A Jerrod Carmichael fan community

♥️

Not the reality show. But The Carmichael Show sitcom. I just remember getting annoyed at the “Three year anniversary” episode. Like, the way Jerrod, the character at least lol, treated Maxine was insane.

It can be in terms of writing, or the overall message or the acting or setting.

I’m so curious

I finally finished the reality show-- it took me a long time to get through because I kept questioning whether I wanted to keep watching it or not.

And, at the end, I am still a little mystified by his relationship with Mike. Not the cheating or the openness--I'm a gay man in my 40s, I certainly have familiarity with all of that--but I'm trying to figure out how two people like that even find each other in the first place. How does a famous, NYC-residing comedian meet some college kid who lives in corn country? The obvious answer would be "Grindr" but Jerrod claims multiple times that they had some kind of relationship before they became romantically involved and at one point he says, "I had a crush on him even when I was straight."

People here have called Mike a 20YO--I assume/hope they're rounding down? Mike doesn't SEEM 20--he's attractive but definitely more weathered than someone a couple years out of high school normally seems. When other people clutched their pearls over the age difference I rolled my eyes--Mike's a legal adult, and gay relationships with age gaps aren't uncommon (I was in one or ten myself back in the day when I was in my 20s). But if he really was only 20 when this was taped, that would mean Jerrod had "a crush" on Mike when he was a literal teenager--he came out two years before this show was taped. That's a little bit more problematic. (Actually, it's a lot more problematic.)

It's hard for me to believe no one knows who this guy actually is given how often he's in town. What is the real story here?

Would pay double!

I'm at the end of episode 4 of his reality show and does anyone else think that this show is just him being a giant asshole to absolutely everybody and then fixing a few of the things he fucked up in order to justify the fact that he thinks he's a good person? The dude is a giant piece of shit and I can't emphasize that enough. Cheat on your partner dozens of times

hold the fact that you're paying for your parents house over their head

make his dad cry

Kick his friend out by buying her an apartment for one month and stop responding to her calls

Or at least he's doing a couple of live shows. I was looking at the website for the DC Improv and saw he'll be there on August 20th and 21st. I was curious if he was doing more shows but all I could see is that he's also gonna be doing shows in NYC at the Bell House on August 4th and the City Winery on August 5th.

Maybe he's doing more shows in other cities but I'm not sure because of course Jerrod somehow doesn't even have a fucking tour website let alone social media lol.

I'm thinking of going to one of the DC shows despite how controversial he's been recently, because I still have enjoyed his stand-up and just love to see live comedy.

Max isn't available in my location and for some reason, the site I'm using to stream doesn't have episode 3. Was it also taken down from max?

posted more photos of them on IG @wickedjoyful 👀

Did anyone else feel like this just kinda summed it up all in one go? I couldn't help but notice that line as a reflection of the entire goal and purpose of the show, which is that this was really just Jerrod having run out of personal material to go through on stage, and has to start bringing in other people in his life in order to have more material to 'feed the beast', essentially. I noticed the scene where he's showing a picture of his boyfriend to his dad, he intentionally swipes past multiple normal pictures to show him one of him almost naked standing in the bathroom. This interaction isn't about being accepted for being in a relationship, it's about intentionally making a 65 year old man uncomfortable to evoke a more legitimate reaction. That's exhibitionism. Actually shoving this stuff in people's faces regardless of what it makes them feel or how much they want to be involved. "But what's wrong with that??"

This isn't about Jerrod being a good or a bad person, or wanting to seek 'the truth', I think Jerrod just gets a high and/or gets off on having these things be exposed, and that this whole thing was basically just a giant, narcissistic act of destruction of both himself and his relationships with his loved ones. He described seeing Twitter's reaction to the whole thing as "exciting". Perhaps the only silver lining is that the last minute does essentially just end with him and Bo realizing the whole thing was a fucking terrible idea.

