Line #40 Series/ShermansShowcase


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shermansshowcase_keyart_fin_v3_e1559859073586_47.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[SecondaryCharacterTitle The star is actually the man in the rear to the far left.]]]]
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4	''Sherman's Showcase'' is an adult comedy series airing on {{Creator/IFC}} that was created by Comedian Bashir Salahuddin with the help of musician Diallo Riddle.
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6	The heavily serialized anthology series follows the [[ShowWithinAShow Show Within a Show Within a Show]], a parody of Series/SoulTrain, Solid Gold, Midnight Special, Solid Bronze, and other American music/variety series. It's host, Sherman [=McDaniels=], guides segments with a big personality, as he does his best to both exhibit top, usually African-American acts through the decades, starting on July 1st, 1972.
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8	I'll fill in links as I go along. I am doing the best I can here, while trying not to let the [[SeriesMascot Funk Monster]] (edit lock) catch me.
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10	!!This show provides examples of the following tropes:
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12	* TheAbridgedSeries: The show is framed as an infomercial, collecting the best bits of a series that has been on for at least forty-one years. It's never actually stated whether it's still on. Clips are from as late as September 21st 2019. A clip from an episode that aired on September 11th, 2019. Because reasons.
13	* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Music/QuincyJones is depicted as the wise, master EGOT, even though he's never actually earned an Oscar in his career; rather, holding a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award instead.
14	* AcmeProducts: Sherm-Tel makes all of the fake products regularly featured.
15	* {{Acrofatic}}: Salahuddin's Fast Freddy Payne impersonation shows that the big man clearly has agility and energy.
16	* AdamWesting: Executive Producer [[Music/JohnLegend John Sidney Legend]], Quincy Jones, etc. I'm pretty sure no one gives nearly as much a damn as they pretend to about being [=EGOTs=] as they boastfully do.
17	* AffectionateParody: Sherman's Showcase is pretty much just that of Soul Train and [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Saturday Night Live]]. There are many other shows like Soul Train, but Showcase is primarily that, peppered with time period appropriate sketches.
18	* AlliterativeTitle: Ray J even calls it out during the first season finale: "Sherman's Showcase? That don't even sound right. Don't nobody wanna hear all that alliteration."
19	* AlternateHistory: Since this show never existed, Sherman never introduced any act to the world.
20	* AnachronicOrder: In keeping with the infomercial format, episodes are tied together by clips sharing a theme, zigzagging through the program's history.
21	* ArcWords: Everyone who's encountered Frederick Douglass has said after he departs "Man, ain't nobody gonna believe this!". The first season finale brings this to a head.
22	* ArtifactOfAttraction: The [=EGOT=] toaster. Though heavily referenced in the first four episodes, the entire [=EGOT=] thing seems to have been dropped entirely; not even mentioned in the next three episodes.
23	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: [[BlatantLies There was never]] any show called [[WesternAnimation/{{Jabberjaw}} Jabberjaw]] or [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingChanandtheChanClan The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan]]. Actually, that's one of the 20% of things openly stated on the show that's accurate.
24	* AsHimself: Morris Day, Music/{{Common}}, Curt Menefee, Creator/ColleenCamp, Ray Parker Jr., Ray J.
25	* AsideGlance: Frederick Douglass just cannot help himself from doing it during every single product pitch.
26	* BitchInSheepsClothing: John Legend tried so hard to MindScrew with Common by writing a musical for him "so that he can earn a Tony Award, making him an [=EGOT=]", but in reality he didn't actually want Common to succeed. Or something. Whatever. It epically failed.
27	* BlackSitcom: If you see a white person, it's for a cheap joke or to highlight a black character.
28	* BlatantLies: A "[[AdBumpers Classic Bumper]]" from April 8th, 1989 has Music/{{Sade}} announcing "You're watching Sherman's Showcase on IFC". Creator/{{IFC}} launched on December 1st, 1994.
29	* CantTakeCriticism: Sherman always chastises and flat out buries employees who speak out against him. Usually, if he sneaks up on them while they critique him they are savvy enough to backpedal.
30	* [[InUniverse Crosses The Line Twice]]: Sherman's Dancers gave Sherman a lot of leeway in sticking around for a CountryMusic performance by Cody [=McCoy=]. As innocent as his diddy was about a (ra)Coon On The Moon was, ending with "Where'd they find a coon smart enough to fly a rocket?" was enough to piss everyone off and [[{{Exposition}} lead to race riots in thirteen of their affiliate cities]].
31	* CouchGag: The opening animation and music is usually different each episode, though the Funk Monster is always there.
