Series / Detroiters

Detroiters is a Comedy Central Sitcom which ran for two seasons from 2017 to 2018 before being canceled. It starred Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson as Sam and Tim, two lifelong best friends who run an advertising agency which makes low-budget local commercials.

A notable aspect of the show was that it completely averted the usual Urban Hellscape tropes associated with the Motor City and showed the many vibrant neighborhoods and strong sense of community the city has. Being as Sam Richardson grew up in the city, and Tim Robinson in the suburbs, they wanted to show the city in a positive light.

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Detroiters provides examples of:

• The Ace: Sam's dad, Mr. Duvet. The only two shortcomings he has are being fully aware that he's perfect, and an expectation that everyone, especially his children, should try to live up to that perfection — which, combined, make him a borderline Abusive Parent.
  Mr. Duvet: You know, son... when I give you advice — or anybody, for that matter — it's just because I know how to do things... the best!
  Sam: Yeah, Dad, just... everything doesn't have to be a teachable moment. [...] You know, I know a lot of things, in fact — some things you didn't teach me, believe it or not.
  Mr. Duvet: Yeah, well, whether I taught you or not, I know 'em.
  Sam: That's not the point.
  Mr. Duvet: Test me, if you don't believe me. I bet I know it.
  Sam: Dad. Dad.
  Mr. Duvet: Go ahead, test me. I bet you I know it.
  Sam: DAD.
• Acquired Situational Narcissism: After starring in the Jefferson Porger commercial as a suit model, Sam gets a little too into his new imagined role as a Cramblin Duvet actor and company ambassador; Tim, in turn, attempts to shoehorn himself into their next commercial for Boom Teen Nightclub as "Mr. Groove", a cool guy that everyone loves and wants to party with, even though he wouldn't be allowed into the club in the first place. The end result — where Sam plays Mr. Groove, but magically turns into a teenager — gets Boom shut down after it's invaded by delusional middle-aged ephebophiles in disguise, and Tim and Sam immediately agree that they should not appear in any more ads.
• Adam Westing: Mort Crim appears in many episodes lampooning himself and long running local TV news broadcasts.
• The Alcoholic: Both Sam and Tim drink a ridiculous amount, often ordering multiple drinks at once during events and lunch meetings.
• The Atoner: Played for laughs. Sheila makes a joke that even though she and Lea are having a girls-only lunch they’re not “that way.” Then she discovers that Lea really is gay (and was not offended). Sheila spends the rest of the episode trying to show her how open she is for an old lady.
• Bad "Bad Acting": Parodied. Rick Mahorn's initial acting in the dealership commercial is flat and lifeless, but the dramatic turn he pulls in the play All the Fixin's, which everyone treats as some kind of astounding revelation, is barely any better.
• Bland-Name Product: Lampshaded in one episode where a grocery store sells a vampire-themed cereal called Chocolate Duke, which Tim immediately identifies as a ripoff of Count Chocula.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer:
  • Tim's dad "Big Hank" Cramblin is deeply mentally unstable and confined to a mental institution, having one time brought a suitcase full of feces to a business meeting while wearing just the front half of his suit. He's also one of the sharpest minds in the ad industry.
  • Trevor Cramblin, Tim's younger brother, who can barely function in society but also inherited their father's keen advertising sensibilities.
• The Cameo: Many Detroit natives, or people associated with Detroit, appear prominently in various episodes: Kevin Nash (Big Hank), Keegan-Michael Key (Smilin’ Jack), Larry Joe Campbell (Chuck), Richard Karn (As Himself lampooning his iconic role as Al Borland on Home Improvement), Rick Mahorn (As Himself), Jim Harbaugh (As Himself), Tim Meadows (Walt Worsch), and Carl Anthony Payne II (As Himself, lampooning his iconic role as Cole on Martin).
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
  • Ned. When he tries to pitch some ads in "Hog Riders", his ideas revolve around penises, dancing, and police brutality against black men, feature slogans like "Diapers: They can hold a man's piss" or "Hefty Garbage Bags: Now for white people", and operate under the assumption that the firm can hire Chris Brown. Even though it turns out he doesn't like the work part of the job, he keeps pitching slogans to Tim and Sam throughout the series.
    Ned: Guys, thanks for letting me work for the company. I really appreciate it — great experience. But I found I like my ideas better as ideas. You know, 'cause once the money gets involved, is it even art anymore? [beat] Plus, the ice cream ladies really, really didn't like the commercial I made for them.
    Tim: Oh, no.
    Sam: What'd you do, Ned?
    Ned: I had a guy put his dick in the ice cream.
    Tim: Yeah, you can't do that.
    Sam: Yeah, it turns out they don't like that.
    Ned: [confused] But they're WRONG...?!
    Tim: No, I know.
  • Sheila. However it also crosses over into Cool Old Lady territory at times as well.
• Creator Provincialism: Downplayed. The show's local references are mostly parodies or pastiches of actual Detroit locations, institutions, and celebrities, meaning that they can still come off as absurd humor even if the connection isn't clear.
• Detroit: Obviously.
• Glory Days: Cramblin Advertising was once a large and well respected firm. After Big Hank went crazy and Tim and Sam took over they have just a few low-budget clients and only three employees.
• He Really Can Act: Played for laughs In-Universe when former Pistons star Rick Mahorn takes acting lessons and wows everyone in a community theater production.
• Happily Married: Tim and Chrissy
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Sam and Tim have been best friends their entire life, own a business together, live next door to each other, always hang out together, and are even Brothers-in-law. In episode 20 “Royals” Tim becomes almost non-functional when Sam has to take a job working for his father.
