Rel (TV series)

Rel is an American television sitcom created by Lil Rel Howery and Kevin Barnett for the Fox Broadcasting Company.^[1] The series also stars Jordan L. Jones, Jess Hilarious and Sinbad. Loosely based on Howery's own life, it follows a Chicago man trying to rebuild his life after his ex-wife slept with his barber.

Rel
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Lil Rel Howery Kevin Barnett Josh Rabinowitz
Directed by	Gerry Cohen Mike Scully ("Kids First Visit")
Starring	Lil Rel Howery Jordan L. Jones Jessica Moore Sinbad
Music by	Derryck 'Big Tank' Thornton (pilot episode) Peter Cottontale Siddhartha Khosla Jeff Garber
Opening theme	"In the Circle" by Crucial Conflict
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Josh Rabinowitz Kevin Barnett Jerrod Carmichael Lil Rel Howery Mike Scully Gerry Cohen
Cinematography	George Mooradian
Editor	Richard Candib
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	21–23 minutes
Production companies	Morningside Entertainment REL Event Productions Scully Productions Josh, Make Me Laugh Game Bird Luger 20th Century Fox Television
Original release
Network	Fox
Release	September 9, 2018 (2018-09-09) – January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13)

Rel is a joint production by Morningside Entertainment, REL Event Productions, Scully Productions, JMMLG, Bird Luger, and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. On April 17, 2019, Fox canceled the series after one season.^[2]

Plot summary

The series centers on Rel, a nurse living on the West Side of Chicago, whose life is soon disrupted when his wife is having an affair with his own barber and divorces him.

Cast

• Lil Rel Howery as Rel, a nurse who tries to rebuild his life after the divorce
• Jordan L. Jones as Nat, Rel's younger brother who just got out of jail
• Jess Hilarious as Brittany, Rel's best friend
• Sinbad as Milton, Rel's and Nat's widowed father
• Leah Sava Jeffries as Brandi
• D.C. Young Fly as Jaymo

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [3]	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Gerry Cohen	Lil Rel Howery & Kevin Barnett & Josh Rabinowitz	September 9, 2018 (2018-09-09)[a]	1LBH01	5.49[5]
2	"Laundry Room"	Gerry Cohen	Lil Rel Howery & Kevin Barnett & Josh Rabinowitz	September 30, 2018 (2018-09-30)	1LBH02	1.99[6]
3	"Kids First Visit"	Mike Scully	Story by : Lil Rel Howery Teleplay by : Mike Scully	October 7, 2018 (2018-10-07)	1LBH04	1.81[7]
4	"One Night Stand"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Lil Rel Howery Teleplay by : Aeysha Carr	October 14, 2018 (2018-10-14)	1LBH03	1.40[8]
5	"Halloween"	Gerry Cohen	Aeysha Carr & Hugh Moore	October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21)	1LBH05	1.45[9]
6	"Windy City Politics"	Gerry Cohen	Danielle Sanchez-Witzel	November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)	1LBH06	1.64[10]
7	"Re-Enter the Dragons"	Gerry Cohen	Andrew Lee	November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11)	1LBH07	1.25[11]
8	"Blizzard"	Gerry Cohen	Josh Rabinowitz & Kevin Barnett	November 18, 2018 (2018-11-18)	1LBH08	1.62[12]
9	"Brittany's Mom"	Gerry Cohen	Rae Sanni	December 2, 2018 (2018-12-02)	1LBH09	1.61[13]
10	"Hate & Hip Hop"	Gerry Cohen	Josh Rabinowitz & Kevin Barnett	December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09)	1LBH10	2.06[14]
11	"Mom"	Gerry Cohen	Story by : Lil Rel Howery & James Heller Chapman Teleplay by : Willie Hunter & Dave Helem	January 6, 2019 (2019-01-06)	1LBH12	1.23[15]
12	"Cleveland"	Gerry Cohen	Mike Mariano	January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13)	1LBH11	2.77[16]

Kevin Barnett

Co-creator Kevin Barnett, who also worked on the show Broad City^[17] died at the age of 32 on January 22, 2019. His death in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, while he was on vacation, was caused by pancreatitis. Barnett co-hosted a podcast, Roundtable of Gentlemen.^[18]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 44% approval rating with an average rating of 4.36 out of 10, based on 16 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Rel has a talented star supported by a solid ensemble, but none of it's enough to disguise an ordinary sitcom that hits a series of generic beats."^[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 46 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[20]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Rel

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	September 9, 2018	1.9/8	5.49[5]	0.2	0.42	2.1	5.91[21]
2	"Laundry Room"	September 30, 2018	0.8/4	1.99[6]	0.3	0.59	1.0	2.58[22]
3	"Kids First Visit"	October 7, 2018	0.7/3	1.81[7]	0.2	0.54	0.9	2.35[23]
4	"One Night Stand"	October 14, 2018	0.5/2	1.40[8]	0.2	0.49	0.7	1.88[24]
5	"Halloween"	October 21, 2018	0.6/3	1.45[9]	0.2	0.43	0.8	1.88[25]
6	"Windy City Politics"	November 4, 2018	0.6/3	1.64[10]	0.2	0.41	0.8	2.05[26]
7	"Re-Enter the Dragons"	November 11, 2018	0.5/2	1.25[11]	0.2	0.40	0.7	1.65[27]
8	"Blizzard"	November 18, 2018	0.6/3	1.62[12]	0.2	0.37	0.8	1.99[28]
9	"Brittany's Mom"	December 2, 2018	0.6/3	1.61[13]	0.2	0.37	0.8	1.99[29]
10	"Hate & Hip Hop"	December 9, 2018	0.8/3	2.06[14]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
11	"Mom"	January 6, 2019	0.5/2	1.23[15]	0.1	0.30	0.6	1.53[30]
12	"Cleveland"	January 13, 2019	1.0/4	2.77[16]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Notes

1. The pilot episode was released early on September 6, 2018.^[4]