Dewayne Perkins to Launch ‘I Swear We’re Friends,’ New Digital ‘Skitcom’ on YouTube (EXCLUSIVE)

“The Blackening” and “The Studio” star Dewayne Perkins is launching a new digital series, “I Swear We’re Friends,” exclusively on YouTube this fall.
Perkins is independently releasing the six-episode “skitcom,” which is described as a “love letter to television,” with each episode inspired by a beloved show: “Girlfriends,” “Succession,” “24,” “My Wife & Kids,” “Charmed” and “Touched By An Angel.”

With the series, Perkins — who got his start performing in his Chicago improv group 3Peat before the success of “The Blackening” put him on Hollywood’s radar — mixes the nostalgia of the past with the novelty of the present to create a “uniquely absurd comedic experience.”

“Twenty years after ‘Noah’s Arc,’ why are Black gay male friendships still so rarely at the center of comedy?” a release describing the series explains. “With ‘I Swear We’re Friends,’ Dewayne is helping fill a void that remains on-screen two decades later. The series isn’t about explaining Black queerness to an outside audience; it gives Black queer men the space to simply be funny, messy, complicated friends.”

Perkins leads the main cast alongside Devere Rogers (“Abbott Elementary,” “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul”), Brian Jordan Jr. (“Sistas”), Philemon Chambers (“Beauty in Black”) and Cameron J. Ross (“The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Boomerang”).

Guest stars include Daryl Stephens (“Noah’s Arc”), Steven G. Norfleet (“Beauty in Black,” “Interview with the Vampire”), Courtney Taylor (“Abbott Elementary,” “Shrinking,” “Insecure”), Tracie Thoms (“Rent,” “The Devil Wears Prada”), Justen Ross (“Is God Is,” “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist”) and Jermelle Simon (“The Upshaws”). Grammy winner Durand Bernarr performs the show’s theme song.

The first two episodes debut on Oct. 14, with episodes three and four following on Oct. 21, and Season 1 concluding with episodes five and six on Oct. 28.

Perkins directed all six episodes with Sade Ndya (ASC Rising Star, Nike x Megan Thee Stallion) as the director of photography. He also wrote the series with James Rogers III (“The Chi”), Rogers and Higher Ground’s Mark Wright.

“I Swear We’re Friends” is produced by Nance Messineo & Cole Santiago of Ex-Girlfriend Co. Production Company (Doechii, Selena Gomez, Renee Rapp) and Natasha Forouzannia (Marvel’s “Ironheart”). Post-production on the series is by Skapa Films (Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” film, Victoria Monét, Megan Thee Stallion).

News of the digital series comes as Perkins is set to return in the ensemble cast of Apple TV’s Emmy-winning series “The Studio.” He’s also currently working on “The Blackening 2” for Lionsgate. (The 2023 horror-comedy, co-written by Perkins and Tracy Oliver, grossed more than $18 million on a $5 million budget.)

Up next, Perkins recently joined the cast of Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi’s latest directorial feature, the horror-thriller “Wrong Number.” Variety also exclusively revealed that he is developing a new comedy series at Hulu, which he is attached to write, executive produce and star in should it receive a green light. Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett are also executive producing via Unanimous Media.

Finally, on Nov. 9, Perkins brings his one-man show, “How Being Black & Gay Made Me Better Than You!,” to Brooklyn’s Bell House as part of the New York Comedy Festival, following a sold-out show at the Netflix Is a Joke Fest earlier this year.

Perkins is represented by CAA, Artists First and attorneys Amber Payne and Isaac Dunham.