STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Nina Parker and Kevin Fredericks Are Bringing All The Good Energy As Hosts of ‘Friday Night Vibes’

The series will air TBS on the first Friday of every month, beginning Jan. 5 at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

Beginning in 2024, your Friday nights are about to get much better.

TBS has announced the return of the second season of its popular series “Friday Night Vibes.” Hosted by Nina Parker and Kevin “KevOnStage” Fredericks, the monthly talk series features Parker and Fredricks giving their take on some of the most popular films with celebrity guests and “celebrating diverse voices in front of and behind the camera.”

Set at “The Gathering Spot” in the historic West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, upcoming episodes will feature “21 Bridges,” “Creed 2;” “Tenet,” “White House Down,” and “Déjà Vu; “Girls Trip,” “Ride Along 2,” and “Just Wright” to name a few. 

Both Parker and Fredericks have extensive backgrounds in various entertainment industry sectors. Parker is an Emmy®-nominated entertainment journalist who’s reported for TMZ and The Insider, hosted several Love & Hip Hop reunion shows, and was the inaugural co-host on E!'s Nightly Pop. She is also the first plus-size Black woman to create a line exclusively for Macy’s.

As a comedian and actor, Fredericks is one of the most popular content creators on social media, with almost 2 million followers on Instagram. He’s appeared on the HBO series “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” hosted Will Smith’s “Dad’s Just Don’t Understand” for Facebook Watch, and was a producer of the  Snapchat series “Will From Home.” He’s also written or produced for Nickelodeon, All Def, MTV, and AwesomenessTV.

In an exclusive interview, Parker and Fredericks shared how they became a part of the series.

“It happened in a very traditional sense. I got a call from my agent that there was going to be a chemistry test and there were so many other amazingly Black talented people at the audition so it was like a family reunion when we got there,” Parker said. “Sometimes when you get to a chemistry test, it feels like there's a lot of competition so whoever was going to get this gig, we would have been happy for them. But I will say that when Kevin and I passed it together, it was just like instant chemistry.”

“I've never auditioned with people before. I would have been happy if they got the job. However, I was happiest when we got it,” Fredericks added.

Although Parker and Fredricks have known each other for years on social media and were fans of each other’s work, they never met in person until the audition. Upon meeting each other, they knew they had something special and their connection was truly organic.

“We've never been in the same space and it's crazy because we have so many mutual friends. For whatever reason, we’ve never been in the room together but we were big fans of each other,” Parker said. “We support each other's work and comment on each other's social media posts all the time. I knew all his business [Laughs]. So it was nice to actually meet him.”

“Man it was great to meet Nina and we hit it off immediately. It felt like we went to school together,” Fredericks laughed.

When asked what makes them great co-hosting partners, the duo revealed that they each bring something different to the table, and they were to draw from each other’s specific skill sets to enhance the quality of the series. 

“What makes Nina such a good partner is she is more experienced in hosting at this point in our career and she let me lean on her. I've done that stuff on TV but Nina has done this exact thing so I was able to glean from her and she was very helpful,” Fredericks noted. “She’s also really funny and she was getting her jokes off [Laughed].  I knew she would be professional but she's so funny.”

“Early on, Kev allowed me to toe the line to see where I could be funny. When you have a partnership you have to see if this person can take a joke, if they’ll allow you to make fun of them, or if they'll bounce back. Sometimes you sit with someone and they act like they are never gonna be on TV again [Laughs]. So as much as he said I made him feel comfortable in the hosting space, he made me feel comfortable in the comedy space,” Parker added.

Parker and Fredericks believe that becoming hosts of “Friday Night Vibes” was a touchstone moment in their careers. They shared how excited they are to show off their comedic partnership.

“When you move to LA, this is what you move here for. You want to book things with the hopes of seeing yourself on the silver screen. That is why you give up your life and leave wherever you came from to try to make it,” Fredericks explained. “ In March, it will be 10 years since I moved here and it was a long time in the making. It took years of working, building, and auditioning. This also feels like the first of many things.”

“I'm really looking forward to people experiencing this with us and it's dope because we wanted this to feel like a communal environment. We're playing games on the show, we have guests like Tika Sumpter on and they get to have this experience with us. Now that we're kind of entering the winter and everybody's kind of hibernating inside, the series is an opportunity to have that community on Friday nights. Of course, we will be having watch parties and commenting with everyone on social media. We can’t wait for January!”

Friday Night Vibes will air on TBS on the first Friday of every month, beginning Jan. 5 at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

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