Desus & Mero (2019 TV series)

Desus & Mero is an American television late-night talk show hosted by comedians Desus Nice and The Kid Mero. The show premiered on February 21, 2019 on the premium cable and streaming service Showtime.[1] The series' first season debuted on February 21, 2019, and garnered positive reviews.

Desus & Mero
Genre	Late-night talk show
Starring	Desus Nice The Kid Mero
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	103 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Daniel "Desus Nice" Baker Joel "The Kid Mero" Martinez Victor Lopez Tony Hernandez Lilly Burns
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Bodega Boys Original Chopped Cheese Jax Media
Release
Original network	Showtime
Original release	February 21, 2019 – present
Chronology
Preceded by	Desus & Mero (2016)
Related shows	Desus vs. Mero
External links
Website

For the 2016 series on Viceland with the same title, see Desus & Mero (2016 TV series)

History

Desus & Mero is the third series co-hosted by the pair, following the 2014 Complex TV web series Desus vs. Mero, and the 2016 Viceland television and web series Desus & Mero.[2][3]

Production

Development

In June 2018, Showtime announced they had ordered a half-hour late night series starring Desus and Mero, to be the network's first late night show ever.[4]

Desus and Mero stated that the increased budget would allow the show to have more pre-recorded sketches, a research team, and an upgraded set.[5]

They also hired a writer's room with the following writers: Mike Pielocik, Josh Gondelman, Claire Friedman, Ziwe Fumudoh, Robert Kornhauser, and Heben Nigatu.[6]

Release

The series debuted February 21, 2019. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was their first guest.[5] On April 21, 2019, it was announced that Desus & Mero would expand to air two nights per week, on Mondays and Thursdays.[7]

On November 21, 2019, the same day as the airing of season one's final episode, Showtime announced the renewal of the show for a second season.[8]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show went on temporary hiatus, but returned on March 30 in a teleconferencing format from Baker and Martinez's respective homes.[9]

In September 2020, the show's Twitter announced that the show had been renewed for a third season,[10] which set to premiere on January 31, 2021.[11]

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	45		February 21, 2019	November 21, 2019
	2	62		February 3, 2020	December 13, 2020

