{ "id": "epjck0hzcy", "slug": "bust-down", "title": "Bust Down", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy", "label": "Sitcom and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series", "label": "American sitcoms and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies", "label": "2020s cable and streaming comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: 2020s cable and streaming comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv", "label": "Scripted television and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy", "label": "Sitcom and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series", "label": "American sitcoms and comedy series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies", "label": "2020s cable and streaming comedies", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Bust Down is a 2022 Peacock comedy series created by and starring Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd as four casino employees in Gary, Indiana; one six-episode season, canceled, Metacritic 76.", "snippet": "Bust Down is a 2022 Peacock comedy series created by and starring Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd as four casino employees in Gary, Indiana; one six-episode season, canceled, Metacritic 76.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_scripted_tv_comedy.american_sitcom_series.2020s-cable-and-streaming-comedies", "markdown": "# Bust Down\n\n**Bust Down** is an American television comedy series that premiered on the streaming service Peacock on March 10, 2022. It was created by, and stars, the comedians [Sam Jay](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-jay), Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and [Chris Redd](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-redd), who play four friends working dead-end jobs at a casino in [Gary, Indiana](https://www.edgepedia.org/gary-indiana), as they attempt to find self-worth in their bad ideas.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) • [2](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/langston-kerman-bust-down-peacock-television-comedy-interview) The single season ran six episodes, each roughly 25 to 30 minutes, and the show was rated TV-MA.[3](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Premiere | March 10, 2022, on Peacock; all six episodes of season 1 released that day[4](https://premieredate.news/tv-series/8440-bust-down.html) |\n| Creators and stars | Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd, each playing a character with his or her own first name[2](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/langston-kerman-bust-down-peacock-television-comedy-interview) • [5](https://www.tvmaze.com/seasons/135235/bust-down-season-1) |\n| Setting | The Diamondback Casino in Gary, Indiana, where the four work low-level jobs[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) |\n| Production | Universal Television in association with Broadway Video; executive producers include Lorne Michaels and the four creators[6](https://www.blackfilmandtv.com/exclusives/exclusive-jak-knight-and-sam-jay-talk-peacock-bust-down) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) |\n| Critical reception | Metascore 76 on Metacritic (4 reviews, all positive); 100% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (6 reviews)[7](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) |\n| Fate | Not renewed; listed as canceled after one season[8](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/bust-down/ij7R8wcYD4hCwUdgGLgtg7/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and setting\n\nThe series follows Jak, Sam, Chris, and Langston, four friends living dead-end lives and working dead-end jobs at the Diamondback Casino in Gary, Indiana. The synopsis describes an exploration of what happens when all of the answers to life's problems are bad ones; the characters navigate bosses who violate boundaries, a very short corporate ladder, and domestic disputes, in and out of the workplace.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) Peacock's own description is that the four \"attempt to find self-worth in their bad ideas.\"[3](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112)\n\nThe six episodes are \"Bad Hang,\" \"Post-Nut Promises,\" \"Beige Rage,\" \"Pitching Tent,\" \"Won't He Do It,\" and \"Fett, Party of Two,\" with runtimes between 25 and 30 minutes.[3](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112) Episode subjects range from a run-in between Jak and the boss to the crew debating solutions to poverty and Chris using casino pay cuts as an excuse to become a social justice star.[3](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112)\n\n## Creation and development\n\nThe show began when Chris Redd, then a cast member on [Saturday Night Live](https://www.edgepedia.org/saturday-night-live), was tasked with remaking a British show about four guys who break up with their girlfriends. He brought the assignment to a group chat with Jay, Knight, and Kerman, and together they developed a show about four friends who work together in the back room of a casino.[2](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/langston-kerman-bust-down-peacock-television-comedy-interview) Redd described the process in a separate interview: after meeting with a producer about a show he considered terrible, he went back to his friends and said, \"We should make a version of this,\" and the idea went through four versions before becoming Bust Down.[9](https://www.networkisa.org/screenwriting-podcasts/view/5998/70)\n\nRedd said the four wanted to portray actual people dealing with real things without resolving each issue, in a show that was goofy and different, and that some material came from their own conversations; the first episode's story about a babysitter who made out with him as a child was drawn from something he had told the group.[10](https://awardsfocus.com/awards/snls-chris-redd-on-kenans-cancellation-that-will-smith-sketch-peacocks-bust-down/) Kerman said the show tracked the foursome's evolution as artists, and that an earlier version of it \"would have been real bad. And now it's pretty good.\"[9](https://www.networkisa.org/screenwriting-podcasts/view/5998/70)\n\n## Cast and production\n\nThe four leads play characters sharing their first names: Jak Knight as Jak, Langston Kerman as Langston, Sam Jay as Sam, and Chris Redd as Chris.[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/seasons/135235/bust-down-season-1) Supporting cast includes [Dan Bakkedahl](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-bakkedahl) as Horace, Dominique Perry as Nina, and the rapper [Freddie Gibbs](https://www.edgepedia.org/freddie-gibbs) as Chauncey.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/bust-down)\n\nThe series was produced by [Universal Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-television), a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels's company. Executive producers included Michaels, the four creators, Hilary Marx, Andrew Singer, and Richie Keen, who also directed.[6](https://www.blackfilmandtv.com/exclusives/exclusive-jak-knight-and-sam-jay-talk-peacock-bust-down) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) • [11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/bust-down) Redd shot Bust Down and the NBC sitcom Kenan at the same time on the same lot during summer 2021, while also preparing for the SNL season.[10](https://awardsfocus.com/awards/snls-chris-redd-on-kenans-cancellation-that-will-smith-sketch-peacocks-bust-down/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics received the show favorably. Its Metacritic Metascore of 76, based on four reviews, fell in the \"generally favorable\" band, with 100% of reviews positive.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/) [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s Angie Han gave it 80 and wrote that the show pulls off a tough balancing act \"thanks to the sheer hilariousness of its core cast and the zany chemistry between them.\"[7](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/) The Chicago Tribune's Nina Metz scored it 75, calling the characters \"goofy as hell, but also intelligent and thoughtful and self-aware.\"[7](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/) On Rotten Tomatoes the season holds a 100% Tomatometer from six reviews and an 82% audience score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down)\n\nCommon Sense Media described it as a \"super-raunchy, Black-led workplace comedy\" with frequent strong language, and noted that it pushes back against rags-to-riches narratives, intending instead to lower the bar, while giving its characters moments of emotional awareness and healthy self-interrogation.[12](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/bust-down) [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) later named it one of the seven best hidden TV gems of 2022, comparing its mix to the unpredictability of Atlanta and the politically incorrect darkness of [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia](https://www.edgepedia.org/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia).[13](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-7-best-hidden-tv-gems-of-2022/)\n\n## Aftermath\n\nThe show was not renewed for a second season and is listed as canceled after one season.[8](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/bust-down/ij7R8wcYD4hCwUdgGLgtg7/) In July 2022, four months after the premiere, co-creator Jak Knight died by suicide; TV Guide wrote that Bust Down was a showcase for his comedic talent and off-kilter charisma.[13](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-7-best-hidden-tv-gems-of-2022/) The series remains available on Peacock Premium and Peacock Premium Plus.[11](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/bust-down)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Bust Down, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down)\n2. [Langston Kerman Created Bust Down With His Best Friends, W Magazine (March 11, 2022)](https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/langston-kerman-bust-down-peacock-television-comedy-interview)\n3. [Watch Bust Down Season 1 Streaming Online, Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112)\n4. [Bust Down Season 2 is yet to be announced by Peacock, Premiere Date](https://premieredate.news/tv-series/8440-bust-down.html)\n5. [Season 1, Bust Down, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/seasons/135235/bust-down-season-1)\n6. [Exclusive: Jak Knight And Sam Jay talk Peacock's Bust Down, Black Film and TV](https://www.blackfilmandtv.com/exclusives/exclusive-jak-knight-and-sam-jay-talk-peacock-bust-down)\n7. [Bust Down Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/)\n8. [Bust Down, TV Series, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/bust-down/ij7R8wcYD4hCwUdgGLgtg7/)\n9. ['Bust Down' Creators Chris Redd, Sam Jay, Langston Kerman & Jak Knight, The ISA (March 18, 2022)](https://www.networkisa.org/screenwriting-podcasts/view/5998/70)\n10. [SNL's Chris Redd on Kenan's Cancellation, That Will Smith Sketch, & Peacock's Bust Down, Awards Focus](https://awardsfocus.com/awards/snls-chris-redd-on-kenans-cancellation-that-will-smith-sketch-peacocks-bust-down/)\n11. [Bust Down, watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/bust-down)\n12. [Bust Down, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/bust-down)\n13. [The 7 Best Hidden TV Gems of 2022, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-7-best-hidden-tv-gems-of-2022/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2020s cable and streaming comedies*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Bust Down\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Bust Down](https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down](https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Bust Down\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/bust-down. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Bust Down is a 2022 Peacock comedy series created by and starring Sam Jay, Langston Kerman, Jak Knight, and Chris Redd as four casino employees in Gary, Indiana; one six-episode season, canceled, Metacritic 76." }