Keef Knight (Lamorne Morris) is a black cartoonist living in San Francisco, with his two roommates Gunther (Blake Anderson) and Clovis (T Murph). Keef is on the verge of mainstream success, based on his Toast & Butter, a whimsical and lighthearted comic strip. He prides himself on 'keeping it light' and shies away from taking controversial stances, or imbuing his work with any form of social commentary. After being racially profiled and assaulted by overly aggressive policemen, the traumatized Keef finds that he's able to see and hear inanimate objects talking to him. Now more sensitive to the presence of racism in American life, and the everyday microaggressions he'd tried so hard to avoid acknowledging in many situations, Keef must figure out how to maintain his relationships and a career as a 'woke' black man.
The show is live action with animated elements, with the everyday objects springing awake and arguing with Keef.
The show premiered on Hulu in September of 2020. A second season aired in 2022, but the series was cancelled afterwards.
Tropes in this series include:
- Double Standard: After his assault, Keef starts becoming more aware of these in everyday life. At one point, he is incensed that Gunther can get away with selling small bags of a white "energy powder", which is clearly cocaine, but nobody bats an eye because Gunther is white.
- Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: Keef at one point takes a job with a fancy rideshare service. It ends up costing him money.
- Poe's Law: In universe. At one point, Keef tries to create a subversive art piece by putting up flyers for a fictional service called "Black People for Rent", with his phone number attached. He gets legitimate requests to rent African Americans (for questionable purposes), and also inquiries from people out of work and looking for a job.
