Duo Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who established one of the leading comedy brands of the decade with their podcast Bodega Boys and their eponymous show on Showtime, are well done.
Desus and Mero, also known as Daniel Baker and Joel Martinez, respectively, are arguably the largest Hollywood crossovers podcast in the industry. After entering podcasting with the podcast Desus Vs. Mero of Complex TV and Bodega Boys, the couple had a show on Viceland from 2016 to 2018 before getting the Showtime night series that would take them to the mainstream.
“Desus Nice and The Kid Mero will pursue separate creative efforts to move forward,” Showtime said in a statement Monday evening. “Showtime ‘s nightly talk show, Desus & Mero, will not return for a fifth season. Its last episode aired on Thursday, June 23rd.
Showtime’s confirmation came after days of speculation about its status. The TV series only had 15 episodes before it got dark (previous seasons had over 50 episodes) and the podcast had essentially been abandoned: the last episode aired in November. Last month, Desus assured the “bodegahive” that “art is back.” But last week, apparently, Mero had commented on a social post that was over: “PODCAST DONE ENJOYING THE REAR CATALOG MY PALS.” On Friday, Desus responded, tweeting “the hive deserved better than this ending.”
No one seems happy with the breakup. The bodegahive is melting on Twitter, and Showtime has just lost a huge hit that got President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden (when it was introduced) invited. After such a big race, the two are unlikely to disappear from the public eye, but despite the duo’s slogan, the brand did not survive.
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