• Hotter and Sexier: In updating his store's farmer mascot, Farmer Zack suggests Cramblin Duvet make him black, and add things like sunglasses, a tight black tee, an open black leather longcoat, and a sword. The end result... is Zack himself, as Blade.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Sheila was apparently quite beautiful in her day. She seems to think she still has that trait despite being well into her eighties (or even older!)
• Kitschy Local Commercial: Cramblin/Duvet makes lots of low-budget commercials for local businesses. Airing of these commercials is a Running Gag in the series as is Sam and Tim’s desire to land a big client.
• Manchild: Sam and Tim are grown adults and business owners but possess the maturity of teen boys just out of junior high, frequently blowing off important meetings with clients to goof off. Tim even has hot dogs for every meal!
  • Psychopathic Manchild: Tim's younger brother Trevor, on the other hand, takes this trait to the nth degree, refusing to get a job or move out of his mother and stepfather's house well into his 30s, and acting absolutely feral.
• Meaningful Name: Big Hank. Not only was he a top dog in the advertising game years ago, but given that he's also played by the 6'8" Kevin Nash, he towers over everyone else in the cast.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Allen Hark — a clueless, mentally unbalanced charlatan more concerned with being an "innovator" over fine-tuning his products, and whose clean-energy car is marred by the engineering flaw that it has to take human-like shits — is a scathing parody of Elon Musk.
• No Social Skills: While Sam is something of a Manchild, he's not nearly as bad as Tim, who finds it difficult to get through a conversation without putting his foot in his mouth or coming on too strong and turning everyone — clients, Sam's girlfriends, random people — off. It takes a random comment from a little girl in "Duvet Family Reunion" to make him realize that he doesn't even try to filter what he thinks as he says it.
• Non-Ironic Clown: Deconstructed in "Happy Birthday, Mr. Duvet". Tim expects that Julian, still in his "Mr. Bones" outfit and makeup, is going to be a laugh riot — but he's a friend of Mr. Duvet's who's off the clock and trying to unwind between the two gigs he's got that day, so Tim pestering him really gets on his nerves. Reconstructed when he secretly trips off the stage on purpose to make Tim laugh, although being an elderly man, he's seriously hurt by it and the second pratfall onto a table of pies seems to be an accident.
• Pregnancy Scare: Played for laughs when 80-something year old Sheila visits the doctor and tells him that “she’s late” and that her parents will kill her!
• Running Gag: Showing the various low quality commercials Sam and Tim have produced.
• Sibling Rivalry: Sam and Chrissy are always going at each other. Tim is deeply resentful of the attention his brother Trevor gets from their mother. However all siblings are shown to genuinely love each other.
• Toilet Humor:
  • Pete the Plumber, a former Cramblin Duvet client, parted ways with them when he saw that they did the unthinkable and included a visibly clogged toilet in his commercial rather than just hint at it.
  • Once Mort Crim declares Tim and Sam his Chumps of the Week, they begin receiving diarrhea in the mail. Sam despairs that that's what they used to do to Chumps, not the other way around.
  • Allen Hark's invention is a non-polluting car that converts emissions into a "non-toxic blob" that comes out every eight seconds... and looks and smells like human shit.
    Tim: ...Can you make it any other color [but brown]?
    Hark: No, I've tried.
• Tough Act to Follow: In-Universe example, Big Hank was a local business and advertising legend who everyone admires. His son Tim has a very difficult time trying to just keep the firm from going out of business.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Tim and Sam love Detroit-style Coney dogs, and are shown to eat them for almost every meal if they get the chance.
• True Art Is Angsty: Invoked and parodied. Tim and Sam hand off editing duties on the Eddie Champagne commercial in "Pilot" to Lea, reasoning that she's in film school and knows how to cut something together. The end result is a dour, depressing short film that uses on-set B-Roll (where Eddie creeps on their makeup woman, expresses a deep self-loathing, and eats deli meat off the ground) to paint him as a broken wretch. It turns out, though, that the argument Eddie and his wife had over it led to some angry experimental sex that helped Eddie realize his domination fetish and saved their marriage.
• Two Decades Behind: Cramblin/Duvet advertising relies on outdated technology and the décor of the office itself is stuck in the 70’s.
• The Unfavorite: Tim definitely feels this way about how his mother babies his slacker brother Trevor.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Exaggerated with Mr. Duvet. He's so demanding that he criticizes his children, family members, and even old friends for their poor public speaking when they're toasting him at his birthday party.
• The Whitest Black Guy: When Sam starts trying to appeal to Angel, who thinks he sounds "proper", he really overdoes it on the AAVE, only emphasizing that he doesn't naturally speak that way. Her friends — who, ironically, are mostly lighter than Sam himself — bust up laughing when they hear his nerdy-sounding voicemail.
  [A 4th of July firework bursts over their heads]
  Sam: Ooooooooh! [beat; sees Angel is looking at him confused] I... I mean, thass it! Huh, huh, shooooot. I mean, that last one though was spectac-a-lurr.
  Tim: Sam! You see that last one?! Woah!
  [Sam excitedly mouths "I KNOW!" to Tim, then turns back to Angel]
  Sam: Psssh — y'all, patriotic as a muuug.
• Women Are Wiser: Chrissy keeps Tim grounded, although she certainly has her off the deep end moments as well.