W. Kamau Bell’s “United Shades of America” docu-series coming to CNN in 2016

Did you miss seeing W. Kamau Bell on your cable TV to steer you through the multicultural headlines of 2014 and 2015?

CNN is fixing that!

The Cable News Network announced today that it has ordered United Shades of America, a weekly docu-series hosted by Bell that’ll debut in 2016. The hourly series description, per CNN:

United Shades of America follows comedian and political gadfly W. Kamau Bell as he accepts the challenge to boldly explore the far corners of our country and its various groups and subcultures. Along the way, he will ask questions, get himself into some awkward and at times unpredictable situations, and – most importantly – make people laugh. The series will strive to show the United States is not built upon just one, but many diverse and colorful definitions of America. (Produced by Objective Productions).

Objective Productions, owned by All3Media, previously has fronted several series across the pond for BBC ONE, ITV and Channel 4, including Derren Brown: The Experiments, The Cube, and Peep Show.

Bell, of course, previously teamed up with Chris Rock as his executive producer on the late-night comedy talker, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, which began as a weekly on FX in 2012 for 26 episodes, and then morphed briefly into a nightly program in the fall of 2013 to launch FXX.

Bell’s United Shades of America will join an expanding list of primetime docu-series for CNN, which also will include a spiritual travel show with author Reza Azlan, a miniseries narrated by Kevin Spacey about presidential campaigns, in-depth looks at the 1960s and 1970s, and existing series hosted by Anthony Bourdain, Mike Rowe, Lisa Ling and Morgan Spurlock.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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