UPDATE 05/27/16: And we now know when to expect Master of None's (presumably great) second season. According to Aziz Ansari himself, fans should expect an April 2017 release:
See original story from 05/26/16 below.
We already know the forthcoming sophomore season of Aziz Ansari's Peabody-winning Netflix seriesMaster of None will most likely take place in Italy, but what else can we expect? According to Ansari, who recently sat down with Scandal star Kerry Washington for a Variety-hosted discussion on diversity, fans of the series should expect an even stronger pushback against the pervasive whiteness of the entertainment industry.
"Our show, it's an Indian guy, Asian guy, so there's going to be more Indian people, Asian people," Ansari said. "We have a diverse group of friends and we didn't even really think about it when we were making the show that 'oh, this is diverse.' We were just like 'this feels real.'" But for Master of None's second round of truth-laced comedy, Ansari is taking a more determined approach.
"One thing I've thought about in going from season 1 to season 2 is now we're in a position to help other people," Ansari said. "In season 2 I've been like I gotta find—I gotta do just even more—and find even more actors of color and writers of color." The formerParks and Recreation star points to Chris Rock as an example of how to foster diverse talent, something Asari says is important to the craft of film and television.
"I'm friends with Chris Rock and I've seen how he really takes that initiative to foster talent and to look out for people and I think it's really important," Ansari said. "It's kind of a responsibility we have once we kind of get to a certain place to look out for people and I've really tried to do that in season 2 of my show."
The diversity topic has remained a consistent narrative in Master of None's rise to critical acclaim, something Ansari touched on during an interview with Stephen Colbert shortly after the series premiere. "We're both from South Carolina," Ansari said during the Late Show chat. "Stephen's the first late night host from South Carolina and the bajillionth white guy." Ansari also took shots at Late Show's network, CBS, noting that his appearance on Colbert's show marked an "all-time high" for diversity on the network.
Master of None was renewed for a second season in February. The series also stars Kelvin Yu, Lena Waithe, Eric Wareheim, and Noël Wells and is set to return to Netflix queues in 2017.
