Same Name, New Game, as Genres Are Busted on MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Trailblazing Canadian comedian and actor Boman Martinez-Reid is a master of online hilarity, which is evidenced by his two-million-plus followers on TikTok. As he puts it bluntly, “I have such a social media brain.” So how does his new television show MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID fit into that so-called social media brain? Snugly, as it turns out, but with some clever reframing required. All six episodes of MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID – which see Martinez-Reid appearing as a rather extreme version of himself – premiere Friday, July 12 on Crave. The idea is that Martinez-Reid has grown up with various genres of television (episodes are titled “Reality Dating,” “Cooking Competition,” “The News,” “Sports,” “Competitive Drag,” and “Slice of Life”), and he always thinks that he can do it better, only to find out that nothing is as easy as it looks. Martinez-Reid has a well-established persona on social media, and while his TV show is an extension of that, he also understood that he couldn’t merely replicate what he does online and expect it to sparkle on TV. “Social, vertical video makes for a different type of comedy than horizontal video,” said Martinez-Reid, starting off with a technical analysis. “I’ve even noticed it on the occasions when I’ve had to make a video for YouTube, just the process of filming horizontally, and I’d be like, ‘for some reason these jokes aren’t landing.’ But I feel that we were wise enough to know that. And even just with the timeframe, having 25 minutes to work with in each episode is obviously so much more than having one minute.” There were philosophical considerations as well. “(Canadian philosopher) Marshall McLuhan said that the medium is the message, and that is so real,” Martinez-Reid said. “My content can exist on TikTok because it’s a constant conversation. I make videos so that people can watch it and go, ‘I get that.’ And people will come up to me and say, ‘oh my God, I love you,’ or whatever, but I’m always like, you really don’t know anything about me, but you know the jokes that I make, and you understand the point that I’m making, because you get it. Whereas on TV, it has to be a little more standalone. So we’re making a show that has to exist on its own, and can’t really be a part of a larger conversation, like what happens on social media. Which is why sometimes the bits on social media don’t work when you just try to copy them and put them on TV. But we were aware of that.” Given those guidelines, what’s the target audience for MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID? Existing fans from social media who might be lured to television? Or general TV viewers being introduced to Martinez-Reid for the first time? “It’s definitely somewhere in the middle,” he said. “I think some people are going to see me from social media and be like, ‘oh my gosh, he has a show, I need to watch it.’ And then of course, you’re going to get people who see an ad on Crave that plays before RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, or right before HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, and they’ll be like, ‘that looks kind of funny.’ So we needed to build the show in a world where both realities exist. We decided to just make the best show that makes sense for me, that’s down to earth, and genuine, and feels like me. And I feel like that’s what we did.” But on that very topic, Martinez-Reid is playing a fictionalized, relentlessly and comically overconfident version of himself in MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID. So how does Martinez-Reid keep the character on the right side of the line between irritating and playful? “You know what? I have no idea where that line is,” Martinez-Reid said with a laugh. “But it’s not like I’m playing a character of another name. This is my name. I’m very aware, and we were all very aware, that this is very early in my career. Much like you’re saying, if I make this character of me too annoying, that’s going to be a problem. So it was very important for me to remain likeable, but also just remain objective, and subjective to some extent, so that people could watch me and apply themselves to my character. People watch TV and we see ourselves in the media that we consume. So I didn’t want to be too annoying, because nobody’s walking around thinking, ‘I am so annoying!’ I just needed to be the main character who’s ‘made for TV.’ ” There also has to be some automatic job security associated with the title of the show, correct? Martinez-Reid agreed, and he emphasized the point by referencing a well-known TV personality who just happens to be the Season 1 winner of Crave’s CANADA’S DRAG RACE, a special contributor on CTV’s ETALK, and part of the Season 4 cast of HBO’s WE’RE HERE. “Yes, this is MADE FOR TV WITH BOMAN MARTINEZ-REID,” said Boman Martinez-Reid. “They can’t do this show with Priyanka.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv