Two years ago acclaimed podcasters Desus and Mero premiered their television series Desus & Mero on Viceland. The series, airing four days a week, showcased the Bodega Boys in all their glory as they discussed what was happening in the world around them. It stood out not just for its fresh voice, but for bringing a POC perspective to a mostly white late night television landscape. After two seasons, the proud Bronx natives announced they were ending their series and moving on to Showtime, which just announced they’re giving the duo their own half-hour series in 2019.
The untitled show will put the long-time Twitter personalities and podcasters front and center as they speak “highly off the cuff” and discuss pop culture, music, politics and more with special guests. Desus and Mero, consisting of Daniel “Desus Nice” Baker and Joel “The Kid Mero” Martinez have collaborated for several years showing themselves as funny, fierce and informative about popular culture. The two dropped into a few television shows before debuting their Bodega Boys podcast in 2015 – which they are continuing concurrently with this new show.
Showtime hasn’t entered the late night political game like HBO has with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver or Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Bringing Desus and Mero to a wider audience should do more towards getting their name out there as well as drawing younger audiences to the network while simultaneously highlighting what’s new in the world. Like HBO’s Vice series, this should be a solid complement, furthering the intersection of entertainment and education with two bright new voices more people should know about.
The untitled Desus & Mero show will air on Showtime sometime in 2019.