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Expect to hear some familiar voices on "Everybody Still Hates Chris," Comedy Central's upcoming animated take on the hit 2000s live action comedy "Everybody Hates Chris." That includes star and executive producer Chris Rock, who narrated the original series and will do the same in the new version.
Also back are original stars Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold, who played Chris' parents in the original series and will voice them in the animated edition. New cast members include Tim Johnson Jr., Ozioma Akagha, Terrence Little Gardenhigh and Gunnar Sizemore.
"Everybody Still Hates Chris" was first announced in August 2022. CBS Studios, Chris Rock Enterprises and 3 Arts Entertainment are behind the half-hour animated series, which premieres on Comedy Central later this year. (It will also air on Paramount+ at a later date.)
"I'm very excited to introduce the world to another funny side of my childhood," Rock said in a statement.
On the show, Rock plays the voice of adult Chris, narrating stories "inspired by his experience growing up as a skinny nerd in a large working-class family in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, during the late 1980s." Crews reprises his role as Julius, Chris' father "who is a gentle giant with a relentless work ethic, and cheap. He grew up dirt poor, so he knows the cost of everything down to the penny. He works two jobs to support the family, and on his days off, he takes on a third job." And Arnold is revisits her role as Rochelle, Chris' mother "who is smart, strong-willed, and has a nurturing spirit, but she can also be hot-headed, especially when it comes to her kids. She tolerates zero nonsense, so she quits more jobs in a month than most people do in a lifetime."
Rock's recent credits include "Rustin" and Season 4 of "Fargo," as well as his live Netflix standup special "Chris Rock: Selective Outrage." Crews, seen for eight seasons on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," currently hosts "America's Got Talent." Arnold, whose credits also include "Survivor's Remorse," is entering her seventh season on CBS' "The Neighborhood" this fall.
The new cast focuses on the younger characters -- given the fact that the kids on the original live-action "Everybody Hates Chris" are now all adults. Tim Johnson Jr. ("Saturdays") will play young Chris, "a nerd who wants to be cool but he's outshined by his younger brother, tortured by his little sister, and foiled by his cheapskate dad." Ozioma Akagha ("Delilah") will voice Tonya, "Chris' feisty baby sister, with the face of an angel and the heart of a demon, who gets along with her middle brother Drew but leaps at any chance to get Chris in trouble." Terrence Little Gardenhigh ("Danger Force") is the voice "Drew," the "golden child of the family who is the epitome of Black Excellence: handsome, athletic, a ladies man, taller and cooler than his older brother Chris." Gunnar Sizemore ("Kung Fu Panda") will play Greg, Chris's only friend at school "who is girl-obsessed, status conscious and raised by a single dad."
On the original "Everybody Hates Chris," Tyler James Williams played young Chris, while Imani Hakim was Tonya, Tequan Richmond was Drew and Vincent Martella played Greg.
The original "Everybody Hates Chris" ran for four seasons, launching on UPN in 2005 and moving to The CW (after the UPN/The WB merger), where it continued until 2009. The critically acclaimed laffrer received several Emmy and Golden Globe noms, and won an NAACP Image Award for writing in 2007.
"I wanted this job to get free tickets to a Chris Rock stand up show, but we ended up making something we're proud of that is true to the original series we all loved," said showrunner/exec producer Sanjay Shah.
Rock and Shah exec produce with Ali LeRoi and 3 Arts' Michael Rotenberg and Dave Becky. CBS' Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm, is behind the show; Titmouse ("Big Mouth") is the animation studio for "Everybody Still Hates Chris," with Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina also executive producing.
