Woke is an American comedy television series co-created by Keith Knight and Marshall Todd and starring Lamorne Morris. The series premiered on Hulu on September 9, 2020. On November 17, 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on April 8, 2022. In June 2022, Hulu cancelled the series after two seasons.
Contents
Plot
Keef Knight, creator of Toast & Butter, is a black cartoonist on the verge of mainstream success. He prides himself on 'keeping it light' and shies away from taking controversial stances. After being racially profiled by overly aggressive policemen, the traumatized Keef finds that he's able to see and hear inanimate objects talking to him. Now more sensitive to racism, and the everyday microaggressions he'd tried so hard to avoid acknowledging in every situation, Keef must figure out how to maintain his relationships and a career as a "woke" black man.
The show is live action with animated elements.
Cast
Lamorne Morris as Keef, a cartoonist based on cartoonist and co-creator Keith Knight
Blake Anderson as Gunther, one of Keef's roommates
T. Murph as Clovis, Keef's best friend and roommate
Rose McIver as Adrienne, an artist and Keef's girlfriend (season 1)
Sasheer Zamata as Ayana, a reporter for The Bay Arean who calls Keef out
Aimee Garcia as Laura Salgado (season 2)
Voice only
J.B. Smoove as Marker
Nicole Byer and Eddie Griffin as 40 oz Bottles
Cree Summer as Paper Bag
Tony Hale as Butter
Sam Richardson as Toast
Jack McBrayer as Sad face
Cedric the Entertainer as Trashcan
Keith David as Bible
Episodes
Production
Keith Knight serves as the inspiration of the show.
Jay Dyer served as the showrunner for the first season. Anthony King was the showrunner for Season 2.
Release
Woke was released on Hulu on September 9, 2020. The first trailer was released on August 8, 2020.
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 74% based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10 for the show's first season. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though Woke's first season doesn't quite know what it wants to say about racism in America, its solid ensemble—led by a well-cast Lamorne Morris—and some surreal silliness make it a messy conversation worth watching." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 19 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".