May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06) – May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
That Damn Michael Che is an American sketch comedy television series created by and starring Michael Che that premiered on HBO Max on May 6, 2021. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season.
Premise
Each episode follows a theme or incident (police brutality, unemployment, falling in love, etc.) and uses sketches and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience this from a black vantage point.[1]
On July 14, 2020, HBO Max gave the then-untitled project a series order consisting of 6 half-hour episodes. The series is created by Michael Che, who also executive produces alongside Lorne Michaels and Erin Doyle.[3] Che, speaking about the project, said: "I'm really excited to be working on this show with HBO Max. It's a project I've been thinking about for a while and we have a lot of sketches we want to shoot so please wear your masks so that we can go into production." On April 19, 2021, it was announced that the series was to be titled That Damn Michael Che and would premiere on May 6, 2021.[4] On July 22, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.[5]
The first season was shot throughout New York, with filming commencing on November 9, 2020, and wrapping on February 1, 2021.[6]
Music
The theme song for season 1 was "You Can't Stop Us Now" from Nas's untitled album. In season 2, the theme song was "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" from Funkadelic's album Maggot Brain.[7]