“Sherman's Showcase”: Diallo Riddle dishes on his “smart comedy” that's a “little silly”

Comedy CentralDiallo Riddle is sharing new details on his scripted musical variety sketch comedy show, Sherman’s Showcase, which premieres tonight on IFC.

Riddle, who created the series with his writing partner Bashir Salahuddin, tells ABC Radio that his new show takes a page out of variety shows from the 70s and 80s.

“We said that if 30 Rock takes place at SNL, our show takes place at Soul Train or Solid Gold or like one of those kind of shows,” Riddle says. “And he plays Sherman and I play his producer Dutch. And really the show is just an excuse for us to do our favorite sort of variety jokes.”

Those jokes, Riddle admits, are much different that what fans will hear on his other comedy series, South Side, which takes an authentic look at Chicago’s South Side. Instead, Riddle says this show presents a “fun” and sometimes quirky sense of comedy.

“Like, I think South Side is very grounded and very real and people will appreciate that,” he says. “This shows lives in a heightened reality. Like, it’s a lot like Laugh In or Pee-Wee’s Playhouse– it’s a very like sort of fun playful show.”

“It’s a smart comedy for like people who want to be a little silly,” he adds.

Sherman’s Showcase, produced by John Legend, airs on tonight at 10 p.m. ET on IFC.