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Paramount+ has released first-look images of “The Varnell Hill Show,” the “Martin” spinoff premiering this September on the streaming platform.
The eight-episode debut season will premiere with two episodes on Sept.
1, followed by one new episode every Tuesday night until Oct. 13. Tommy Davidson returns as the titular character nearly 30 years after the mothership show ended. Hill is ready to return to the spotlight, but he won’t settle for anything less than star treatment.
“The Varnell Hill Show” is set behind the scenes of Hill’s fictional late-night talk show and, per the series logline, “follows Varnell as he fights to stay relevant in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. Between network executives eager to modernize the show, a chaotic writers’ room, celebrity guests, family drama and his own outsized ego, Varnell quickly discovers that keeping a television empire together may be harder than building one in the first place.”
Kym Whitley, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Nick Cafero, Emmanuel Hudson and Chris Williams also star alongside Davidson. Guest stars include Ms. Pat, Deon Cole, Damon Wayans, Mike Epps, Omarion and Martin Lawrence, the show’s executive producer.
Bentley Kyle Evans serves as director, writer, showrunner and executive producer. In association with BET Studios, also executive producing are Lawrence, Davidson, Jesse Collins and Dionne Harmon for Jesse Collins Entertainment, Stacy Lyles, Rae Proctor and Robert Lawrence for Runteldat Entertainment, Mark Greenberg and Andrew Horne for Harvest Studios.
“Martin” ran from 1992 to 1997 on Fox and starred Martin Lawrence as the titular character, Martin Payne. Original cast members Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II reunited in 2022 for a 90-minute BET+ special, which was filmed on the sitcom’s set.
