Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kings Of BBQ’ On A&E, A Docuseries Where Anthony Anderson And Cedric The Entertainer Start A Barbecue Business

In Kings Of BBQ, Anthony Anderson and Cedric The Entertainer, best friends for over 20 years, start a barbecue business called AC Barbecue. They’ve already got a logo, a slogan — “Husky & Handsome” — and lots of clothing with emblazoned with both. But that’s about it. In the series, they talk to barbecue purveyors around the country, as well as food scientists, marketers and others, to figure out their business.

KINGS OF BBQ: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Shots of Los Angeles, and a house in Compton. Anthony Anderson and his buddy Cedric The Entertainer are holding court at a backyard barbecue.

The Gist: Anthony and Cedric want to replicate the feeling of those backyard barbecues they’ve been experiencing since Cedric was a kid in St. Louis and Anthony was growing up in Compton. At the offices they’ve set up, they drink some wine, have some sandwiches, bark funny orders at their intern Diego, and ideate, which is a term Anthony learned from a producer a number of years ago.

They want to develop rubs and sauces, set up some sort of restaurant presence, put the logo on accessories like tongs, spatulas, etc. After doing some ideation, they go to talk to Kevin Bludso, a Compton native, who has a number of successful barbecue restaurants under his name. They then talk to a food scientist, who wants them to go to different barbecue joints, try the food, and figure out the flavor profiles that they want their rubs and sauces to have.

This sends them to Woody’s Bar-B-Que, an LA staple since 1975. They then talk to Armond “Bootsy” Keys, who has been smoking meats and salmon on a rolling smoker over the last five years. Then they try some Filipino barbecue at The Park’s Finest BBQ.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Kings Of BBQ has elements of shows like Taste The Nation crossed with Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives.

Our Take: When you get Anthony Anderson and Cedric The Entertainer together for a reality show, comedy is going to be at the forefront, and Kings Of BBQ is very funny at times. We love the chemistry that the two old friends have as we watch them hanging out, eating barbecue, talking barbecue, and talking about what barbecue means to the restauranteurs and each other while eating. It reminded us of our favorite meals with friends (especially one we had at Arthur Bryant’s in Kansas City that we had in 2004 and still remember vividly 19 years later).

It’s interesting that Anthony and Cedric are starting from pretty much nothing. They don’t have a secret recipe sauce or proprietary rub that they’ve used at home; they don’t brag about their prowess at smoking brisket. They just love the memories that barbecue brings and want to bring that same experience to others.

If we were being cynical, we’d think that AC Barbecue was just vaporware, an excuse to get these two funny stars to front a basic cable reality series. But we do think Anthony and Cedric are sincere about starting the business, and we think that it’s good that they are admitting that they need as much help as they can get.

We could put our Shark Tank hat on and tell them to not worry about merchandising until they perfect some signature sauces, rubs and recipes. But we also don’t see Anthony and Cedric toiling away at a smoker for months on end, trying to perfect their craft like, say, Kevin Bludso did. Nope, this is two very busy (well, at least before the SAG-AFTRA strike) actors who are pulling in all their resources to start a business that’s near to their hearts. And we look forward to laughing along with them as they tour the country looking for inspiration.

Sex and Skin: Aside from shots of perfectly-smoked meat, there’s nothing.

Parting Shot: We see scenes from the season, where Anthony and Cedric tour other barbecue meccas, do market research, look at possible accessories and more.

Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to Diego, whom Cedric jokes they found “lost in a Ralph’s grocery store.”

Most Pilot-y Line: Cedric falls asleep while he and Anthony talk to the food scientist via Zoom. Not sure if he’s doing that for shtick or that he’s really tired.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Cedric The Entertainer and Anthony Anderson’s friendship is at the center of Kings Of BBQ, and it shows through during its funny first episode.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.