''Survivor's Remorse'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series created by

Mike O'Malley Michael Edward O'Malley (born October 31, 1966) is an American actor, writer and television producer. Born in Boston and raised in New Hampshire, O'Malley hosted the early 1990s children's game shows '' Get the Picture'' and '' Nickelodeon Guts ...

that aired on

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

. It premiered on October 4, 2014, and ended on October 15, 2017. The plot centers around the lives of Cam Calloway (

Jessie T. Usher Jessie Thezeire Usher Jr. (born February 29, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for playing Lyle on the series ''Level Up (U.S. TV series), Level Up'', Cam Calloway on the series ''Survivor's Remorse'', and A-Train (comics), Reggie Franklin ...

) and his family after he signs a pro-basketball contract and moves his family to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The series is produced by

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

. On August 24, 2016, ''Survivor's Remorse'' was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on August 20, 2017. On October 10, 2017, Starz announced that the series would come to an end after its fourth season.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Cam Calloway *

RonReaco Lee RonReaco Lee (born August 27, 1977) is an American television and film actor best known for his roles as Tyreke Scott on the ABC/The WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'', and as Jamal Woodson on the BET romantic comedy '' Let's Stay Together''. From 2 ...

as Reggie Vaughn, Cam's cousin *

Erica Ash Erica Chantal Ash (September 19, 1977 – July 28, 2024) was an American actress, comedian, singer, and model. She was a cast member on the sketch comedy programs ''MADtv'' and ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'', and she later starred in the Starz sit ...

as Mary Charles "M-Chuck" Calloway, Cam's half-sister *

Teyonah Parris Teyonah Parris ( ; born September 22, 1987) is an American actress. A graduate of Juilliard School, she began acting in 2010. Her first prominent roles were in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2012–2015) and in the independent film ''Dear White Pe ...

as Missy Vaughn, Reggie's wife *

Tichina Arnold Tichina Rolanda Arnold (; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in '' Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986) and '' How I Got into College'' (1989) before being cast as Pamela ...

as Cassie Calloway, Cam's mother *

Mike Epps Michael Elliot Epps (born November 18, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Day-Day Jones in '' Next Friday'' and its sequel, '' Friday After Next'', and also appeared in ''The Hangover'' and '' The Hangover Part III'' as ...

as Uncle Julius (Seasons 1–2)

Recurring cast

Chris Bauer Chris Bauer is an American actor. He is best known for his television work in ''The Wire'', '' Third Watch'', '' True Blood'', '' Survivor's Remorse,'' '' The Deuce'', and the Apple TV+ original science fiction space drama series ''For All M ...

as Jimmy Flaherty, owner of the basketball team * Robert Wu as Da Chen Bao, Cassie's boyfriend * Meagan Tandy as Allison Pierce, Cam's girlfriend *

Ser'Darius Blain Ser'Darius William Blain (born March 10, 1987) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Anthony "Fridge" Johnson in the ''Jumanji (franchise), Jumanji'' film series, appearing in the sequel entries ''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' ...

as Jupiter Blackmon, Reggie's client * Catfish Jean as Squeeze, Cam and Reggie's childhood friend * Sir Brodie as Pookie, Julius's close friend of the family

Guest stars

* John Dennis as himself ("Homebound") *

Gerry Callahan Gerald Callahan is a radio show host best known for hosting a longtime morning program for WEEI-FM, a sports radio station in the Boston market. He began his career as a sports reporter for ''The Sun'' in Lowell in 1983, then the ''Boston Hera ...

as himself ("Homebound") *

as himself ("Guts") *

Tom Werner Thomas Charles Werner (born April 12, 1950) is an American television producer and businessman. Through his investment in Fenway Sports Group, he is currently chairman of both Liverpool F.C. and Boston Red Sox. Werner first became a part ow ...

as himself ("Guts")

Episodes

Season 1 (2014)

Season 2 (2015)

Season 3 (2016)

Season 4 (2017)

Critical reception and accolades

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' listed ''Survivor's Remorse'' as one of the best shows of 2015, saying "If it were on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

or FX, this glossy but ambitious comedy about an African-American family that moves from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's down-and-out Dorchester neighborhood into the Atlanta sports elite would be the only thing anybody would ever talk about. Instead, Mike O'Malley's saga of a family whose dynamics get compellingly distorted when one of their own makes it big in the NBA — and the show's sharp and raunchy discussions of race, class, and sexuality — remains, in its second year, an unfairly buried gem." By the conclusion of its final season, ''Survivor's Remorse'' averaged an 82 on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, indicating "universal acclaim". Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called it "one of TV's sharpest and most provocative comedies," while Alan Sepinwall praised it as "intensely satisfying and like nothing else on TV." Writing about the show for ''

Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...

'', in response to its "Photoshoot" episode focusing on colorism, Shannon M. Houston referred to the show as a "powerful beam, highlighting all that TV has yet to touch on, even during this Golden Age of peak TV." ''Survivor's Remorse'' was a

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

nominee for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2017 and 2018. The series and its cast were also nominated for and won several

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

: Tichina Arnold for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016, 2017, and 2018 (winning in 2017); Mike Epps for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2016 (winner), RonReaco Lee for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series in 2016 and 2018 (nominated), Erica Ash for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017 (nominated), and the series itself nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series 2016–2018. The

African-American Film Critics Association The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) is the world's largest group of Black film critics that gives various annual awards for excellence in film and television. It was founded in 2003 in New York City. In 2023 ''Variety'' stat ...

awarded ''Survivor's Remorse'' "Best Cable/New Media TV Show" in 2015 and named it the 10th best show of 2016.

References

External links

* * * {{Starz Shows 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2014 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings Basketball television series American English-language television shows Starz original programming Television shows set in Atlanta Television series by SpringHill Entertainment