# Rel (TV series)

Rel is an American television sitcom created by Lil Rel Howery and Kevin Barnett for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series also stars Jordan L. Jones, Jess Hilarious and Sinbad. Loosely based on Howery's own life, it follows a Chicago man trying to rebuild his life after his ex-wife slept with his barber.
Rel is a joint production by Morningside Entertainment, REL Event Productions, Scully Productions, JMMLG, Bird Luger, and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. On April 17, 2019, Fox canceled the series after one season.

## Plot summary

The series centers on Rel, a nurse living on the West Side of Chicago, whose life is soon disrupted when his wife is having an affair with his own barber and divorces him.

## Cast

* Lil Rel Howery as Rel, a nurse who tries to rebuild his life after the divorce
* Jordan L. Jones as Nat, Rel's younger brother who just got out of jail
* Jess Hilarious as Brittany, Rel's best friend
* Sinbad as Milton, Rel's and Nat's widowed father.
* Leah Sava Jeffries as Brandi

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | Gerry Cohen | Lil Rel Howery & Kevin Barnett & Josh Rabinowitz | September 9, 2018 (2018-09-09) | 1LBH01 | 5.49 |
| 2 | "Laundry Room" | Gerry Cohen | Lil Rel Howery & Kevin Barnett & Josh Rabinowitz | September 30, 2018 (2018-09-30) | 1LBH02 | 1.99 |
| 3 | "Kids First Visit" | Mike Scully | Story by : Lil Rel Howery Teleplay by : Mike Scully | October 7, 2018 (2018-10-07) | 1LBH04 | 1.81 |
| 4 | "One Night Stand" | Gerry Cohen | Story by : Lil Rel Howery Teleplay by : Aeysha Carr | October 14, 2018 (2018-10-14) | 1LBH03 | 1.40 |
| 5 | "Halloween" | Gerry Cohen | Aeysha Carr & Hugh Moore | October 21, 2018 (2018-10-21) | 1LBH05 | 1.45 |
| 6 | "Windy City Politics" | Gerry Cohen | Danielle Sanchez-Witzel | November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04) | 1LBH06 | 1.64 |
| 7 | "Re-Enter the Dragons" | Gerry Cohen | Andrew Lee | November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11) | 1LBH07 | 1.25 |
| 8 | "Blizzard" | Gerry Cohen | Josh Rabinowitz & Kevin Barnett | November 18, 2018 (2018-11-18) | 1LBH08 | 1.62 |
| 9 | "Brittany's Mom" | Gerry Cohen | Rae Sanni | December 2, 2018 (2018-12-02) | 1LBH09 | 1.61 |
| 10 | "Hate & Hip Hop" | Gerry Cohen | Josh Rabinowitz & Kevin Barnett | December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) | 1LBH10 | 2.06 |
| 11 | "Mom" | Gerry Cohen | Story by : Lil Rel Howery & James Heller Chapman Teleplay by : Willie Hunter & Dave Helem | January 6, 2019 (2019-01-06) | 1LBH12 | 1.23 |
| 12 | "Cleveland" | Gerry Cohen | Mike Mariano | January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13) | 1LBH11 | 2.77 |

## Kevin Barnett

Co-creator Kevin Barnett, who also worked on the show Broad City died at the age of 32 on January 22, 2019. His death in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, while he was on vacation, was caused by pancreatitis. Barnett co-hosted a podcast, Roundtable of Gentlemen.

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 44% approval rating with an average rating of 4.36 out of 10, based on 16 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Rel has a talented star supported by a solid ensemble, but none of it's enough to disguise an ordinary sitcom that hits a series of generic beats." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 46 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

### Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Rel :
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
| 1 | "Pilot" | September 9, 2018 | 1.9/8 | 5.49 | 0.2 | 0.42 | 2.1 | 5.91 |
| 2 | "Laundry Room" | September 30, 2018 | 0.8/4 | 1.99 | 0.3 | 0.59 | 1.0 | 2.58 |
| 3 | "Kids First Visit" | October 7, 2018 | 0.7/3 | 1.81 | 0.2 | 0.54 | 0.9 | 2.35 |
| 4 | "One Night Stand" | October 14, 2018 | 0.5/2 | 1.40 | 0.2 | 0.49 | 0.7 | 1.88 |
| 5 | "Halloween" | October 21, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 1.45 | 0.2 | 0.43 | 0.8 | 1.88 |
| 6 | "Windy City Politics" | November 4, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 1.64 | 0.2 | 0.41 | 0.8 | 2.05 |
| 7 | "Re-Enter the Dragons" | November 11, 2018 | 0.5/2 | 1.25 | 0.2 | 0.40 | 0.7 | 1.65 |
| 8 | "Blizzard" | November 18, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 1.62 | 0.2 | 0.37 | 0.8 | 1.99 |
| 9 | "Brittany's Mom" | December 2, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 1.61 | 0.2 | 0.37 | 0.8 | 1.99 |
| 10 | "Hate & Hip Hop" | December 9, 2018 | 0.8/3 | 2.06 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 11 | "Mom" | January 6, 2019 | 0.5/2 | 1.23 | 0.1 | 0.30 | 0.6 | 1.53 |
| 12 | "Cleveland" | January 13, 2019 | 1.0/4 | 2.77 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |