag-sam-richardson","tag-sony-pictures-television","tag-youtube-originals","tag-youtube-premium","tag-zoe-lister-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}