Tommy Davidson (In Living Color) appeared as Varnell Hill in the 90s comedy series, Martin, in just two episodes. It has made such an impact that he is getting his own spinoff series, The Varnell Hill Show, on Paramount+. The talk show host has to come up with ways to improve his ratings, or else his show will get canceled.

“Every single day I did it, because I’ve never done a show where the past and the present and the future were all in one place,” Davidson said about how the show felt refreshing. “So we’re going into a show that’s a show about a show. So it’s a workplace show.”

In Martin, Varnell Hill was the foil to the titular character. In The Varnell Hill Show, it’s vice versa.

“Now he comes to haunt me,” the actor said jokingly. “You know what I mean? He comes back to haunt me, but he comes back as multiple characters. If you looked at Martin’s show, Martin Payne wasn’t just one Martin.”

Davidson has been in the business for decades, and he wants to make the show the best it could be.

“And the common denominator for me that makes it the best is that I get to bring my gift to it, which is making people laugh, entertaining people, and making people feel good,” the actor said. “So for me, doing that every day, shooting that show was really the fruits of a lot of work and a lot of uncertainty, and a lot of just frustrations.”

About The Varnell Hill Show

Synopsis: Nearly three decades after audiences first met him, Varnell Hill is stepping back into the spotlight — and he’s determined to prove he’s still the star of the show. Set behind the scenes of a long-running late-night talk show, The Varnell Hill Show follows Varnell (Davidson) as he fights to stay relevant in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. Between network executives eager to modernize the show, a chaotic writers’ room, celebrity guests, family drama, and his own outsized ego, Varnell quickly discovers that keeping a television empire together may be harder than building one in the first place.

The Varnell Hill Show eight-episode first season will make its worldwide debut on Paramount+ with two episodes on Tuesday, September 1, followed by one new episode every Tuesday through October 13.