Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Detroiters’ On Netflix, A Pre-‘I Think You Should Leave’ Star Vehicle For Tim Robinson And Sam Richardson

After Tim Robinson left Saturday Night Live but before he birthed the critically-acclaimed award-winning sketch series I Think You Should Leave , he and his fellow Detroiter Sam Richardson co-created and starred in this ode to the city where they grew up, playing ad men making low-budget TV commercials in a sitcom that was criminally underappreciated for only two seasons on Comedy Central. Now that all 20 episodes are on Netflix, it’s easy to see why both Robinson and Richardson are comedy stars now .

Netflix Leaves Tim Robinson Fans Fuming After Promising To Stream ‘Detroiters’ But Not Following Through

Opening Shot: After the opening credits, we cut to the exterior of a strip-mall retailer whose signs read: “Fireplaces/Spas/Billiards.”

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The Gist: We’re on set as Tim and Sam are filming a commercial for Eddie Champagne, “the hot tub king of Detroit.” They surprise Champagne (Steve Higgins) by dousing him with actual hot water after he delivered his last line (making his metaphorical hot water quite literal), and though you’d think the spa salesman would be steaming mad, he’s still quite pleased. “You guys are the ad kings of Detroit!” he yells as they drive away for lower stakes, higher steaks at The Chop House.

There, they put on jackets and ties, dabbing sauce on their ties to make it look like they’ve already dined out on their chops as they ambush Carter Grant (Jason Sudeikis), VP of marketing at Chrysler, while he’s wining and dining a Chicago ad firm. Their conversation explains to us how Tim inherited Cramblin Advertising from his father, a local legend who Tim says has been institutionalized “in a nuthouse now.”

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Tim’s not quite the success his dad was, although their jingle for Frank Franklin Insurance sure is catchy. And their gumption earns them an 8 a.m. pitch meeting.

Back at the ad agency, Tim and Sam stay late to brainstorm, and after a sight gag from their elderly receptionist (who still imagines Tim as his dad, “Big Hank”), they wave off their commercial crew’s camerawoman, Leah, saying she can edit the hot-tub spot by herself. “Thanks guy, I will not let you down,” she says, foreshadowing to us that she will, in fact, let them down.

Tim and Sam’s brainstorming session quickly devolves, from makeshift one-on-one hoops, to trying to break an unbreakable glass window, to finding a bottle of old diet pills that expired in 1974. Cut to a bar where they get the bartender to turn on the TV to catch their hot-tub ad, only to find Leah turned the commercial and Champagne into a sad arthouse short film. So sad even the local TV news anchor weighed in.“Wow. I don’t normally comment on the commercials, but that was very bad.”

Overnight, they’re feeling down on their luck, but Sam cheers Tim up, reminding him how, after everyone quit when Tim took over, they eventually got their first gig a year later thanks to Big Stan the Carpet Man. Sam and Tim salute the late-night parade of garbage trucks, complimenting each driver by name, and in doing so, have an epiphany on how to pitch Chrysler.

That morning, after Sheila gives the fellas “your morning hot dogs,” they’re off to Chrysler, except they somehow hit and ran over Carter Grant with their car in the parking lot?!? Panicking, they drag his body into the bushes and act like nothing happened. Grant recovers fully, but in the hospital he tells the fellas he never intended to hear them out, anyhow.

Meanwhile, Tim and Sam attempt to apologize to the hot tub king for how their ad turned out, but all is well, because somehow, Eddie Champagne and his wife made up by having sex in a different position, with him describing it quite graphically. “Mad? Your commercial saved my marriage!”

Finally, we see their home lives. Sam has a dream board where he replaces “Land Chrysler Account” with “Woman On Top,” while next door, Tim has a love waiting for him, and it turns out she’s Sam’s sister. Sam and his sister may squabble like siblings, but Sam and Tim have a brotherly love they’re not afraid to express to each other from their respective second-floor windows.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: Now you may think of a more recent Netflix series starring comedians in a low-stakes office setting (Shane Gillis and friends in Tires ), but Detroiters thematically falls closer in line to another under-appreciated Comedy Central vehicle from the late 2010s, South Side .

Our Take: Sudeikis and Lorne Michaels are both listed as EPs on the show, and Sudeikis lends himself to the gusst-starring role in the pilot, albeit remember this is before his star reached new heights with Ted Lasso , too. But their belief in Robinson and Richardson pays massive dividends here.

The comedy is clearly a love letter to Detroit, and their list of guest stars in the two seasons includes plenty of local celebrities and athletes alike, as well as other comedians who came through the Motor City or Second City, such as Keegan-Michael Key and Amber Ruffin. Pro wrestler Kevin Nash doesn’t make the pilot, but he gets to play Tim’s dad as “Big Hank.”

And you also can clearly see some of the same awkwardly hilarious exchanges that made a hit out of I Think You Should Leave .

Such as how nonchalantly Tim plays off his dad’s institutionalization, and how Sally the ad exec from Chicago plays off of him in this exchange, where she asks Tim to relay some info to his dad.

Tim: “He won’t understand that. Talking to him is like talking to Bugs Bunny.”

Sally: “Then you tell him, What’s Up, Doc?”

Sex and Skin: Nope.

Most Pilot-y line: Not as such, but the duo’s epiphany for how to pitch Chrysler also serves as the pilot pitching the series and the duo to us, as Tim realizes: “I mean Chrysler isn’t just a company. It’s these guys. It’s our friends, it’s our family.”

Parting Shot: As the end credits roll, we get a brief blooper clip from the scene in which Tim hurls a candler holder at the office window, causing Sam to giggle after the glass begins to crack.

Sleeper Star: There are lots of funny guest stars and cameos through the two seasons, although you’ve got to hand it to Higgins for hamming it up as Eddie Champagne in the pilot episode.

Our Call: STREAM IT. You may be kicking yourselves wondering why you and the rest of the world didn’t discover Detroiters when it was on Comedy Central, while at the same time feeling grateful that they’ve both gone on to much bigger vehicles.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First .

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