UPDATE (12/4/2024 at 12 p.m. ET): Marlon Wayans‘ previously teased casting in Poppa’s House is now official. CBS announced on Wednesday, December 4 that Damon Wayans‘ younger brother will guest star in an upcoming episode of the new sitcom, which recently got a full-season order. Damon Wayans Jr. previously told TV Insider that it was likely that his uncle would make an appearance in Season 1, among other former Wayans costars (see below).
Marlon will play Poppa’s brother, Melvin, a bit of a ne’er do well who comes to visit the family with a new business idea. Poppa is quick to warn everyone not to trust him, while Ivy (played by Essence Atkins) and Junior want to believe he’s changed. The episode will air on CBS in February 2025.
Marlon will next be seen starring in Justin Tipping’s psychological sports thriller HIM, produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, out September 2025. He is also writing and producing Miramax and Paramount’s upcoming Scary Movie reboot along with his brothers Keenen Ivory Wayans and Shawn Wayans and Rick Alvarez. He’s currently on his Wild Child Tour throughout the nation.
ORIGINAL STORY (10/25/2024 at 6:13 p.m. ET): Poppa’s House just got started, but the Wayans family already has big plans for the show’s future.
New Girl and In Living Color reunions are coming up a February episode of Poppa’s House Season 1, and Damon Wayans Jr. reveals to TV Insider that his uncle, Marlon Wayans, could appear on the sitcom. The star also says that it may just be a matter of time before Tisha Campbell and Jennifer Freeman — Damon Wayans Sr.’s costars in the early 2000s sitcom My Wife and Kids — join as guest stars. In fact, Wayans Jr. says the two visited the Poppa’s House set just a week before the sitcom’s first episode debuted.
Poppa’s House premiered on Monday (October 21) on CBS. It stars Wayans Sr. as Poppa, a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced man who has his point of view challenged as he finds himself still parenting his adult son, Junior (Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband. Dr. Ivy Reed (Essence Atkins) is brought in as a cohost on the radio show to challenge Poppa to evolve, and that work relationship starts to influence their home life when Ivy meets Junior’s wife, Nina (Tetona Jackson). Wendy Raquel Robinson will debut as Poppa’s ex-wife/Junior’s mother, Catherine, later this season.
RelatedWhy Damon Wayans Jr. Is Glad ‘Poppa’s House’ Makes CBS ‘Uncomfortable’
With Wayans family members in front of and behind the camera, Poppa’s House is “definitely a family affair,” the Happy Endings alum tells TV Insider. And the Martin alum and her former onscreen daughter paid a visit to the set earlier in October.
“Tisha Campbell came up to the set last week, her and Jennifer Freeman,” Wayans reveals. Campbell played the My Wife and Kids matriarch, Jay Kyle, with Freeman as her and Wayans Sr.’s daughter, Claire Kyle, on the ABC sitcom. “We took pictures, we hung out. So great to see them. I definitely think that they will pop up” on the new show, Wayans shares.
“I think some more family, some more Wayans family will pop up as well. I think maybe Marlon might come,” he adds. “Uncle Marlon — I call him Uncle Marlon — might come by and bless us as well. So I’m excited. The goal right now is to get people to fall in love with this fantastic four, and then we’ll start opening it up a little bit more as time goes on.”
“It is definitely a party” on the Poppa’s House set, Wayans adds. “Even off camera. We’re laughing, having a blast. I love it.”
Who else from the Wayans crew, be it the real-life family or their onscreen costars, would you like to see join Sr. and Jr. on Poppa’s House? Let us know in the comments, below.
Poppa’s House, Mondays, 8:30/7:30c, CBS
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