The Simpsons weighed in on the 2016 presidential election—and its "ding dongs" for candidates—back in February when there was still eight candidates in the running. Jerrod Carmichael and The Carmichael Show will soon join The Simpsons when it addresses Donald Trump and the election in an upcoming episode The Hollywood Reporterexclusively reports. Earlier today we reported Carmichael was in talks for Michael Bay's "last" Transformers movie, Transformers 5.
Carmichael, who not only created The Carmichael Show but writes for it and stars in it, broke the news to THR.
The Carmichael Show is a comedy sitcom that centers on a family, like black-ish. It regularly deals with sticky subjects other shows wouldn't dare to address such as gun control and Black Lives Matter. Among its provocative topics was the sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby, which the show addressed in its season two premiere making viewers reflect on their own, maybe murky, feelings (like the characters) on the situation.
Carmichael toldTHR he actually didn’t want to address the election in The Carmichael Show but said it became “unavoidable.”
"Not just him [Donald Trump], but the election in general is a very interesting one, and it's really, really important," Carmichael toldTHR. "It just proved unavoidable."
Carmichael says the episode will cover all of the candidates and promised a "divisive" conversation about it. "It's the Thanksgiving conversation you try and avoid, magnified," said Carmichael to THR.
But don't expect Carmichael to go for the low-hanging fruit and go after Trump. THRreports Carmichael said he wants to discuss the GOP frontrunner in an "open" and "genuinely balanced argument."
"That's what's fun for me, is to try and find a different perspective, to try and find the most honest, sometimes uncomfortable, perspective that we can have on him," Carmichael said to THR about Trump. "The same way when we did the Cosby episode; it wasn't just an accusation. …This isn't just a 'Donald Trump is crazy' episode. It's really just a, 'Well, what does this say about America?' I think Donald Trump, more than any candidate in history, has really held a mirror up to America."
The election-themed episode will be The Carmichael Show's season two finale airing on May 29.
