--- description: With new TV series 'South Side' and 'Sherman’s Showcase,' these two 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' writers made the summer's biggest hits. title: This Late-Night Comedy Duo Created Two of the Summer's Funniest New Shows image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc139ce6d404fa41a/698a001f096a94c4fb6a6aab/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Late-Night Comedy Duo Created Two of the Summer's Funniest New Shows  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Jul 18, 2019 9:53 AM CUT  Sergeant Turner (Russell), Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and K (Young) dream and scheme. Sergeant Turner (Russell), Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and K (Young) dream and scheme.Comedy Central  by [Judy Berman](/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close TV Critic Jul 18, 2019 9:53 AM CUT Even if you don’t know Bashir Salahuddin or Diallo Riddle by name, the likelihood that these college friends turned writing partners have made you laugh is extremely high. As L_ate Night with Jimmy Fallon_ writers, they scripted viral “Slow Jam the News” segments. Riddle was a bright spot in Marlon Wayans’ short-lived sitcom _Marlon_. And Salahuddin has been charming _GLOW_ fans as Cherry Bang’s sweet husband, Keith. This summer, the duo seizes the spotlight as co-creators of two new series: Comedy Central’s _South Side_ and _Sherman’s Showcase_ on IFC. Each of these richly detailed comedies affectionately sends up the unique characters, tropes and injustices that define a specific corner of black culture. But that’s where their similarities end. Premiering on July 24, _South Side_ is the more conventional of the two, with all the rapid-fire jokes and zany digressions of a Tina Fey joint. Set and shot in the working-class Chicago neighborhood of Englewood, it finds two hapless new community-college grads, Simon (Bashir’s brother Sultan Salahuddin) and K (Kareme Young), locked out of their respective fields. Stuck doing repo for a rent-to-own store, the pals pursue such absurd side hustles as selling black-market Viagra at nursing homes. Their misadventures bring them into conflict with an amusing cast of locals, from checked-out lawyer Allen Gayle (Riddle) to Sergeant Turner (Chandra Russell), a happily crooked cop. (Salahuddin plays her partner Officer Goodnight, an otherwise straight arrow with a habit of handing out undeserved beatings.) _Sherman’s Showcase_, which debuts on July 31, is a stranger project, like _Documentary Now!_ meets _Soul Train_. It’s framed as a series of infomercials for a DVD compilation of a 40-year-old music variety show hosted by Salahuddin’s shady Sherman. There are sharp musical parodies; spot-on period costumes; amusing impressions (Mary J. Blige, Lana Del Rey); and appearances by executive producer John Legend, Tiffany Haddish, Quincy Jones and more. Though _Showcase i_s more allusive and ambitious than _South Side_, both shows are funny. And Salahuddin and Riddle’s distinctive characters are the clear highlights; even tiny roles pop. Something tells me they have hundreds more unforgettable singers, scammers and strivers in them, all clamoring for the screen time they deserve. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/"},"headline":"This Late-Night Comedy Duo Created Two of the Summer's Funniest New Shows","datePublished":"2019-07-18T09:53:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T00:01:09.774Z","description":"With new TV series 'South Side' and 'Sherman’s Showcase,' these two 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' writers made the summer's biggest hits.","url":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc139ce6d404fa41a/698a001f096a94c4fb6a6aab/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc139ce6d404fa41a/698a001f096a94c4fb6a6aab/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers","caption":"Sergeant Turner (Russell), Simon (Sultan Salahuddin) and K (Young) dream and scheme.","creditText":"Comedy Central","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/","name":"This Late-Night Comedy Duo Created Two of the Summer's Funniest New Shows"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"South Side - Official Trailer","description":"South Side - Official Trailer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/noWjarfU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-07-23T12:18:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/noWjarfU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sherman's Showcase Season 1 Intro Trailer","description":"Sherman's Showcase Season 1 Intro Trailer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/tBANlfdx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-07-23T12:27:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/tBANlfdx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5629222/south-side-shermans-showcase-tv-show-writers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```