A new CBS sitcom project from producer Kenya Barris and actor Mike Epps has incited controversy because of its setting: Altadena, California, in the aftermath of the recent Eaton Fire.
News of the project came last month, with Deadline reporting that Barris was creating and writing the multi-camera sitcom and that BET Studios and CBS Studios were producing.
“In the untitled half-hour, after wildfires sweep through Altadena, two estranged Black brothers — one played by Epps — reunite to sell their late grandmother’s house to private developers,” the logline reads, per Deadline. “But when they learn her caretaker now owns part of the home and refuses to sell, they’re forced to live together and confront their differences — and what community, legacy, and family really mean.”
Altadena, an area in Los Angeles County, is where the Eaton Fire started this January. The fire spread over more than 14,000 acres and weeks to contain, and it led to the deaths of 18 civilians and the destruction of more than 9,000 structures, according to Cal Fire. As developers rushed in to buy out damaged and destroyed properties, Altadena residents rallied around the motto “Altadena is not for sale,” per the Los Angeles Public Press.
And a recent Instagram post posted by artist and entrepreneur Anjelika Perry and the Instagram accounts @inrealtimela and @altadenarising encapsulates the backlash to Barris’ sitcom.
“Some of us are still displaced. Still fighting insurance. Still grieving what never made it out,” the post reads. “So when I saw that CBS and Kenya Barris are partnering to develop a comedy ‘set in post-wildfire Altadena,’ I couldn’t believe it. A sitcom. About the ashes we haven’t even finished sweeping. And the most painful part? It’s being led by creatives who should know better. Who claim to represent us — but chose profit over people. This isn’t storytelling. It’s desecration.”
The post continues: “The idea that someone, anyone, would mine that grief for comedy while survivors are still rebuilding feels like a slap in the face. … Not everything needs to be content. Especially not our catastrophe. This fire wasn’t metaphor. It wasn’t a plot device. It was my mother’s home. It was my niece’s bedroom. It was everything we had, and we watched it burn. … Cancel the sitcom. Respect the grief. We don’t want a laugh track over our losses.”
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, KBLA journalist and Conversation Live: Altadena Rising host James Farr offered his take on the project in a statement to KBLA’s RSVP With Jill Monroe. “Love them [Barris and Epps] both, but there’s not anything funny happening,” Farr said. “I’m sure they’ll deliver intellectual humor with plenty of ‘message’ as a through line. However, I don’t know how I feel about it. Great for keeping Altadena in the national conversation, though.”
In the comments on the original Deadline article, readers argued about the idea.
“While I sympathize with everyone who lost their homes in the fire, none of us knows how the tragedy will be even highlighted,” one wrote. “All the triggered folks here think you can’t find happiness after a tragedy?”
Another commenter replied, “A story-oriented narrative that’s occasionally funny? Sure, because life is sometimes funny, even in tragedy. But a straight-out comedy-oriented narrative? No. ‘Read the room.’ Sure, ‘Tragedy + time = comedy,’ but we’re missing the ‘time’ part.”
Someone else commented, “Is this a joke? It’s way too soon. We as victims are still suffering every day. We need support and live and our real stories told. There is a time and place for this humor, but it’s not now.”
As for Barris, he defended the project on Instagram, THR reports. “What way could you think of supporting it then [sic] by doing what I know how to do and trying to bring a light to a place that many have already forgotten,” the Black-ish creator commented, responding to one user’s criticism. “I understand your fear, but know that I only plan to do the best I can to make sure the world sees you.”
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