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Following last night’s mass shootings in Alexandria, Virginia and San Francisco, NBC has decided to postpone tonight’s episode of The Carmichael Show. The episode in question follows the aftermath of a mass shooting. In an interview that’s set to premiere later this week on Netflix’s Chelsea, the show’s creator and star Jerrod Carmichael says that NBC is wrong to pull the episode.
According to the comedian, the episode in question revolves around Jerrod (played by Carmichael) surviving a mass shooting. However, as the episode progresses, the family sitcom patriarch realizes that he’s still a victim as he’s unable to achieve the carefree peace he once had. This isn’t the first time a network has pulled an episode over a network tragedy. Mr. Robot pulled its Season 1 finale following the Virginia shooting that involved two news reporters, and an episode of Hannibal was once pulled following the Sandy Hook shooting and the Boston Marathon bombing. Last night’s episode of The Carmichael Show was replaced by “Lesbian Wedding,” which was initially scheduled to air on June 28.
Carmichael, in a pre-recorded episode from Wednesday that’s scheduled to run on Chelsea later this week, defended the pulled episode. (At the time of the interview, Carmichael was unsure whether or not the episode would be pulled.) “I thought tonight’s episode would have an opportunity to talk about these tragedies in a meaningful way. You know, to really lend itself to conversation,” he said. “A lot of times when these things happen and someone wants to talk about these things in an outlet that’s not the news, people will say too soon. But when is it not too soon? Unfortunately these things happen constantly, and it’s a thing that breaks all of our hearts.”
He also rebuked NBC for wanting to pull the episode. “NBC wants to pull the episode, which to me, I understand a corporation making that decision. But really to me it says you don’t think that America is smart enough to handle real dialogue and something that reflects real family conversations and something that feels honest and true and still respects the victims,” Carmichael said.
Jerrod Carmichael’s full interview will be available on Friday, June 16 episode of Chelsea, which will premiere at noon PT, 3 p.m. ET.
