For Tommy Davidson and The Varnell Hill Show, ‘There’s No Cancel Culture Because We Are the Culture”

Martin’s fan-favorite character Varnell Hill is ready for his close-up on Paramount+ Tuesday, September 1st, when The Varnell Hill Show reunites Martin Lawrence and Bentley Kyle Evans nearly three decades after Tommy Davidson’s Varnell made his unforgettable debut on the iconic sitcom.

Set behind the scenes of Varnell’s long-running late-night talk show, The Varnell Hill Show finds the larger-than-life host fighting to stay relevant in an ever-changing television industry. Surrounded by network executives with big ideas, a writers’ room trying to keep up, celebrity guests and a team tasked with managing his outsized personality, Varnell remains convinced of one thing: he’s still the biggest star in the building. Blending workplace comedy with satire, cutaways and fourth-wall breaks, the series explores the corporate, creative and personal chaos that goes into keeping “The Varnell Hill Show” on the air.

In celebration of this series, The Koalition spoke to its star, Tommy Davidson, to learn more about the process of putting together a show behind a show, working with comedians, reuniting with Martin Lawrence, balancing old school with the new, and more.

Davidson had one goal in mind with The Varnell Hill Show: “Showing the human experience and showing the progression of an individual’s experience. He goes from a talk show host in Englewood to getting his own show, and one of the people that was in his life at a time when he visited his radio station, Martin Payne, is now a big star. That’s all relevant in how it’s set up, and it frees us up to have a multi-exchange of ideas in one place and a timeless space where different ideas and different things come together in one frame.”

Bringing back Martin Lawrence, who is also the executive producer, was an easy choice for Davidson. “It’s important that it’s shown now because you can see two individuals that started out together, worked together, and then 30 years later do the same thing but at another level. The main thing we can show our audience is evolution, and what we can offer our culture is that it does evolve and it doesn’t lose value. It gains value as it goes, like anything else or any other culture in the world. We’re not outside of humanity. We’re a part of humanity, and we have a throughline too. We have a timeline, and our timeline is credible. You get to see the inside of it. It’s a lot of fun.”

“We got a multicast. It’s a show about a late-night talk show. It’s kind of a workplace show like The Office in that sense, but then it’s like Martin because it’s his family. Varnell’s family and his day. It’s like In Living Color because anybody can show up. The guests are going to be banging. There’s no cancel culture because we are culture. We’re just bringing it into one frame.”

Taking almost seven years to develop, the series is both a personal and cultural project — reconnecting with his past while creating something relevant for today’s audience. The series follows Varnell as he tries to keep his long-running late-night talk show alive while proving he belongs in a world that now thrives on ‘going viral’, staying on top of daily trends and competing with a generation that relies on AI or comedy that’s no longer in style. As the entertainment industry evolves around him, staying relevant is his toughest challenge yet, especially when the network owner’s son wants you fired. But despite the world changing around him, just like Tommy Davidson, Varnell Hill believes, at the end of the day, we’re all just human.

“What’s common about him is we have to start over every day. For me, starting over every day [means] not having my kids around me to help me with technology. I’ve gone back to being a first grader. I get a new phone and I’m like, ‘Okay, everything’s gone. Okay, what’s the cloud?’ Now, my dependence is on a piece of metal and plastic. So, I have to deal with that world because it’s real. It’s a real thing. But then again, I wake up in the morning and I’m going to have to have a job. I can’t really go to the grocery store now. So, it’s all things in one. It’s how the world really is.”

“We’re going to be dealing with a lot of stuff. But the main thing is that it’s not a negative situation; we’re going to be laughing the whole way. Where do you get that? You can’t vape that, you can’t IG that, but yet that’s all inclusive. And we got the music, we got the talent, we got the cast, and we’ve got the ideas. You get to see our process because of our writers’ room. You get to see characters interacting; you get to see the characters. People are coming in and doing a lot of beautiful stuff: Damon Wayans, Mike Eps, Ms. Pat, Omarian, Kirk Franklin, guest after guest.”

“We’re bringing the ’90s, we’re bringing the 2000s, and we’re bringing the future. We’re bringing technology and sketch [comedy] together. [For] all the things that are in the palm of your hand on your phone, you can get everything in there but a sandwich. You can’t feed yourself with it. There’s no grub just showing up because you open your phone. [The Varnell Hill Show] is really about the now.”

To learn more about The Varnell Hill Show and Tommy Davidson’s approach to adlibbing, check out our full interview in the video above.