Fisk University is in the building!
Actress and comedian Kym Whitley recently spoke about her new role in the ‘Martin’ spin-off, ‘The Varnell Hill Show’, now streaming on Paramount+.
The HBCU graduate stars as Kim Jones, Varnell Hill’s right-hand woman, played by Tommy Davidson. According to the show’s logline, “The Varnell Hill Show follows Varnell 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.”
Whitley is along for the ride, and she shared in a recent interview that the sitcom is one of the few Black sitcoms currently on the air. She hopes viewers will enjoy the show’s nostalgic ’90s feel while embracing a new era of comedy.
The NAACP Image Award winner also took time to shout out her alma mater, Fisk University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Whitley shared:
“Baby, once I got to an HBCU, Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, it changed my world,” she said. “My teachers, some of them were Black, some of them were white, but they were there for you, and that’s the difference. I wasn’t just a number.”
Whitley is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and made it clear that she is not an honorary member. She proudly shared that she crossed the “Burning Sands” at the Alpha Beta Chapter at Fisk University, jokingly adding, “I got my name on a brick.”
The actress emphasized the importance of supporting shows like ‘The Varnell Hill Show’ so that networks will continue investing in and creating opportunities for more Black sitcoms to succeed.
The eight-episode debut season premiered with two episodes on Sept. 1, with one new episode releasing every Tuesday through Oct. 13.
