Overview
- The Varnell Hill Show premiered on Paramount+ on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, as an eight-episode multicamera sitcom built around Tommy Davidson’s 1993 Martin guest character.
- The series presents a fictional late-night program that mixes sketches, interviews, and live musical performances and leans on frequent celebrity cameos to bridge older and younger viewers.
- Martin Lawrence is credited as an executive producer and appears in a recurring role as a new character named Mr. Dupree rather than reprising his Martin Payne persona.
- Critics generally praise Davidson and several supporting performances and the energy of the guest segments, but many reviews say the writing relies on dated jokes, clunky structure, and uneven use of fourth-wall asides.
- The show joins a wave of 1990s revivals on streamers and highlights the challenge of updating a broad, multicamera sitcom format for shorter streaming seasons and more diverse, social-media‑driven audiences.