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [12]	Guest(s) [12]	Original air date [12]	Viewers (millions)
1	1	"Series Premiere, Ballbags"	Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	February 21, 2019	0.151[13]
2	2	"Talk Your Talk"	Don Cheadle	February 28, 2019	N/A
3	3	"Struggle Jeans"	Vince Staples and John Legend	March 7, 2019	0.056[14]
4	4	"If I Woulda Did It"	Ben Stiller and 2 Chainz	March 14, 2019	0.032[15]
5	5	"Hateful Hairline"	Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke and Kirsten Gillibrand	March 21, 2019	0.052[16]
6	6	"You Thought!"	Carmelo Anthony and Jordan Peele	March 28, 2019	N/A
7	7	"Mad Buns"	Issa Rae	April 4, 2019	0.030[17]
8	8	"News Adjacent"	Stacey Abrams and Anna Kendrick	April 11, 2019	0.078[18]
9	9	"Grits Ratio"	Cory Booker	April 18, 2019	N/A
10	10	"Waiting For Julio"	Seth Rogen	May 2, 2019	N/A
11	11	"On Deckington"	Lil Nas X	May 6, 2019	0.041[19]
12	12	"Open Your Third Eye"	Charlize Theron	May 9, 2019	0.029[20]
13	13	"Look At Your Mans"	Wu-Tang Clan	May 13, 2019	0.043[21]
14	14	"Fax"	Bill Hader	May 16, 2019	N/A
15	15	"Jamaican Hockey"	Amy Poehler	May 20, 2019	0.020[22]
16	16	"Royal Baby Newport"	Gabrielle Union	May 23, 2019	0.038[23]
17	17	"Hold That"	Ava DuVernay	May 30, 2019	N/A
18	18	"Lowkey, Stay Down"	Spike Lee	June 3, 2019	N/A
19	19	"Platinum Dad Joke"	Pete Buttigieg	June 6, 2019	N/A
20	20	"Pon'delocke"	Lin-Manuel Miranda	June 10, 2019	N/A
21	21	"Electric Lemonade"	Regina Hall	June 13, 2019	N/A
22	22	"It's Cultural"	ScHoolboy Q	June 17, 2019	N/A
23	23	"Pivot to Alians"	Anthony Anderson	June 20, 2019	N/A
24	24	"Y'All Not Low"	Ice Cube	June 24, 2019	N/A
25	25	"Link in Bio"	Zendaya	June 27, 2019	N/A
26	26	"Bonus Illustriousness"	N/A	July 8, 2019	N/A
27	27	"The Macaroni and Cheese Sound"	Kumail Nanjiani	July 11, 2019	N/A
28	28	"Charcoonery Plate"	Kemba Walker	July 15, 2019	N/A
29	29	"Staring in Ashanti"	Megan Rapinoe	July 18, 2019	N/A
30	30	"Digital Hookah"	Dascha Polanco	July 22, 2019	N/A
31	31	"Drop a Pin"	Common	July 25, 2019	N/A
32	32	"Sightseeing Dog"	Billy Eichner	July 29, 2019	N/A
33	33	"Alien Hook Off"	Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen	August 1, 2019	N/A
34	34	"It's A Boy"	DaBaby	October 14, 2019	N/A
35	35	"Tech Flex"	Taraji P. Henson	October 17, 2019	N/A
36	36	"Teeth On Layaway"	Ta-Nehisi Coates	October 21, 2019	N/A
37	37	"West Indian Fence"	Gayle King & CC Sabathia	October 24, 2019	N/A
38	38	"The Back Of Your Back"	Bill Burr	October 28, 2019	N/A
39	39	"Un Jokkersteppen"	Bernie Sanders	October 31, 2019	N/A
40	40	"Come Collect Uncle Daryl"	Anna Kendrick	November 4, 2019	N/A
41	41	"Take Your Time Baby"	Kenan Thompson	November 7, 2019	N/A
42	42	"From Deep"	Chris Hayes	November 11, 2019	N/A
43	43	"Grab that Boomer"	Hasan Minhaj	November 14, 2019	N/A
44	44	"That's Larping"	Shea Serrano	November 18, 2019	N/A
45	45	"Dancing Bok Choy"	Chadwick Boseman, Elizabeth Warren	November 21, 2019	N/A

