[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Poppa’s House.]

The Big Picture

Real-life father-son duo Damon Wayans Sr. and Damon Wayans Jr. star and co-produce the family sitcom ‘Poppa’s House.’
The duo’s collaborative and familial dynamic allows for trust, creative exploration, and improvisation on set.
The series’ switch from radio to podcast hosting has enhanced storytelling by integrating characters like the female co-host.

The CBS series Poppa’s House brings father-son duo Damon Wayans Sr. and Damon Wayans Jr. together as executive producers and co-stars for this family sitcom. Poppa (Wayans Sr.) is a happily divorced talk radio turned podcast host who is constantly having his point of view challenged by his adult son Junior (Wayans Jr.) and female co-host Ivy (Essence Atkins). While his son is working at being a responsible father and supportive husband alongside his wife Nina (Tetona Jackson), he’s more of a dreamer when it comes to figuring out his professional life. The built-in chemistry and playfulness between Wayans Sr. and Wayans Jr. makes the family vibe immediate and undeniable, and it’s clear they want to make themselves and each other laugh along with the audience.

During this interview with Collider, the Wayans real-life father-son duo talked about the fun that comes with collaborating with family when there’s such a huge amount of trust in each other, the freedom they have to explore their characters, believing there’s a creative solution to every problem, the magic of being able to laugh at work, how they handle disagreements, one particularly standout moment from the pilot that was actually improvised, and why they immediately decided to switch things up by shifting Poppa from a radio host to a podcast house and how that’s benefited the series.

Damon Wayans Sr. and Damon Wayans Jr. Just Want To Bring the Funny to ‘Poppa’s House’

Collider: I love everything about the fact that you’re working together. Not only are you guys both starring in this together, but you’re also executive producers on it, so you can’t really pull rank on each other. What is the best part about making a family sitcom with actual family? Is there anything challenging to that or is it all fun?

DAMON WAYANS SR.: For me, it’s all fun. There are no differences. We both have the same agenda, which is to make a great show, so there’s this huge amount of trust. I trust that he’s funny and understands his character and story, and even my character and the dynamics between us, and vice versa. It’s always, “Yes, and . . .” It’s, “I like that, and what about this?” “Yes, and what about this?”

DAMON WAYANS JR.: It’s very collaborative, very familial. So, it’s easy. Well, it’s not easy. Obviously, making TV shows is challenging, in itself, but the process is a lot easier, having family.

What have you guys most enjoyed about working together on this? Is there anything that you’ve discovered about each other from working together in this capacity? What do you enjoy about each other as scene partners?

WAYANS JR.: What I like is just knowing that I have the freedom to explore this character on a level that I probably wouldn’t be able to do if I wasn’t doing it with my father and I wasn’t an EP on the show. We’re finding these characters as we’re doing the [episodes], and I have comfort knowing that if I say something that’s not necessarily on script, I’m gonna set him up for something, and he’ll do the same for me. There’s a lot of comfort in that.

WAYANS SR.: I love the fact that I come to work, and I know I’m gonna laugh and I know I’m gonna have a good time. There’ll be challenges and there’ll be problems to solve, but for the most part, there are creative solutions to every problem. It’s just knowing that I’m working with somebody who I love and respect, and who has the same sense of humor with a different sensibility. It’s just very comforting.

Related Damon Wayans Parents His Grown Son in ‘Poppa’s House’ Trailer The series premieres this fall.

When you do something like this, the laughs are important. Do you guys ever have days where you’re in it and it just doesn’t feel like it’s clicking and it just doesn’t feel like it’s funny? And what do you do to shake that up and turn it around?

WAYANS JR.: It’s an interesting process because we’ll rehearse on Tuesdays, and while we’re rehearsing the show, we’ll sit down and rewrite each scene and we’ll pitch jokes, just to make it as funny as we possibly can. By the time it comes to shooting at the end of the week, we already have it fine-tuned. So, if we have improv to do, it’ll just be in addition to the funny that’s already there. We don’t have days where we’re not laughing.

Who doesn’t want to laugh at work all day?

WAYANS SR.: Yeah, it’s pretty magical when people come around and experience it. Not only are we family, but we have extended family, with Kim, Shawn, my nephew, my granddaughter, and my daughters all there. And then, there’s the extended family, which are the people we’ve worked with from In Living Color, and My Wife and Kids, including the camera men and prop people. Everybody knows everybody and loves everybody, so it just makes it so easy to go to work.

