Parents' Guide to

Champaign ILL

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Drugs, language, mature content in charming buddy comedy.

TV YouTube Comedy 2018
Champaign ILL Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

  • Champaign ILL Series: Scene #1
  • Champaign ILL Series: Scene #2
  • Champaign ILL Series: Scene #3

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 1 parent review

MillHouse241
MillHouse241 Adult
March 3, 2019
age 7+

This is genius comedic display with a great plot.

I started this show with no expectations. I saw the actors and like each one of the humorous characters they have portrayed on great shows like “Veep” and a brilliant yet ‘sub par in critics eyes’ show titled “Making History,” which was cancelled after 1 season. Both shows were made even more fantastic because of these two A list up and coming kings of Comedic Improv. This show has no more violence nudity or drug usage than 5 minutes of the 5pm news. Sometimes it can be a little awkward watching it with a youngster but with the internet and school, this is minor league Locker Room Talk. Bravo!!!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Ronnie (Adam Pally), Alf (Sam Richardson), and Lou (Jay Pharoah) grew up together in CHAMPAIGN, ILL and graduated 15 years ago with big plans: Alf was going to college with and marry his longtime love Courtney (Sabrina Revelle), Ronnie was off to Yale, and Lou had just gotten an offer from a major label to record his music. Cue a long and decadent hip-hop-star lifestyle montage, with Ronnie and Alf playing entourage to ultra-successful Lou. But when Lou unexpectedly dies while shooting a music video, Ronnie and Alf are forced to retreat back to the Midwest to live with their parents -- and to try to put some kind of normal life together.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

With sly comic writing that delightfully punches up a could-skew-dumb premise, this sharp YouTube series is lots of goofy fun for adults and mature teens. Sam Richardson (who viewers may recognize from Veep or Detroiters) and Adam Pally (of the late, great, mourned Happy Endings) are great together, basically two spoiled and entitled fish out of water who are horrified by such mundane experiences as commercial air travel.

Once their luxury lifestyle has been canceled, there's nowhere to go but home, but there are changes there too -- Ronnie's room has been transformed into a salon for his mom's pet dog Taffy, and Alf's dad (legend Keith David, saddled with the world's worst fat suit) is "officially talk-show fat" but the weird thing is that Alf can't tell if "he's the saddest man alive or he's got it all figured out." Ronnie and Alf are now broke guys in their 30s with no education, no prospects, and not much to hold onto. As fun as it is to watch these two charming man-boys wither under pressure, it's even more fun watching them figure out how to live in the real world.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's messages about drugs and drug use. Do you think this is an accurate depiction of social attitudes about marijuana? Why or why not? Does the movie address any of the consequences of drug use? As a comedy, is it expected to?

  • Many TV shows revolve around a character who's new to a time or place: a new coworker, a new city, a new group of friends, etc. Why? What's the dramatic or comedic potential of these setups?

  • How is the audience supposed to feel about Alf and Ronnie? How can you tell? What about their costumes, dialogue, plotlines make you have these feelings about these characters?

TV Details

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