Season 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [24]	Guest(s) [24]	Original air date [24]	Viewers (millions)
46	1	"PJ Boys[note 1]"	David Letterman	February 3, 2020	N/A
47	2	"2020 Vision"	Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	February 6, 2020	N/A
48	3	"Hard To Get A Ticket"	Penn Badgley	February 10, 2020	N/A
49	4	"Su-Su-Sucio"	Lakeith Stanfield	February 13, 2020	N/A
50	5	"Full Body Roll"	Maxine Waters	February 20, 2020	N/A
51	6	"That's A Lotta Rappin'"	John Mulaney	February 24, 2020	N/A
52	7	"Woke Switcheroo"	Killer Mike	February 27, 2020	N/A
53	8	"Whopping Good Time"	Missy Elliot	March 2, 2020	N/A
54	9	"Bare Minimum Ally"	Nick Kroll	March 5, 2020	N/A
55	10	"Dominican Leprechaun"	Wale	March 9, 2020	N/A
56	11	"Big Beach Towel"	Seth Meyers	March 12, 2020	N/A
57	12	"That Rona"	Anthony Fauci	March 30, 2020	N/A
58	13	"Stay At Home Dad Jokes"	John Legend	April 2, 2020	N/A
59	14	"R.O.I. from Nana"	Malcolm Gladwell	April 6, 2020	N/A
60	15	"Van Gogh Album Cut"	Tracee Ellis Ross	April 9, 2020	N/A
61	16	"You Mad Doofy"	Mark Cuban	April 13, 2020	N/A
62	17	"Built-In Gratuity"	Joe Biden	April 16, 2020	N/A
63	18	"Three Nuts and a Possible"	Alicia Keys	April 20, 2020	N/A
64	19	"Dunk on Napoleon"	Issa Rae and Jay Ellis	April 23, 2020	N/A
65	20	"A Caravan of Karens"	Chef José Andrés	April 27, 2020	N/A
66	21	"Bologna Goatee"	Rashida Jones, Alison Roman	April 30, 2020	N/A
67	22	"The Goat's Always For Sale"	Spike Jonze and Beastie Boys	May 4, 2020	N/A
68	23	"Terrifying and Sexy At The Same Time"	Billy Porter	May 7, 2020	N/A
69	24	"The Metaphysical Hypothetical"	Dr. Nina	May 11, 2020	N/A
70	25	"Infobars"	Katie Porter	May 14, 2020	N/A
71	26	"Baline Human"	Gabrielle Union & Dwyane Wade	May 18, 2020	N/A
72	27	"It's Been Asparamanced"	Jesse Williams	May 21, 2020	N/A
73	28	"We Was Wolves"	N/A	May 25, 2020	N/A
74	29	"One Big T-Zone"	Sara Jay, RMR	May 28, 2020	N/A
75	30	"You Are The Jake"	Freddie Gibbs, Jamaal Bowman	July 5, 2020	N/A
76	31	"It Be Your Own Mans"	Jon Stewart, Joey Chestnut	July 9, 2020	N/A
77	32	"Cream of Corona"	Noname	July 12, 2020	N/A
78	33	"Old School Glizzy"	Bubba Wallace, Judd Apatow	July 16, 2020	N/A
79	34	"Different Coastal Work"	Lady A, Don Cheadle	July 19, 2020	N/A
80	35	"Slow My Curve"	Kenny Stills, Eric Andre	July 23, 2020	N/A
81	36	"Bottle Service Cheeks"	Andy Samberg	July 26, 2020	N/A
82	37	"Six Figures In This"	Taylor Rooks	July 30, 2020	N/A
83	38	"Sound It Out"	Stephen A. Smith	August 2, 2020	N/A
84	39	"Ms. Papi"	Usain Bolt	August 6, 2020	N/A
85	40	"Love Your Work"	Cori Bush, Seth Rogen	August 9, 2020	N/A
86	41	"A Dickens of a Time"	Chloe x Halle, Jennifer McLeggan	August 13, 2020	N/A
87	42	"Fully Accredited Institution"	Sue Bird	August 16, 2020	N/A
88	43	"We Invented Sucio"	Jaime Harrison	August 20, 2020	N/A
89	44	"Victoria Cakes"	Saweetie	August 23, 2020	N/A
90	45	"Disloyal To Moisturizer"	Jaden Smith	August 27, 2020	N/A
91	46	"Respect The Eagle"	Kamala Harris	September 13, 2020	N/A
92	47	"Entanglement Eyes"	John David Washington	September 17, 2020	N/A
93	48	"Brunch Boots"	Janelle Monáe	September 20, 2020	N/A
94	49	"Coulda Been An Email"	Big Sean	September 24, 2020	N/A
95	50	"New York Miracle"	Tony Hawk	September 27, 2020	N/A
96	51	"Five Star Baby"	LL Cool J	October 1, 2020	N/A
97	52	"Pandemic Type Beat"	Timbaland & Swizz Beatz	October 4, 2020	N/A
98	53	"Between You And You"	Chika	October 8, 2020	N/A
99	54	"Twelve Months of Papi"	Jason Derulo	October 11, 2020	N/A
100	55	"These Phones Ain't Loyal"	Ethan Hawke	October 15, 2020	N/A
101	56	"Mids Bop"	Yahya Abdul-Mateen II	October 18, 2020	N/A
102	57	"Rookie Draft Day Pants"	Sarah Cooper	October 22, 2020	N/A
103	58	"I'm Butt Nilzy"	HAIM, Borat	October 25, 2020	N/A
104	59	"I Can Eyeball Bushels"	RZA	October 29, 2020	N/A
105	60	"This Is Lighthearted Fun That We Havin' Right Now"	Chris Rock	November 1, 2020	N/A
106	61	"DMFM: The Home of Boom Bap - Special"	Bobbito & DJ Stretch Armstrong, Roxanne Shante, City Girls, Bun B, Benny the Butcher, Juicy J, A$AP Ferg, Rick Ross, Sheila E, Cam'ron, Busta Rhymes	November 15, 2020	N/A
107	62	"The Obama Interview"	Barack Obama	December 13, 2020	N/A

