That Damn Michael Che

That Damn Michael Che is an American sketch comedy television series created by and starring Michael Che that premiered on HBO Max on May 6, 2021. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season.

That Damn Michael Che
Genre	Sketch comedy
Created by	Michael Che
Starring	Michael Che
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Michael Che Erin Doyle Lorne Michaels Oz Rodriguez
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Broadway Video Leather Suit Inc. Irony Point Samana Pictures Universal Television
Original release
Network	HBO Max
Release	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06) – May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)

Premise

Each episode follows a theme or incident (police brutality, unemployment, falling in love, etc.) and uses sketches and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience this from a black vantage point.^[1]

Cast

Main

• Michael Che

Guest

• Cecily Strong
• Heidi Gardner
• Colin Quinn
• Ellen Cleghorne
• Colin Jost
• Omari Hardwick
• Geoffrey Owens
• Godfrey
• Billy Porter
• Method Man
• Chris Distefano
• Anna Drezen
• Ziwe Fumudoh
• Wayne Brady
• David Allen Grier
• Tim Meadows
• Kenan Thompson

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
1	6		May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
2	6		May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)

Season 1 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Original release date
1	1	"Policin'"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
2	2	"Bourbon & Water"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
3	3	"Dudley Gets Shot"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
4	4	"Sex Worker"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
5	5	"Well Played, Crackers"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)
6	6	"Only Built 4 Leather Suits"	Oz Rodriguez	May 6, 2021 (2021-05-06)

Season 2 (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Original release date [2]
7	1	"Join the Club"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
8	2	"Intervention"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
9	3	"Black Mediocrity"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
10	4	"Higher Power"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
11	5	"Your Past, Your Present"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)
12	6	"Ballad of a Thin Man"	Alice Mathias & Gary Richardson	May 26, 2022 (2022-05-26)

Production

Development

On July 14, 2020, HBO Max gave the then-untitled project a series order consisting of 6 half-hour episodes. The series is created by Michael Che, who also executive produces alongside Lorne Michaels and Erin Doyle.^[3] Che, speaking about the project, said: "I'm really excited to be working on this show with HBO Max. It's a project I've been thinking about for a while and we have a lot of sketches we want to shoot so please wear your masks so that we can go into production." On April 19, 2021, it was announced that the series was to be titled That Damn Michael Che and would premiere on May 6, 2021.^[4] On July 22, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.^[5]

Casting

Alongside the initial series order announcement, Che was announced to star in the series.^[3] On April 19, 2021, it was announced that Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner, Colin Quinn, Ellen Cleghorne, and Colin Jost had joined the main cast, with Omari Hardwick, Geoffrey Owens, Godfrey, Billy Porter, and Method Man set to guest star.^[4]

Filming

The first season was shot throughout New York, with filming commencing on November 9, 2020, and wrapping on February 1, 2021.^[6]

Music

The theme song for season 1 was "You Can't Stop Us Now" from Nas's untitled album. In season 2, the theme song was "You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks" from Funkadelic's album Maggot Brain.^[7]