The Last OG, airing Tuesdays at 10:30pm EST on TBS, is a comeback of sorts for actor/comedian Tracy Morgan. Morgan, a beloved comic best known for his stints on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, was involved in a horrific car crash in 2014 that left him comatose for 2 weeks and with a traumatic brain injury. Many thought that Morgan would never come back to show-business, but after a long recovery he finally returned to tv last year with a guest-hosting spot on SNL. Now he's back with a regular tv gig, starring as Tray, a drug dealer and low-level thug who's just out of jail after 15 years. Tray's ex-girlfriend Shay, mother of his 2 children, is played by current Hollywood "it"-woman Tiffany Haddish. Shay has moved up in the world during Tray's prison stint and is now a bigshot in the corporate world. She also has a new white boyfriend named Josh (Ryan Gaul), who is a bit reserved, the opposite of loud and brash Tray.
The best part of the show, which has aired 2 episodes thus far, seems to be the pop culture references. In the pilot, when Tray tells of the night that he was arrested in 2002, he's sure to point out that this was the night of the first season finale of American Idol (he was rooting for Justin Guarini, while Shay was a fan of Kelly Clarkson). In the much superior 2nd episode, Tray has an extended conversation with his new coffee shop boss about Hannibal Lector; he's amazed that she has never seen The Silence of the Lambs or its sequels. Another high point is the hilarious culture shock that Tray experiences when he comes back to his old neighborhood. Instead of street gangs and drug dealers, his old Brooklyn neighborhood is now full of hipsters and responsibly sourced coffee shops. In probably the funniest scene of the series so far, Tray starts talking to 2 young black men, thinking that they're street thugs like he once was, but in fact they're a gay couple waiting for their friends to pick them up for brunch. Haddish is underused on the show so far, and her character's new buttoned-up persona doesn't allow many opportunities for her personality to shine through. Other minor characters, like Cedric the Entertainer as the leader of the halfway house where Tray is living, and Malik Yoba as Wavy, Tray's new coffee shop boss and old friend, who he took the fall for with his arrest, are fine, but Morgan is the real star and center of the show. The show certainly isn't perfect, but the funny moments are pretty damn hilarious. After some time to find its footing, it could really be something special.
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