[Ed. note: Well, OK, here’s the thing: After announcing that they would be dropping Detroiters on Netflix, Oct. 15 arrived and Netflix not only hadn’t added the show to their streaming library, they quietly deleted all posts mentioning they would. Polygon reached out to Netflix for comment, and didn’t hear back. But as of Oct. 16 at approximately 2:44 EDT, Detroiters is streaming on Netflix.]
After some drama, Netflix just added the canceled sitcom of two of the funniest guys around
Detroiters was scheduled to be on Netflix, and now it finally is
Image: Broadway Video
Zosha Millman (she/her) manages TV coverage at Polygon as an entertainment editor, but will happily write about movies, too. She’s been working as a journalist for more than 10 years.
So you’ve watched all of I Think You Should Leave and you want more of Tim Robinson yelling? You’re in luck.
Sure, there is, technically, nothing stopping you from looking up clips of his standup on YouTube, just as there’s no limit to rewatching I Think You Should Leave. But maybe you’re thinking to yourself, I want new laughs, though. Or maybe you’re thinking the much more ubiquitous and far more valid, Yes, but I also love watching Sam Richardson, and The Afterparty and the Detroit Lions schedule release wasn’t enough. Then yeah, you should probably be watching Detroiters when it comes to Netflix — which is right now!
Detroiters is the gone-too-soon show Robinson and Richardson helmed before I Think You Should Leave. And while it’s not a sketch comedy show, the bones of the ITYSL are definitely there. We follow Tim (Robinson) and Sam (Richardson), two ad men at the helm of a local Detroit company. The business has seen better days — the glory days were when Tim’s dad ran the place, but then he “went insane” — so now, the advertising firm is mostly just the place that Sam and Tim’s escapades get funneled through.
Which, plotwise, is perfect: It gives Detroiters episodes a bit of structure, and lets each episode follow an arc, but it also leaves ample room for goofs, gaffs, and guffaws as the duo try their best to achieve their dreams in the most ill-advised ways possible. Like ITYSL, Detroiters’ comedy DNA is in letting things get a little out of hand, all so the comedians can expertly glide it all home.
Though the pilot leans into the failsons-who-could elements of the show, Detroiters is at its best (and funniest) when it simply indulges the personalities of the two stars. Richardson is better than anyone at pivoting between moods, steering from glouring grump to smooth-talking naivete with total ease, like when he falls into a romantic fling, and then realizes she might think he’s a sex worker. Robinson is fantastic at splashing around in the gray space of a joke setup that is almost beyond the bounds of grounded (like when he’s trying to egg an off-duty clown into doing a bit for him — he’s just never met a real clown before!).
Despite the outlandish ITYSL tones, Detroiters stays comparatively low-stakes. Tim and Sam technically always have normal jobs and lives that they are holding down and returning to, no matter what random crooner they meet at karaoke night. Not once does the Ghost of Christmas Way Future show up, and the “Ta-bles!” abrasiveness is certainly toned down for something that skews a little softer, even if the duo still have plenty of their signature ridiculous curveball jokes. What Detroiters is really about is the heart of these two men, the heart of their hometown, and, sometimes, the true heart of advertising a wig maker by reminding their customers that they do not source the hair from dead bodies. In a time when the half-hour comedy is more readily available and easier to burn through than ever, Detroiters joining the Netflix library is a lucky day for all of us.
Detroiters is now streaming on Netflix and Paramount Plus.
