Damon Wayans and His Son Officially Teaming up for CBS Sitcom

By Daniel S. Levine

Damon Wayans and his son, Damon Wayans Jr., are returning to television in the same show. They will star in a new father-son sitcom, which earned a pilot order from CBS on Feb. 8. The project still does not have a title, reports Variety. It was co-written by Wayans and former Last Man Standing executive producer Kevin Hench. The show also marks the elder Wayans' first sitcom since ABC's My Wife and Kids ended in 2005.

The new series will star Wayans as a happily-divorced radio talk show host whose life is changed when a new female co-host is hired. Wayans Jr. will play his on-screen son, who has inherited all of his father's charm but none of his drive. He is about to turn 40 and has no interest in being an adult. Wayans, Wayans Jr., and Hench are executive producers on the project, Deadline reported when news of the project surfaced in October 2022. The multi-cam series is set up at CBS Studios, where Wayans Jr.'s Two Shakes Entertainment is based.

Wayans has not starred in a sitcom since ABC's My Wife and Kids, which he also co-created. After that show ended, Wayans created a short-lived Showtime sketch comedy series called The Underground in 2006. More recently, he starred in the troubled Fox series adaptation of Lethal Weapon as Roger Murtaugh. In 2011, he appeared with Wayans Jr. in the Happy Endings episode "Like Father, Like Gun." The two worked together again when Wayans stopped by on the Happy Together episode "Like Father, Like Son." Wayans has four Emmy nominations for his work on In Living Color. His next project is Tubi's noir thriller Cinnamon, co-starring Pam Grier.

Wayans Jr. made his television debut with a recurring role on My Wife and Kids and also appeared on The Underground. His other credits include New Girl, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, The Twilight Zone, Happy Endings, The Harder They Fall, Kenan, and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Wayans Jr. was last seen on CBS in Happy Together, which lasted one season during the 2018-2019 season.

Hench was an executive producer on Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen. The sitcom ran on ABC and Fox between 2011 and 2021. He also co-created Cristela Alonzo's Cristela and Gabriel Iglasias' Mr. Iglasias. Hench worked with Allen again on Disney+'s The Santa Clauses, a continuation of The Santa Clause film franchise. The series, which also stars Elizabeth Mitchell and Kal Penn, debuted on Nov. 16 with its first two episodes. 

The Wayans-Wayans project is CBS' first comedy pilot for the 2023-2024 TV season. The eye network also ordered a Matlock reboot, starring Kathy Bates as the folksy lawyer previously played by Andy Griffith. Elsbeth, another series set in The Good Wife universe and starring Carrie Preston, is also in development.

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