Comedy Central today announced a greenlight for a one-hour comedic documentary from D.L. Hughley, How Not to Get Shot and Other Advice from White People, based on Hughley’s New York Times bestselling book of the same name. Hughley will executive produce and star in the project, which will follow him into the field to explore the state of race in America. By following behavioral advice given to African Americans, will Hughley make all the problems of race in America disappear, or will he bring systemic prejudice to light?
“I look forward to working with Comedy Central on this documentary, where we’ll get to explore deeper into the state of race as I see it today. And then…leave it to me to point out the absurd,” said Hughley. “I dig how Comedy Central saw How Not To Get Shot as I did — knowing the conversation would extend far beyond the length of a book.”
“We’re incredibly excited to work with D.L. again and build on our award-winning partnership,” said Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, Co-Heads of Original Content, Comedy Central. “D.L. has an eye for the absurdities that mainstream America too often accepts as normal, especially when it comes to race. His incisive wit and comedic genius will be on full display in How Not to Get Shot.”
How Not to Get Shot and Other Advice From White People is executive produced by Hughley, 3Arts, Hugh Fink, Adam Mansbach, and Vikram Gandhi, who is also director and showrunner. Sonya Vaughn is a producer. Hughley is repped by 3Arts and UTA. Fink and Vikram are repped by UTA. Jonas Larsen, Christian McLaughlin, Ola Iko, and Michael Stanger are the Executives in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.
Hughley’s 2012 docu-comedy special with Comedy Central, D.L. Hughley: The Endangered List (2012), was awarded the George Foster Peabody Award in the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards competition.
How Not to Get Shot is the latest project to advance Comedy Central’s expansion into the documentary space, following the network’s October announcement of plans for a deep-dive documentary about the life of comedian Patrice O’Neal. Earlier this year, Comedy Central premiered Klepper, an eight-episode immersive documentary series about American activism, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents Desi Lydic: Abroad, a one-hour special chronicling Lydic’s international exploration of how the U.S. has fallen behind other nations on issues of gender equality. Prior Comedy Central docu-comedy specials include Jeff Ross Roasts the Border: Live from Brownsville, Texas (2017), Jeff Ross Roasts Cops (2016), and Jeff Ross Roasts Criminals: Live at Brazos County Jail (2015).
Today’s greenlight announcement comes as Comedy Central closes a 2018-2019 fiscal year of strong overall growth and series performance, including among African American audiences. Recently renewed for a second season, the network’s summer hit South Side was the #1 new cable comedy of 2019 with African American Men 18-49 and Comedy Central’s highest-rated new series among African-American Adults 18-49 since the launch of Key & Peele in 2012. South Side is 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