Critical reception

Desus & Mero has received positive reviews. Daniel D'addario wrote for Variety magazine: "Their perspective, in a sea of late-night shows all modeled on John Oliver's studiousness, feels genuinely new. And Desus and Mero showed enough comic resourcefulness, and enough enthusiasm and warmth, throughout their broadcast to make clear it's worth watching no matter who guests."[25] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Kristen Baldwin gave the show a B+ and stated in the review: "The initial outing revealed a few weaknesses in the new format, but it retained the humor, point of view, and boisterous energy that makes Desus and Mero an essential late-night addition."[25] Marc Silver wrote for The Washington Post, "With their own wit and the help of veterans from the Stephen Colbert and John Oliver late-night shows, they bring a fresh and funny take and add all-too-rarely heard Black and Latino perspectives."[26]

Accolades

Hosts Desus and Mero received a 2019 Webby Special Achievement Award for their talk show.[27]

The show received a 2019 Television Critics Association Award nomination in the Outstanding Achievement in Sketch/Variety Shows category.[28]

Notes

1. Showtime released the extended interview as a standalone episode on February 17th, 2020, giving it an episode number of 90.

References

1. Petski, Denise (November 29, 2018). "'Desus & Mero' Late-Night Show Gets February Premiere Date On Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
2. Andreeva, Nellie (June 15, 2018). "'Desus & Mero' Stars Ending Their Viceland Show, Eye Deal At Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
3. Hawgood, Alex (March 15, 2019). "Ziwe Fumudoh Uses Humor to Push Racial Buttons". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
4. Wright, Megh (June 18, 2018). "Showtime Orders Its First-Ever Late-Night Show, Hosted by Desus and Mero". Vulture. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
5. Nguyen, Hanh (February 21, 2019). "'Desus & Mero': The Bodega Boys Are Ready to Shake Up Late Night All Over Again". IndieWire. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
6. Wright, Megh (February 15, 2019). "Here's the Writing Staff for Showtime's Desus & Mero". Vulture. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
7. Petski, Denise (April 29, 2019). "'Desus & Mero' Expands To Two Nights A Week For Summer Run On Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
8. Thorne, Will (November 21, 2019). "'Desus & Mero' Renewed for Season 2 at Showtime". Variety. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
9. Denus Nice / @desusnice (March 26, 2020). "the sucio boys are back in town! The #1 show in late night @shodesusandmero returns Monday night with an all new episode from out cribs!". Twitter. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
10. DESUS & MERO on SHOWTIME / @SHODesusAndMero (September 16, 2020). "Y'all need some good news? 👀". Twitter. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
11. ""Desus & Mero" Season Three to Premiere on Showtime on Sunday, January 31". The Futon Critic. December 16, 2020.
12. "Desus and Mero - Season 1 | SHOWTIME". SHO.com. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
13. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.21.2019". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
14. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.7.2019". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
15. "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.14.2019". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
16. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.21.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
17. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.4.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
18. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.11.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
19. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.6.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
20. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.9.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
21. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.13.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
22. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.20.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
23. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.23.2019 | Showbuzz Daily". www.showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
24. "Desus and Mero - Season 2 | SHOWTIME". SHO.com. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
25. "'Desus & Mero' keeps it real on Showtime: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
26. Silver, Marc. "Showtime's 'Desus & Mero' brings a fresh voice to late night". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
27. Bennett, Anita (2019-05-08). "Webby Awards To Honor Michael Douglas & Comedy Duo Desus and Mero". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
28. Petski, Denise. "TCA Awards Nominations: 'Pose' & 'Russian Doll' Lead With 4, HBO Tops Networks With 15". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 16 July 2019.

External links

• Desus & Mero on Showtime
• Desus & Mero on IMDb