Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
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''Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' is an American
stand up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
that premiered on FX on August 9, 2012, starring comedian
W. Kamau Bell Walter Kamau Bell (born January 26, 1973) is an American stand-up comic and television host. He has hosted the CNN series ''United Shades of America'' since 2016, and hosted FXX television series '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' from 2012 ...
. On stage, Bell did mostly observational comedy on recent news stories and current events. After an opening
PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPo ...
monologue, the program usually cut to a segment filmed outside of the studio. Additionally, since all of the show's writers were stand-up comedians, many often appeared as correspondents who performed monologues. As the last segment of the program, Bell interviewed a celebrity guest. In order to ensure the show's topicality, most of the show was taped on the day that it was broadcast. In the first episode, Bell interviewed Chris Rock, who was also an executive producer of the show. It was announced on November 13, 2013, that ''Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell'' had been canceled, and that the final episode would be broadcast the next day.


Episodes


Production

On September 18, 2012, FX ordered an additional seven episodes of ''Totally Biased'' that premiered on October 11, 2012, at 11:30 PM ET. Episode 12 ended up airing at 12:00 AM ET on November 16, 2012, because ''Brand X with Russell Brand'' had been extended to an hour. On November 27, FX announced the series would have an additional 13 episodes in the first season beginning on January 17, 2013. After a short break during the 2013 portion of season 1, episodes resumed on May 9, 2013, and continued until the season 1 finale on June 20, 2013. With the launch of FXX, the show would air daily at 11:00 PM ET and began its second season on September 4, 2013.


Reception

The premiere episode received mixed reviews. ''The A.V. Club'' gave it a B+ and called it "a much better version of ''Chocolate News'', which drops the sketch comedy bent for more explicit social commentary that blends ''The Daily Show'' with what Russell Brand wishes he could get on ''Brand X''". The ''Los Angeles Times'' also compared Bell and the show favorably to ''Brand X'', saying that "there is a voluble sweetness to his manner that should prove a tonally better companion" to preceding programs. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' applauded the show's edginess, saying that "it makes ''The Daily Show'' look like something your dad watches." ''Newsday'' gave the show a B- and was more critical, saying that "Rock may want to light a fire under this act sooner than later." ''The A.V. Club'' reviewed the first cycle of season one, giving it a B and stating that it has "positive progress to build on going forward. I's certainly in better shape than ''Brand X'', especially when it just lets Bell do his thing in the opening segment. But the longevity of the show will depend on the star finding a way to shape the out-of-studio segments into something more compelling and growing as an interviewer."


See also

* List of late-night American network TV programs


References


External links


Official Website
*
Audience Tickets
{{Chris Rock 2012 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings 2010s American black television series 2010s American late-night television series 2010s American stand-up comedy television series English-language television shows FX Networks original programming FXX original programming