‘South Side’ is a comedy series that has been filmed completely in Chicago, with an attempt to highlight the black culture, predominant in the city’s South Side area. The story is centered around a furniture and appliance rental store, Rent-T-Own, and its two employees, who are fresh community college graduates. Created by Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle, it is inspired by the duo’s experiences when they met each other at Harvard and later on progressed to work together in the Emmy-nominated series, ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘.
South Side Cast: Who is in it?
The cast of ‘South Side’ is led by Sultan Salahuddin (Bashir Salahuddin’s elder brother) and Kareme Young. The Salahuddin siblings are in fact natives of South Side, growing up in South Shore and later in Auburn Gresham. Bashir plays the character of Officer Goodnight and Diallo Riddle stars as a public defender. LaRoyce Hawkins and Chandra Russell also appear in other supporting roles. Some of the guest stars featured in season 1 include Lil Rel Howery, Jeff Tweedy, Kel Mitchell, Nathaniel “Earthquake” Stroman, LisaRaye McCoy, and Ed Lover.
As per Bashir, “We are putting actual Chicago people in the show. I want to show you people who live here. What you see on the screen is what you see on the street. We really do work hard to make sure the prism is correct.”
South Side Plot: What is it about?
‘South Side’ is a scripted comedy-drama that attempts to highlight the working-class neighborhood of Englewood in South Side, Chicago. The story introduces us to two community-college graduates who harbor big dreams for a glowing future. However, they end up getting stuck in a retail-rental outlet, named Rent-T-Own. This is the focal point where most of the action takes place, allowing us to meet the show’s huge ensemble of characters. Although each of these colleagues has their own struggles, they do not give up on their entrepreneurial endeavors. Created by and featuring native Chicagoans, the series gives an authentic insight about the life in South Side.
Dubbed as a workplace comedy, ‘South Side’ is extremely hilarious. There are scenes where a microwave renter runs away with the oven and a conversation revolving around the question, is deep-dish pizza a lasagna with a crust? On the other hand, our protagonists are also considering a viable side hustle. The duo additionally thinks to pursue the path of becoming venture capitalists, or as one of the phrases says, “adventure capitalists.”
Coming to shows about the African-American populace in Chicago, we already have ‘The Chi’. While ‘The Chi’ primarily deals with the ‘black lives matter theme’, ‘South City’ is more about their regular lives. It tries to lend a glimpse into the funnier side of the city and highlight that there’s nothing that blacks cannot handle with a chuckle.
