Duo Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who created one of the best comedic brands of the decade with their Bodega Boys podcast and Showtime show of the same name, are well and truly done.
Desus and Mero, known as Daniel Baker and Joel Martinez respectively, are arguably the biggest Hollywood crossover podcast in the industry. After breaking into podcasting with Complex TV’s Desus vs. Mero podcast and Bodega Boys, the pair had a show on Viceland from 2016 to 2018 before landing the Showtime late-night series that would catapult them into the mainstream.
“Desus Nice and The Kid Mero will pursue separate creative endeavors moving forward,” Showtime said in a statement Monday night. “Showtime’s late-night talk show Desus & Mero will not return for a fifth season. Its final episode aired on Thursday, June 23.
Showtime’s confirmation came after days of speculation about their status. The TV series only ran for 15 episodes before going dark (previous seasons had more than 50 episodes), and the podcast was essentially scrapped — the last episode aired in November. Last month, Desus assured the bodegahive that “art is coming back.” But last week, Mero had apparently commented on a social post that it was over: “PODCAST DONE, ENJOY THE BACK CATALOG MY FRIENDS.” On Friday, Desus responded, tweeting “the hive deserved better than this ending.”
No one seems happy about the breakup. The Bodehive is melting on Twitter, and Showtime just lost a major hit that managed to land President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden (when he was running) as guests. After such a blow, it is unlikely that the two will disappear from the public eye, but despite the catchphrase of the duo, the brand did not survive.
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