32	* DarkReprise: [[InUniverse Executive Meddling]] turns [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Have a Good Time]] into Louder Than Lies. Music/MaryJBlige was singing a very positive song, but Sherman's Dancers were showing complete disdain for the break in her usual style, so Sherman intervened by sending her a breakup text disguised as from her boyfriend. The result was a much more warmly received performance. After she found out about the deception, she not only didn't care; she appreciated the motivation.
33	* DeskSweepOfRage: The Venice Pier Futbol Club guys run off the stage after the first twenty seconds of their performance and immediately encounter a table for Sherman's green room guests just offstage. After manually destroying the plants on it, they do this to the remaining glasses and a vase.
34	* DoNotCallMePaul: The {{expy}} of Geoffrey from Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir in the Day In, Day Out sketch put the brakes on Master Morris calling him a butler real quick.
35	* EpicFail: John Legend. He wrote Blockbuster: The Musical as a pretend premise to try to help earn Common a Tony Award. He didn't really want Common to win the award. But Common did.
36	* {{Expy}}: Subverted. On the one hand, Prince is dead and therefore couldn't have possibly played himself. On the other hand, the entire episode about Charade, quite patently obviously meant to portray Prince is narrated by [[Music/TheTime Morris Day]]. Being that Morris Day was essentially a real life expy employee of Prince himself, its ambiguous whether Prince could have been persuaded to do the episode himself.
37	* FailedASpotCheck: After the attempted charity event, Pepper Spraye is obviously about to attack Sherman, but even with shades on it's implied that she gets him... for the first time.
38	* FatSuit: The one that Salahuddin wears to portray Big Freddy Payne is painfully obvious.
39	* FlippingTheTable: The Venice Pier Futbol Club guys do this to a craft services table.
40	* FreezeFrameBonus: A lot of good jokes go into Sherman's Dancers details, provided on-screen, but they usually only stay long enough to be barely read.
41	* FunnyRobot: The Funk-A-Tron 2000 cares about finding good wines for some reason.
42	* GospelMusic: [[SexSells Drop It Low For Jesus.]] The lyrics make it seriously debatable whether it is just R&B or a genuine appreciation of Jesus. The verse does a good job of arguing a desire to love the Lord. Even though it's patently sexual.
43	* HakunaMatata: Mary J. Blige only makes good music when 'Mary sad'.
44	* {{Homage}}: Subverted. Day In, Day Out at first glance seems like one of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air if it were written around Morris Day, but given that executive producer Quincy Jones helped construct the {{Pastiche}} sketch, it could just be an alternative continuity situation.
45	* HotMenAtWork: One of Mary J. Blige's apparent booking requirements is to have two of the sexiest of Sherman's male dancers toplessly fan her with a large feather and hand feed her fruit.
46	* HypocriticalHumor: Having said the F word on multiple occasions up to 2009, seems like this for Sherman to chastise Latricia the Magician.
47	* InteractiveNarrator: Sometimes Shepherd, sometimes a close friend or admirer of the featured artist will guide the audience through an episode's clips from a set through voiceover and directly addressing the camera.
48	* InvisibleMeansUndodgeable: Latricia the Magician failed miserably at her first attempt at going invisible for the audience. Then, after she publicly assaulted her [[TheDitz assistant]], as Sherman's security guard was bearing down on her, she performed the trick flawlessly and then went ham on everybody to escape the punishment.
49	* ItsAllAboutMe: During a viewer mail segment from a 2010 episode, Sherman read a letter from a fan asking for more White Music. Sherman immediately crumples the letter in his hand and rants "Okay, this is Sherman's Showcase, not Becca's Showcase. You want a show for your music that you wanna listen to? Start your own goddamn show, Becca! That's right; no one gives a shit what you got to say, Becca. Eat a dick!"
50	* LackOfEmpathy: Sherman will not allow Diana Ross' obvious pain to get in the way of selling his fancy poison.
51	* LampshadeHanging: More scenes are built around this trope than not.
52	* LargeHam: Sherman. For days. Regular scenery diet and NoIndoorVoice.
53	* LoopholeAbuse: Stands to reason that Quincy Jones' [=EGOT=] status will always be an InformedAttribute to never be discussed.
54	* MacGuffin: John Legend accidentally got Common [=EGOT=] status. But he and Quincy Jones will be damned before they let him receive an [=EGOT=] toaster!
55	* MetaphoricallyTrue: Quincy Jones is an EGOT because he got a completely subjective free award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences, even though he completely lacks the O part. [[HandWave You'll understand the logic when you're famous]].
56	* TheMusical: 80% of the sketches involve a dissertation of black music. The rest are straight parodies and faux advertisements.
57	* MusicalisInterruptus: [[Music/TheSupremes Diana Ross']] Hope You Brought (Your Dancing Shoes, Loverboy) is interrupted by Sherman for a message about trash liquor. It burns her mouth and causes her to keel over in pain.
58	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Frederick Douglass OncePerEpisode.
59	* NoodleIncident: Scat Master Crothers.
60	* NoWomansLand: Inverted. Sherman's woman rapper rap battle (which they agreed to in advance and Sherman's Dancers knew what they were going to see) only resulted in everyone bashing him for being male.
61	* OlderThanCableTV: On since 1972.
62	* OldMaster: Quincy Jones. He's presented alongside John Legend, judging things.
63	* OnlySaneMan: Dutch Shepherd constantly corrects Sherman during tapings loudly over the studio intercom if he feels Sherman has gotten something wrong.
64	* PaperThinDisguise: Big Freddy Payne is so painfully obviously just an older, fatter Fast Freddy Payne, rather than the tribute artist that he claims to be, that after the first verse of his performance of Running, Sherman's Dancers can't help themselves from calling him out on it.
65	* ParodyCommercial: OncePerEpisode there's a real advertisement for a fake product, usually introduced by Frederick Douglass. During the actual commercial breaks they have advertisements of an album of the seriously produced for the program songs appearing sporadically throughout the season. After the penultimate episode of the first season they released a series EP for free on online streaming platforms.
66	* {{Pastiche}}: Casual Music/{{Prince}} fans will probably mistake Vic Mensa for the man. Hardcore Prince fans may wonder if Prince actually wrote Vicki, Is the Water Warm Enough?
67	* RhythmAndBlues: Nearly all of the music featured on the program is R&B, jazz, funk or soul, and nearly entirely by African-American artists.
68	* SassyBlackWoman: Pepper Spraye takes her job seriously. Enough to constantly punish the host when he steps out of line too.
69	* SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp: Billy Rolands is a famous talent worldwide. He also went to high school with [=McDaniels=]. A point that when Sherman invited him on the Showcase in 2001, he wasn't afraid to bring back in full force during his segment. Sherman's Dancers were completely into him openly mocking their boss. Ambiguous whether Rolands is just that persuasive or justified in that the show has demonstrated that Sherman has always been a complete jerkass to his staff.
70	* SeriesMascot: The Funk Monster. If you find this card, your friend gets to slap you and take $11.
71	* ShoutOut: Superman.
72	* ShowWithinAShow: Within a show. The highest level is that the entire program is an infomercial. This level is played straight. The second level is the presented program, Sherman's Showcase. On-stage performances within the featured program are heavily lampshaded or outright driven by the collective reactions of Sherman's Dancers, thus making the main program a show for them, making three levels of show.
73	* TheSingularity: During a segment promoting the show's history, Nigel Lythgoe notices and prods a slip of the tongue by Funk-A-Tron 2000 which has him revealing that it may have already happened; the robots just haven't told us yet.
74	* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: "We've had plenty of White music on the show: Jay Sean, Jason Derulo, we even had Music/FloRida on the show twice. My point being, young Becca: Not all White Music is performed by White people" -- Sherman, answering a fan letter.
75	* SpontaneousChoreography: The first segment of the first episode was a grandiose dance number. Sherman lampshaded it by stating that every episode would begin this way. Whether he did it or not isn't clear because of the infomercial format.
76	* SpringtimeForHitler: John Legend wrote Blockbuster: The Musical specifically to [[IncrediblyLamePun bust]] and fail for Common. While Legend's motivations are undefined, instead of being the failure that he wanted, [[GoneHorriblyRight Common got that Tony Award]].
77	* SupportingProtagonist: Bashir Salahuddin may be whom you're told is the star of the show as he portrays its host, but it doesn't take long to notice that in every episode, in nearly every skit Diallo Riddle is there without the presence of Salahuddin, and Riddle is the singer or an instrumentalist in nearly every musical performance. His screen time amounts to about 85%, making it really ''his'' show. Given that on their appearance together on [[Series/LateNight Late Night with Seth Meyers]], Riddle sits in the chair close to Meyers and Salahuddin occupied the couch far away, they know who's show it actually is.
78	* TrashTheSet: The Venice Pier Futbol Club Anthem sketch starts off as a normal stage performance. Technically, the only thing on set they destroy is a bowl of popcorn on a podium, but 20 seconds later, they've roamed off the set and begin trashing the entire studio.
79	* VillainousBreakdown: John Legend upon seeing that Common won a Tony Award.

Context Series / ShermansShowcase