Atlanta-based creator grateful Tubi picked up ‘Demascus’ after AMC dropped it

Three years ago, Atlanta-based playwright Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm was riding high, shooting his first TV show for AMC.

Called “Demascus,” the comedic series focused on a man who uses experimental VR-type technology to experience different versions of himself.

But in early 2023, Chisholm received shocking news: a retrenching AMC decided to shelve his six-episode season and two other series to save money. He was given no clear explanation beyond that.

“It made more sense to knife it than not,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent Zoom call. “It was an interesting experience. It was my first show as a showrunner. I created a story that was so personal. (The cancellation) felt personal.”

AMC owned the show, so he had no control over licensing it to another network. He mentally let “Demascus” go with no expectation anybody would ever see it.

“I worked through it with a therapist, mourned it, grieved it, and processed it and came to a resolution with it,” Chisholm said. “I imagined I had gone to showrunner grad school and did this school project. Maybe when I’m a great auteur, this will be some footnote in my career.”

Then, much to his surprise, free streaming service Tubi licensed the rights from AMC and resurrected “Demascus,” which began airing Aug. 7.

“I’m excited for people to see it,” Chisholm said. “Everything feels like a bonus now.”

The new Tubi show "Demascus" includes Martin Lawrence (second to left), Okieriete Onaodowan (second to right) and Caleb Eberhardt (far right). TUBI

Okieriete Onaodowan plays Demascus, a lonely 33-year-old Black man who has few friends, an unfulfilling job and a weird pride in being a stoic “unknowable.”

“I can be anybody or nobody,” Demascus tells his therapist, Dr. Bonnetville (Janet Hubert of “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” fame). “That’s a good quality for a Black man to have.”

In a funk, Demascus decides to take his therapist’s recommendation and try out D.I.R.T.: Digital Immersive Reality Therapy. This futuristic device allows Demascus to sample alternative versions of himself where he, for instance, has a sister, he gets married to someone he just met or he’s gay.

The original characters, he said, came from a one-act play he created while attending Juilliard’s playwriting program. He turned those ideas into “Demascus” while producing plays and traveling around the country, interacting with a wide variety of people, both personal and professional.

“I was in Texas, L.A. and New York,” said Chisholm, who lived in New York City for many years. “I felt like I was jumping realities. In L.A., I’d have dinner with a millionaire donor, then I’d fly back to Baltimore and do an intervention with my homeless brother-in-law. It was constant code-switching.”

While code-switching is often seen as a bad thing, he decided to make it a “superpower” on the show.

“This is a version of code-switching that didn’t feel oppressive,” he said.

The character of Demascus is a blend of Chisholm (including his job as a graphic designer) and other men he’s known. Demascus, for instance, is dealing with the death of his mother, an issue Chisholm himself grappled with in real life.

“The mother mourning thing was very personal,” he said. “That’s a complete story and how my wife helped me heal from that.”

Getting Martin Lawrence to play Demascus’ unhinged uncle was a “pinch me” moment, he said.

“Martin wanted to encourage me, this young guy doing his thing,” Chisholm said.

Lawrence’s 1994 stand-up film “You So Crazy” is “the main basis for my own personal comedy,” he noted. “That’s one of my holy grails I based my comedy around. I understand comedy in part because of that film. So this was a crazy full-circle moment for me.”

Chisholm said he recently watched “Demascus” for the first time in more than two years. If a second season happens, he has fresh ideas to pursue.

“I had written myself this cool world and hall pass to do whatever I want,” he said. “I can tackle issues I’ve been facing in my own life.”

For instance, he wants to see Demascus as a father since he became one seven years ago after moving to College Park with his wife.

He was also able to shoot “Demascus” in Atlanta, finding locations in Edgewood and the Beltline to replicate D.C. “It was great to come home every day,” he said. “That centered me to have my family nearby.”

A St. Louis native, he has enjoyed living in Atlanta despite the spate of terrible drivers.

“It’s nice to see people thriving who look like you,” Chisholm said. “The fancy people driving fancy cars are Black people, too.”