Damon Wayans Jr. Is Confident His Father Will Always Make the Right Decisions for ‘Poppa’s House’
Image via CBS

There still have to be days when you aren’t all on the same page, so do you have a process for disagreements?

WAYANS JR.: I’m confident in my dad’s ability to make the right decision for the show. I’ll have a say, but ultimately, I defer to him, and ultimately, it usually works out. And then, he’s very collaborative. He’s not the kind of person that’s like, “It’s my way or the highway.” He listens and he’s very collaborative. And the showrunner of the show, Dean Lorey, he wrote Major Payne with, so that just shows you how familial this this process is. He’s a very good collaborator, as well.

WAYANS SR.: We don’t sit around saying, “No.” When we say, “Yeah, I like that, and what about this?,” we’re building on someone’s idea to make it work, as opposed to rejecting ideas. People get into arguments when you just shoot it down. We don’t do that. We wanna hear it, and then go, “Okay, there’s something there,” or “There’s something not quite there, but what about this?” You always feel like you have a seat at the table.

WAYANS JR.: I also feel like the lack of ego is key too. Nobody’s going in there prideful about their pitches. If a pitch doesn’t work, maybe it inspires something. Leaving your egos at the door and just going in there to make a great project is key.

WAYANS SR.: I just complimented a writer on his ability to be so relentless because everything he pitches gets shot down. But then, once in a while, he’ll pitch something that’s brilliant and you go, “Okay.” His ratio is way off, but he’s tenacious. He keeps coming back like he’s never gotten rejected before, and that is inspiring to other people.

Related A Pair of ‘New Girl’ Roommates Will Reunite Next Year for an Episode of ‘Poppa’s House’ The Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. sitcom at CBS will also feature a mini ‘In Living Color’ reunion.

One of the interesting things about comedy is that, when you’re really good at it, it seems easy, so people get the impression that it’s way easier than it actually is. I didn’t know anything about how comedy worked, but then I went to a live taping of In Living Color, and the thing that really stood out and impressed me about seeing what everyone was doing was the variety that everyone gave and the different versions of the skits. It was so fun to see how that process worked. Is this a show also where you’re able to play and explore some of that variety while you’re doing it? Do you improvise much in the moment?

WAYANS SR.: Absolutely. We’re not coming to work to do what’s on the page. What’s on the page is a blueprint for what we bring to the stage. Every scene has a structure – a beginning, a middle and an end – but what we do in between is where the magic is. Sometimes [my son] will say something, and I’ll think, “That’s brilliant,” and you just go with it. You wanna be supportive. Essence [Atkins] and Tetona [Jackson] will improvise too, and we just go with it.’

There’s a brilliant little moment in the pilot when Poppa and Ivy are having a bit of a rap exchange, and we get to see even more of that in the bloopers at the end. How hard was that moment to get right? When the rhythm has to be perfect in order to work, how many times do you have to shoot it?

WAYANS SR.: We actually only shot that twice. That outtake that you saw was my first attempt because that was improv. She rhymed to me, and I was like, “Okay, I need to rhyme back to her.” So, I made up a rhyme, and I knew what I wanted to say in my head, but it didn’t come out right the first time. So, we did another take and that’s what’s in the show. Stuff like that, that’s where the magic happens. It comes with listening and trusting and letting the gift take over. You just have to trust that it’s gonna be funny.

Making the Switch From Radio To Podcast Host Opened Up New Possibilities for ‘Poppa’s House’
Image via CBS

This series has already evolved, just from the beginning stages of it, transitioning from radio show to podcast. How do you feel that change has really helped with the stories you can tell now?

WAYANS SR.: What I realized with the radio station is that Dr. Reed was on an island. We’re doing this family show and she’s not a part of the family, so how do we plug her in? So, we had to move it to my house. It’s called Poppa’s House, so let that be the show. Bringing her into my house and the podcast introduces her to [my son] and his wife, and they become besties.

A legendary talk radio host faces new challenges both at work and at home. A fresh female co-host shakes up his professional life, while at home, he continues to guide his adult son, a dreamer struggling to balance his creative ambitions with family responsibilities.Release Date October 21, 2024 Cast Damon Wayans , Damon Wayans Jr. , Essence Atkins , Tetona Jackson , Bryan Safi Seasons 1 Network CBS

Poppa’s House airs on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+. Check out this series preview:

Watch on Paramount+