Gabriel Iglesias Goes From Stand-Up to Sitcom in Netflix's Mr Iglesias

The tradition of the stand-up comedian headlining a sitcom that borrows from their stage routine but morphs them into a family friendly TV character is tried and true.  But with Gabriel Iglesias bringing his comedy into a high school setting for Netflix's multi-cam comedy Mr Iglesias, two other shows most strongly come to mind: Welcome Back, Kotter and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Both were starring vehicles for comedy stars (Gabe Kaplan and Mark Curry, respectively), and both enjoyed long-runs nearly 20 years apart.

Netflix is clearly hoping for the same kind of success with Mr. Iglesias. Yes, the teens do crack wise. Yes, there is a ton of generation-gap humor. And yes, everybody makes a "Wakanda forever!" joke. It looks fun.

SERIES PREMIERE: Gabriel Iglesias has long been a fave of Netflix's stand-up specials, so it makes sense that the streamer would give him his own sitcom. In Mr. Iglesias, the stand-up also known as "Fluffy" plays a version of himself who heads back to his alma mater to teach underachieving high schoolers. Sherri Shepherd, who's been so funny on shows like 30 Rock and Trial & Error, plays the principal. Streaming on Netflix

SEASON PREMIERE: With Ava DuVernay's When They See Us having made such an impact this past month, the second season of The Confession Tapes couldn't  come at a better time. Presenting another batch of cases where confessions appear to have been coerced or falsely given, the series is as important as it is spellbinding. Streaming on Netflix

SEASON PREMIERE: The supernatural teen drama Dark returns for its second season.The German-language series is a creepy, cave-dwelly Euro combination of Stranger Things, It, Donnie Darko, and a few other influences. Streaming on Netflix

SEASON PREMIERE: A New Zealand mortuary is the unlikely setting for the entertaining and uplifting Netflix reality series Casketeers. Our own Aaron Barnhart recently called the first season an overlooked gem, Dropping today, Season 2 looks just as promising. Streaming on Netflix

ALSO TONIGHT

• Rosehaven returns for a third season of Aussie comedy among buddy real-estate agents. Streaming on Sundance Now
• The Bravest Knight is a new cartoon series focusing on two dads (voiced by T.R. Knight and Wilson Cruz) raising an adventuresome 10-year-old daughter. Streaming on Hulu
• Real Time with Bill Maher airs its 500th episode, which Maher will likely celebrate by berating his audience for groaning at one of his jokes. 10:00 PM ET on HBO

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.