‘Everybody Hates Chris’ gets a cartoon reboot on CBS

“He is the answer to why this show worked. He’s a legend who deserves all of his flowers.”

Chris Rock’s TV show, Everybody Hates Chris is set to return on CBS as an animated series. 

The first season of the show initially aired on UPN as a chronicle of Chris Rock’s teenage years and coming of age. After switching over to the CW in 2007, the show ran for three more seasons. 

Both the original co-creator of the show, Ali LeRoi and executive producer, Michael Rotenberg have signed onto the animated reboot. 

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PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 19: (L-R) Executive producer Chris Rock, actors Tyler James Williams, Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, and Executive producer Ali LeRoi of “Everybody Hates Chris” speak during the 2007 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour for The CW at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel on January 19, 2007 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

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While Chris Rock is expected to return as narrator of the cartoon, other original cast members have not yet signaled if they will be involved with the project. 

In September 2020, Tyler James Williams who starred Chris speculated that a reboot was in the works as he answered fans’ questions on Twitter. 

https://twitter.com/TylerJamesWill/status/1308570564366229506?s=20

Members of the first run of the show include Terry Crews, Tichina Arnold, Tequan Richmond, Imani Hakim and Vincent Martella

According to James Williams, fans of Everybody Hates Chris are in for a treat. If there are concerns the animated reboot might not have the same magic as the original series, his remarks on the 15th anniversary of the show provide optimism. 

“Chris Rock receives a lot of credit for this show, as he should. But the man on the ground, everyday, running this show and making it the legendary show that it was, was [Ali LeRoi],” James Williams wrote. “He is the answer to why this show worked. He’s a legend who deserves all of his flowers.”

The Everybody Hates Chris reboot is one of several shows ordered by CBS. The Israeli drama series Shtisel, which is currently carried by Netflix; and a Panther Baby TV adaptation from Gina Prince-Bythewood, which is a product of Starz.

CBS Studios has more than 70 projects in the works across the company’s platforms. CBS Studios helped launch CBS All Access as its sole supplier, which features exclusive streaming content. Following the CBS-Viacom merger, CBS All Access became a part of a larger streaming platform Paramount+, which launched earlier this month with CBS Studios as one of its major suppliers alongside Paramount TV Studios, MTV Studios and Nickelodeon Studios.

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