(Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS)
Over a year after CBS ordered a pilot based on Tracy Letts’ play Superior Donuts, the network is finally airing the Chicago-set series. The show, which stars TV legend Judd Hirsch as the owner of a doughnut shop threatened by gentrification, starts on Thursday, February 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET, following The Big Bang Theory.
The second episode of the show is pn Monday, February 6 at 9 p.m.
Read on for a preview of the show.
Superior Donuts is based on the stage comedy of the same name, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts (August: Osage County). The play and show centers on Arthur Przybyszewski (Hirsch), the owner of a doughnut shop in Uptown, Chicago, whose store is threatened by gentrification and changing consumers. A new employee, Franco Wicks (Jermaine Fowler), comes in to help Arthur revitalize the shop. Katey Sagal co-stars as a police officer, and David Koechner plays a frequent customer. Maz Jobrani plays a real estate agent trying to buy the shop and Anna Baryshnikov plays the only young regular customer Arthur has.
The original pilot for Superior Donuts starred Brian d’Arcy James (Spotlight) as Arthur. However, CBS decided to order a new pilot with Hirsch in the role and that’s the one CBS went with. Fowler starred in both pilots.
(Photo: Michael Yarish/CBS)
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 2017
TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET
NOTE: After tonight, the second episode of Superior Donuts will air on Monday, February 6. The show’s regular timeslot will be Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
TV CHANNEL: CBS (To find your local CBS affiliate, click here.)
EPISODE DESCRIPTION: “Pilot” – “A grumpy donut-shop owner and his new employee who work in a gentrifying Chicago neighborhood are followed in the series premiere of this comedy.”
CAST:
Judd Hirsch as Arthur
Jermaine Fowler as Franco
Katey Sagal as Officer Randy DeLuca
David Koechner as Carl ‘Tush’ Tushinski
Maz Jobrani as Fawz
Anna Baryshnikov as Maya
Darien Sills-Evans as Office James Jordan
Rell Battle as Sweatpants
CREDITS:
Based on the play Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts
Developed by Neil Goldman, Garrett Donovan & Bob Daily