'Flatbush Is A Neighborhood Where The Culture Is Super Rich': Dan Perlman & Kevin Iso On Showtime's 'Flatbush Misdemeanors'
(CBS Local)-- Flatbush is taking centerstage this weekend on Showtime. A new series from comedians Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso called "Flatbush Misdemeanors" premieres this Sunday, May 23 at 10:30pm EST. The comedy series follows Dan & Kevin as they struggle to thrive in their new surroundings of Flatbush, Brooklyn.
CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith chatted with Perlman and Iso about the show, why they love Flatbush and their careers in comedy.
"Flatbush is a neighborhood where the culture is super rich," said Iso. "Brooklyn is a borough and Flatbush is a neighborhood and a lot of the things in this show are specific to Flatbush. It was great to cast a lot of people from the neighborhood to work on the show. You have a lot of people who come here from the Caribbean and I hope people see the show and see all the characters as human beings and not a bunch of stereotypes."
"Flatbush is diverse in so many respects and it has had so many different iterations," said Perlman. "It's such a Caribbean and Black community. It's so historic and yet not as represented. You've seen the same streets in Manhattan and in Williamsburg a million times in a million different shows. Flatbush is so diverse in so many different ways and it lends itself to a show that is organically diverse."
Perlman is from New York and Iso lived in Houston before making his way to the Big Apple. "Flatbush Misdemeanors" was originally a web series before it was picked up by Showtime and turned into a half-hour comedy. While both Perlman and Iso hope the show makes people laugh, they also wanted to use their series to address serious issues like police brutality and gentrification.
"It was definitely important to hit stuff that felt relevant and evergreen, without it feeling so topical or referencing one specific thing," said Perlman. "You want people to see it and relate, but you don't want it to be preachy. We wanted to hit these issues organically in a way that made sense for the characters in a way that is not forced and is still fun. We didn't want to make anything a caricature."
"I think the show is pretty funny and overall we wanted to look at this idea that everyone who commits a crime is a bad person," said Iso. "People shouldn't be vilified by society and hopefully that message comes across. If not, we tried."
Watch "Flatbush Misdemeanors" Sunday, May 23 on Showtime.
