Comedian explores cultural divides on new CNN series

Comedian explores cultural divides on new CNN series

By Frazier Moore

AP Television Writer

NEW YORK

“America’s Best Bigots” is not the name of W. Kamau Bell’s new CNN series – “although that would be a great name for a show,” says the popular black comedian who hosts it.

Bell’s series, premiering tonight at 10, is instead titled “United Shades of America,” and, while it will routinely place him in a culture clash with the week’s chosen groups or subcultures, the point is not to spotlight prejudice.

Bell’s mission is to build a bridge – even if only a shaky footbridge – of understanding between him and a racially, ethnically or otherwise divergent sample of his fellow habitants in these United States.

Future episodes of the eight-episode season will feature inmates at San Quentin State Prison; happily disconnected folks who in a Snapchat Age opt for living “off the grid”; retirees and spring-break college kids who annually collide in Daytona Beach, Fla.; and a few of the hipsters gravitating to Portland, Ore., along with longtime residents who weather this assault.

To kick off the series, Bell takes a big swing: He consorts with members of the Ku Klux Klan.

“As a black person, it’s good to know who hates you,” he proposes. And while one might argue that it would have been smarter to film this episode last, not to start with, “I figured if it really goes badly, we only shoot that one episode and I become a legend.”

He’s joking about that, but he makes a chilling point: “In history, most black guys that get this close to the Klan don’t end up leaving.”

Bell does, of course, “and when I left, at least one or two of those Klansmen were like, ‘Uh-oh, I think I kinda like a black man now.’ They won’t be joining the NAACP, but maybe they’ll see a little crack in their flawed logic.”

For Bell, a towering chap with a Teddy Bear build, the secret is his disarming manner. It’s the same cheery style that has helped establish him as a stand-up comic who can defuse uncomfortable truths with insight and a smile.

“You’re always using jokes to explain the world to yourself, and then to the audience,” says Bell (whose onstage act will be on display in his first solo stand-up special, “W. Kamau Bell: Semi-Prominent Negro,” premiering April 29 on Showtime).

Humor is a big part of the formula on “United Shades of America.”

“But I tried to be very clear, in each case, that we’re here to make fun out of this situation, not to make fun OF this situation,” he says.

That’s true even with the Klanners, one of whom is asked about the infamous robes he’s wearing: “We were in Kentucky in the middle of August, so I said, ‘It’s got to be hot under there.’”

“Oh, it’s horrible!” this Imperial Wizard replies from behind his hood.

“It opened up a great human moment,” says Bell, noting that certain Klansmen seemed game to even make fun of themselves.

“When one guy says he separates his Skittles based on color, all I have to say is, ‘Did we get that on film?’”

They did, and it’s a funny exchange.