What's 'wrong' with it is that dragging your family and friends in front of a camera crew has real consequences outside of just getting more material. To even ask that question just demonstrates such a mind blowing lack of self-awareness about the whole thing.

Phew. Out of all the interviews and podcasts Jerrod has done (I’ve listened to Angie Martinez, Breakfast Club, Talk Easy) in the last month…. This one was the best. I assume the podcast episode with Jay Shetty is good too.

If y’all haven’t listened to this episode… it’s a must imo 🤷🏽‍♀️

OK so I'm new to this whole thing. The first time I ever saw him was on Watch What Happens Live some weeks ago, when he was SO FUNNY (til he clammed on Andy).

And I must admit it's been a bit of a journey. I wasn't happy with the finale of the reality show as I've noted a few times. And I got ticked off by one of the earlier comedy specials (misogyny that simply was not funny). BUT I took the advice of someone here and watched both Rothaniel and Sermon on the Mount.

And now I GET it! Sermon on the Mount was the love letter to his mother that I had been yearning for. And you understand why he was so tough on them during the reality show because he let both of them off the hook then, in particular his father with whom he truly pulled his punches.

But what i loved about Sermon was Jerrod's care and pure talent in helping craft beautiful stories and images about people's real lives and experiences. I thought it was fantastic and I ask Jerrod to please, please, please go back to making films like this one. Show us stories not from your own perspective but that of others! You have a gift for it and I want more of THAT.

So many things:

From refusing to refer to Michael as Jerrod's boyfriend, to holding that death-grip on the idea that Jerrod is making a "choice" (which she of course regards as a sin, so in her mind Jerrod is little more than a willful sinner). And then the audacity to feign confusion as to why people are being "hard on her" about the whole thing.

Frankly in my opinion, and I know I will lose and offend people here, her whole relationship with religion is pathetic. I quote: "I couldn't handle life without having someone else higher than me help me with the decision." That is immaturity and that is arrested development. She uses her notion of God (as many do) to completely escape any level of personal accountability for her morality or decision-making. She likes to hold against Jerrod the idea that God gives us free will, but of course all of her beliefs and weaknesses of character are out of her hands, it's simply 'the word'.

And most often (I imagine) it is to her detriment: for example, her "forgiveness" of Jerrod's father was simply weakness and helplessness disguised as strength and faith. I personally think she is a much nastier and egotistical person than her persona of "good Christian woman" allows people to see.

TLDR:

His mother is a classic example of certain people using religion as a scapegoat from having to develop independent dignity and strength of will. And it has cost her family dearly.

"You are using God as a way not to think for yourself." - Jerrod

As much shit as Jerrod has rightfully gotten, it is incredibly painful to watch his superior character and grace afford his mother the space to continuously fail him.

It is evident after watching the series and listening to Jerrod on multiple podcasts, that Jerrod's highest virtue that he strives for is honesty. And you might be thinking... "but didn't he cheat on his boyfriend a bunch?" Well, yes. But what I mean by honesty isn't so much "not lying" or being faithful, but more-so the act of living in or the acceptance of reality, the saying of what needs to be said. It's so important to him that he made a whole show about it. He holds himself to this standard as well as everyone around him. It's a constant theme in his work. But here is my problem with the entire concept of his reality show...

His critique of other reality shows is that everyone else is trying to show their best self, their most virtuous self. But if honesty is Jerrod's highest virtue- then he is doing the exact same thing that he is critiquing others of doing: attempting to show his most virtuous self. He is having conversations he never would have otherwise. So if the entire concept of the show is to show "reality," but he is doing things he never would without a camera... is that really reality? Just because he is being vulnerable and is not trying to show what the average person's concept of "virtue" is, he is still attempting to show HIS concept of virtue.

The argument could be made that the biggest takeaway from this show is that now matter how genuine your intentions are, the very presence of the camera, whether that is a cellphone or a multi-camera docuseries, no one can be truly honest when the immortalization of their character is at stake.