NEW YORK 鈥� Jermaine Fowler is plenty pleased with his new CBS sitcom, Superior Donuts.
A midseason entry last February, it starts its first full season Monday (9 p.m.), and Fowler is jazzed to be back.
On the show, he plays a young go-getter reluctantly hired by a pastry chef who, after a half-century in business, still sells the best doughnuts in Chicago but whose marketing style (wi-fi and Yelp are not terms he鈥檚 familiar with) is pretty stale.
鈥淭he show鈥檚 about these two guys coming together for one common cause: to keep the doughnut shop alive,鈥� Fowler said. But they don鈥檛 exactly get along: Fowler鈥檚 character, Franco, is impetuous and bursting with new ideas; Arthur, played by Judd Hirsch, is, um, rather crusty, not to mention stuck in his ways.
鈥淔ranco represents the change that Arthur is so afraid of,鈥� Fowler said.
On the other hand, Fowler said that working with Hirsch, a comedy veteran at 82 who starred in the classic sitcom Taxi, is a blast.
So is another seasoned co-star: Katey Sagal, who plays a Chicago cop who鈥檚 been coming to Superior Donuts since she was a child.
鈥淭his,鈥� said Fowler, 鈥渋s going to sound weird. I grew up hearing Katey on Futurama鈥� 鈥� the animated series where Sagal voices sexy, one-eyed alien Leela. 鈥淚 used to record Futurama episodes on my cassette player and play it to help me go to sleep. Now, like when babies hear their mama and they calm down, when I hear Katey鈥檚 voice, I know everything鈥檚 gonna be OK.鈥�
So far, so good. At 29, Fowler is an experienced standup comic with a Showtime comedy special under his belt and a sketch-comedy series, Friends of the People, that aired for two seasons on truTV.
He grew up in suburban Washington, D.C., and describes his family as 鈥渇unny鈥� but also 鈥減retty damn loud. My parents argued a lot. It was pretty tumultuous at times. Humour was how I got through everything in my life. I used to find a funny way to get out of situations. That鈥檚 who I was. That鈥檚 who I am.鈥�
Then, in 12th grade, he discovered Eddie Murphy鈥檚 comedy genius. It inspired him to do a standup routine at his high school talent show.
鈥淚t was horrific,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut my best friend Travis told me to keep doing it. He said watching me bomb was one of the funniest things he鈥檇 ever seen. So I never stopped.鈥�
Fowler was the first person in his family to get into college. Then he dropped out.
鈥淚 only went because I thought I was supposed to go,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I wanted to go do standup and figure life out. I knew I had to.鈥�
He describes his standup style as 鈥渢opical, goofy, autobiographical 鈥� wearing my heart on my sleeve. I always try to stay the same person I was before I did standup. It鈥檚 still me, just with a microphone and a little more selective. You want to stay that person, and not shave away things that made you you offstage, so you鈥檙e no longer you ONSTAGE. I鈥檝e always tried to be as Jermaine as I can.鈥�
