# Bust Down
**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)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| 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) |
| 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) |
| Setting | The Diamondback Casino in Gary, Indiana, where the four work low-level jobs[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| Fate | Not renewed; listed as canceled after one season[8](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/bust-down/ij7R8wcYD4hCwUdgGLgtg7/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and setting
The 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)
The 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)
## Creation and development
The 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)
Redd 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)
## Cast and production
The 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)
The 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/)
## Reception
Critics 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)
Common 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/)
## Aftermath
The 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)
## References
1. [Bust Down, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bust_down)
2. [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)
3. [Watch Bust Down Season 1 Streaming Online, Peacock](https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv/bust-down/6270956295429645112)
4. [Bust Down Season 2 is yet to be announced by Peacock, Premiere Date](https://premieredate.news/tv-series/8440-bust-down.html)
5. [Season 1, Bust Down, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/seasons/135235/bust-down-season-1)
6. [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)
7. [Bust Down Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/bust-down/)
8. [Bust Down, TV Series, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/bust-down/ij7R8wcYD4hCwUdgGLgtg7/)
9. ['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)
10. [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/)
11. [Bust Down, watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/bust-down)
12. [Bust Down, Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/bust-down)
13. [The 7 Best Hidden TV Gems of 2022, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-7-best-hidden-tv-gems-of-2022/)
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*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*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license