Superior Donuts

***Superior Donuts*** is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on February 2, 2017 and concluded on May 14, 2018. It was premiered in its regular Monday at 9:00 p.m. timeslot on February 6, 2017. The series is based on the play of the same name by Tracy Letts.

This show stars Judd Hirsch as the doughnut shop owner Arthur and Jermaine Fowler as the obsessively tidy Franco Wicks. The show was announced in May 2016 and was picked up by CBS as a midseason offering for the 2016–17 season.

On March 23, 2017, CBS renewed the series for a second season, which will premiere on October 30, 2017. On May 12, 2018, CBS cancelled the series after two seasons and 34 episodes.

## Plot

The series revolves around the relationship between Chicago donut shop owner Arthur Przybyszewski his new employee, Franco Wicks and the shop's various patrons. With the donut shop struggling financially, Franco makes suggestions for improvement and modernization to the sometimes reluctant Arthur. Superior Donuts' supportive regulars include loyal patron Randy a cop whose late father was Arthur's best friend; in season one only, her over-eager rookie partner, James, Tush a colorful customer who uses the shop counter as a makeshift office where he keeps tabs on a variety of odd jobs via fax machine; in season one only, Maya is a privileged grad-school student working on her Ph. D; and Sweatpants who is also Franco's longtime friend who's willing to dress as a donut to help drum up more business. Looking to cash in on the urban renewal is Arthur's over-caffeinated neighbor, aspiring real estate capitalist Fawz who pushes Arthur on a daily basis to sell the building to him. Season two introduces Sofia, a food truck owner whom Franco befriends quickly. She essentially replaces Maya from season one. At the end of this series Sofia transferred to Philadelphia where she disliked Franco didn't want to come back anymore.

## Cast

### Main

* Judd Hirsch as Arthur Przybyszewski
* Jermaine Fowler as Franco Wicks
* Katey Sagal as Officer Randy DeLuca
* David Koechner as Carl "Tush" Tushinski
* Maz Jobrani as Fawz
* Anna Baryshnikov as Maya (Season 1)
* Darien Sills-Evans as Officer James Jordan (Season 2)
* Diane Guerrero as Sofia (Season 2)
* Rell Battle as Sweatpants

### Guest

* Eric Edelstein as Officer Deckerd
* David Pasquesi as Lou
* Nelson Lee as Officer Li
* Kevin Dorff as Phil
* Luke Youngblood as Malcolm
* Jim O'Heir as Gary
* Brenda Vaccaro as Ellen
* Ozioma Akagha as Nadine
* Michael McDonald as Manfred
* Cedric the Entertainer as Reggie Wicks
* Suzanne Cryer as Eliza
* Jailen Bates as Andre
* Annie Mumolo as Lucy
* Richard Riehle as Murray
* Gary Anthony Williams as Howard
* Debra Wilson as Lyric
* Jim Rash as Mr. Mathers
* Keith David as Homeless John
* Reggie De Leon as Zane
* Shamikah Martinez as Tavi
* Tim Russ as Professor Mills
* Bill Cobbs as Luther 'Wheels' Langdon
* Fahim Anwar as Abdullah 'Abe' Farooq Al-Shahrani
* Ann Magnuson as Irene
* Matt Besser as Detective Whitley
* Clayton Thomas as Marcus
* Addison Russell as himself
* Jerry Minor as Officer Jackson
* Erik Rivera as Rafael
* Rob Nagle as Agent Kozek

## Production

### Developed and filming

The pilot was originally developed for the 2015–16 television season, but was not picked up, and was put in redevelopment by CBS. In May 2016, a new pilot was ordered, for consideration at midseason. On September 21, 2016, CBS ordered the pilot to series.

### Casting

On February 10, 2016, *Crashing* star Jermaine Fowler will lead the cast as Franco Wicks, a buddy employer for Arthur for the pilot. On August 1, 2016, *Taxi* star Judd Hirsch was cast the new as Arthur. Katey Sagal from *Married, with Children* and *Sons of Anarchy* was cast as a female lead for the pilot on September 8, 2016. On September of 2016, it was announced that Anna Baryshnikov was casting as Maya, she was upgraded to a series regular role on October 6, 2014. On August 25, 2017, it was announced that Diane Guerrero will play as Sofia in the regular role.

### Cancellation

On May 12, 2018, it was announced that CBS officially cancelled *Superior Donuts*, along with *Kevin Can Wait* and *9JKL*, including the essential cancellations are *Living Biblically* and *Me, Myself & I*. A combination of factors, including declining ratings, CBS's desire to have an ownership stake, and the network needing to clear space for three new sitcoms in the fall 2018 schedule, led to the show's demise.

## Reception

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the series an approval rating of 62% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While *Superior Donuts*' talented cast impressively delivers, the annoying laugh track and stale jokes leave a hole in the middle of a crusty — albeit topical — narrative." On Metacritic the series has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

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## DVD Release

The first season of Superior Donuts was released on DVD on January 22 2018.

## References

1. ↑ Superior Donuts, Cancelled, No Season Three for Judd Hirsch Sitcom *TVSeriesFinale* by Cindy McLennan, May 12, 2018.

## External links

* Superior Donuts on CBS Wiki
* Superior Donuts on Television Wiki
* Superior Donuts on CBS Shows Fandom
* Superior Donuts on Wikipedia