EXCLUSIVE: Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, creators of Sherman’s Showcase and South Side, have closed an overall deal with Warner Bros TV.
The pair have signed a multi-year deal with the studio and have ambitions to create, develop and produce TV projects in a wide range of genres from animation to superhero series. They are keen to work in all areas including broadcast network television and streaming.
This comes after a good run that saw their musical variety show Sherman’s Showcase picked up for a second season to air on both AMC and IFC, and a second season of Chicago-based comedy South Side. The latter’s first season aired on Comedy Central but it has now moved to HBO Max for its second season.
The pair got their break on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where they wrote sketches including Slow Jam the News with Barack Obama and The History of Hip-Hop with Justin Timberlake before leaving in 2011.
They had a development deal at HBO, where they created their own show Brothers in Atlanta with Lorne Michaels, but it didn’t get past the pilot stage. After working as consulting producers for Jordan Peele and Tracey Morgan on The Last O.G. at TBS, they scored two of their own shows – Sherman Showcase and South Side.
For the latter, they were influenced by shows including Trailer Park Boys, The Office, Reno 911 and most importantly The Simpsons. “It’s really important for us to turn the South Side of Chicago into Springfield. Our first season had 150 speaking parts,” Salahuddin told Deadline at Contenders TV. Riddle added, “It’s either a small town or it’s the biggest Greek chorus you could ever imagine.”
Elsewhere, both have also appeared on screen in other people’s shows and movies. Salahuddin stars in Kevin Willmott’s directorial debut The 24th, a feature about black soldiers in World War I, and will star opposite Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. He has also previously appeared in Lionsgate’s A Simple Favor and 20th Century’s Snatched, as well as Netflix series Glow.
Riddle was a series regular on the NBC comedy Marlon, and has appeared in HBO’s Silicon Valley and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
“We’re so happy to be entering this relationship with the team at Warner Bros. and we’re excited to finally give life to ideas we’ve had, in some cases, since we were kids. We look forward to creating everything from broadcast sitcoms to daring streaming content; from animation to genre, and yes, two comic book nerds like ourselves are over-the-moon about developing projects in the DC Universe,” said Salahuddin and Riddle. “It is also our plan to support fresh, new voices and help their ideas take shape with WBTV’s experienced team.”
They are repped by attorney Gregg Gellman at Morris Yorn.
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