Late-night TV continues to expand beyond the monologue-interview-musical-guest formula, making room for more experimental programming. Enter Random Acts of Flyness, “a show about the beauty and ugliness of contemporary American life,” per its creator, Terence Nance. Nance is best remembered for his 2012 film An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, which debuted at Sundance and was co-produced by none other than JAY-Z.
While Random Acts will air on HBO, the same network behind Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas, it pushes the boundaries of social commentary much further, if the description below is any indication:
Random Acts of Flyness is a fluid, stream-of-conscious response to the contemporary American media scape. Each episode of Random Acts of Flyness features a handful of interconnected vignettes, showcasing an ensemble cast of emerging and established talent. The show is a mix of vérité documentary, musical performances, surrealist melodrama and humorous animation. Nance and his collaborators weave together such themes as ancestral trauma, history, death, the singularity, romance and more, creating a television show like nothing seen before.
In addition to writing, directing, composing the music and executive producing the series, Nance appears in all six episodes, but will be joined by guests including Whoopi Goldberg and Gillian Jacobs. Random Acts of Flyness premieres Friday, Aug. 3, at midnight on HBO.
The first trailer is called "The Kiss," and while it doesn't tell you much about the show, it is exactly what it says it is. Watch below:
