arts&life

television

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Z

ach Kanin aspired to be a repre-
sentational painter, so he took
art classes at Harvard, where he
majored in English. He also was presi-
dent of the Harvard Lampoon, a humor
magazine.
That experience ultimately led to
his current gig: He is a co-creator, co-
executive producer and co-writer of a
locally made series — Detroiters — airing
Tuesday evenings on Comedy Central.
“A lot of people from the Lampoon go
to work in television, but I was not sure
I wanted to do that. I was interested in
painting,” says Kanin, 33. “Right out of
school, I got a job at the New Yorker in
the cartoon department and started
submitting cartoons. I really fell into
selling cartoons and have been doing
that ever since.
“I took some time to pursue painting a
little bit in addition to cartoons and, while
I enjoyed that, I wanted to do something
a little more narrative so I started working
on a graphic novel. I put that aside to do

something in animation.
“A friend of mine worked at Saturday
Night Live and said they were looking for
someone to do animation. I also liked
writing short, comic sketches. I submit-
ted a sketch, got hired and had great
experiences on the show for five years.”
Among them was coming up with a
comic approach to the bar mitzvah cel-
ebration. Working with Marika Sawyer
and Vanessa Bayer, he helped develop a
bar mitzvah boy character, Jacob.
The milestone is something Kanin
has his own experience with: He
had his bar mitzvah at the First
Presbyterian Church in Newton, Mass.,
where he grew up. Temple Emanuel,
attended by his family, was being reno-
vated at the time, and so worship space
was made available by the Protestant
congregation.
“They had to put up a big sheet over
the giant cross that would be behind
me for my Torah portion,” recalls
Kanin, whose unusual religious expe-

At Home In

Zach Kanin

Detroiters

LEFT: Tim Robinson and
Sam Richardson star in
Detroiters. TOP: Zach
Kanin at work with his
daughter.

details
de

Detro
Detroiters
can
be seen at 10:30
p.m. Tuesdays
Tue
on
Comedy Central.

brings the

city front and

center in

the new TV

series.

rience inadvertently might have factored
into his career in comedy.
Detroiters stars Sam Richardson and
Tim Robinson, best friends from Metro
Detroit who appear as best friends and
aspiring advertising consultants in the city
they know from childhood.
“The show is very true to the friendship
of Tim and Sam,” says Kanin, now living in
California. “They have a very caring, lov-
ing and funny friendship. It’s very funny
because they’re two guys who also are
very thin-skinned and hot-tempered. It
shows what they feel about their home-
town, which is a really nice thing to see.”
Richardson, a Second City Chicago
alum, has appeared in TV’s The Office
and Arrested Development and feature
films Ghostbusters and Spy. Robinson,
who started at Second City Detroit, was a
writer for Saturday Night Live.
Kanin, working at Saturday Night Live
as people were thinking about teaming up
for Detroiters, was asked to come along.
“My responsibilities include coming up
with ideas as well as figuring out person-
nel decisions,” Kanin says. “As an executive
producer, I have an overseeing role.
“I did not have much experience with
Detroit before this show, but it’s been a

very positive experience for me getting to
work there and meet people from the city.”
In the first of 10 episodes, which aired
Feb. 7, Sam and Tim tried to secure an
important ad campaign with Chrysler but
wound up facing disaster. Other episodes
wrap around buying a motorcycle, pursu-
ing relationships, throwing a birthday
party and experiencing client disappoint-
ment. The Woodward Dream Cruise,
always well-attended in reality, gets a fic-
tional segment of its own.
Kanin spent three months living in
Downtown Detroit to get the feel of
Motown as scripts were developed.
“I just clicked writing [with this team],”
Kanin says of working with Richardson,
Robinson and Joe Kelly, all partners in
producing and writing the show. “We all
figured it out together — who the charac-
ters were and what each story was.”
The production-writing team gets
additional input from Lorne Michaels
and Jason Sudeikis. First season guest
stars include Obba Babatunde, Michael
Che, Detroit-native Keegan-Michael Key, ,
Cecily Strong and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
The idea for Detroiters was pitched
three summers ago, and the pilot was
shot the following summer. Once
Comedy Central ordered the series,
Kanin spent three months in the city
with his wife, Christina, and their
14-month-old daughter.
“The first month I was in Detroit, I had
an apartment at the Renaissance Center
with a view of the river, Ambassador
Bridge and Canada,” says Kanin, who has
made drawings of the city and its people
and one weekend traveled to Mackinac
Island with his family. “Every morning, I
had breakfast sitting at the window.
“We’ve really tried to make the show
enjoyable for those from Detroit with all
the references, locations and people.” •

jn

March 2 • 2017

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