Above: Diona Reasonover talks about her ‘Boston accent.’
Tonight (June 16) is the premiere of TBS’ new sitcom Clipped, starring CalArts alumna Diona Reasonover (Theater MFA 09) with High School Musical’s Ashley Tisdale and Cheers’ George Wendt.
Created by Will & Grace executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, Clipped takes place in a Boston barbershop, where a group of 20-somethings who all went to the same high school but moved in very different social circles have ended up working together. “As with most workplace comedies, unrequited love, unrealized dreams and friendly friction abound. However, Kohan and Mutchnick are skilled at twisting these TV tropes into a world that feels comforting and friendly,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Hitflix wrote about the show, singling out Reasonover:
Reasonover plays the supporting role of Charmaine, a young haircutter whose jokes are probably the snidest in the series. While naming a list of dream celebrity guest-stars for Charmaine to date, Reasonover opened up about the joy of playing this particular character.
“Janelle Monae! MC Lyte! Sean Kingston, Sean Penn! I love the Seans. All about the Seans. Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs,” she said.
Another reporter asked if she intentionally chose both male and female paramours for Charmaine.
“Charmaine’s a QPOC, a Queer Person of Color,” Reasonover said. “That’s also part of me, part of my truth. It’s interesting to get to play that on TV. It’s not something I thought I would.”
I can’t think of too many sitcoms with bisexual characters at all, let alone bisexual characters of color. I’m excited to see how Reasonover’s character develops on Clipped, particularly when juxtaposed with Buzzy’s (Wendt) own relationship foibles.
Clipped’s pilot episode airs on TBS tonight and is now streaming online.