Chicago comedian “Lil Rel” Howery has much to be upset about in the just-released trailer for his new sitcom “Rel,” coming this fall on Fox.
In the snippets from the show’s pilot episode, Howery plays a West Sider whose cheating wife has left him, taking the kids and the furniture. He feels doubly betrayed because the man she’s been sleeping with is his barber — or, as Rel calls him, “my hair confidant.”
As he did in his acclaimed role in last year’s horror hit “Get Out,” Howery spends much of the trailer on the phone, getting laughs from just his side of the conversation, Bob Newhart-style. As Rel tries to keep his embarrassing situation under wraps and debates going out with a woman known as “Loose Boots” Monica, the trailer also offers glimpses of veteran comedian Sinbad, playing Rel’s father, and Howery himself in a bonus role as a preacher.
Though many TV drama series are shot in Chicago — including a new one on Fox — comedies are a rarity, and “Rel” will be made in Los Angeles — despite the trailer’s images of L trains and the Chicago skyline.
“Rel,” scheduled to air Sunday nights after “Family Guy,” has a lineup of executive producers including Jerrod Carmichael, Howery’s former co-star on “The Carmichael Show” on NBC, and “The Simpsons” veteran Mike Scully.
