• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, September 6, 2018

About six minutes into this new Fox sitcom premiering Sunday called “Rel,” I realized what I was watching: The African-American George Costanza.

I am referring to the title character of “Rel,” played by comedian Lil Rel Howery, 38 (real name: Milton Howery).

In the scene in which I had this epiphany, Rel and a female friend, Brittany (played by Jessica “Jess Hilarious” Moore), were talking about a woman who Brittany wanted to set up on a date with Rel.

Unfortunately, however, according to Rel, this particular woman was known for wearing loose boots, which was a turnoff for him. The conversation he and Brittany then had about “Loose Boots Monica” was like something out of “Seinfeld.”

“Are you saying you won't date an awesome woman because of her boot circumference?” Brittany asked him.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying!” Rel replied.

Like “Seinfeld,” “Rel” seems based on Howery's stand-up comedy. In that vein, the “Rel” pilot airing this coming Sunday starts out with what journalists would call a strong lede (lead sentence).

The show opens with Rel on the phone telling someone: “I can't believe this, man! Who would have ever thought that my wife would have an affair with my barber?”

It was a great way to set up the episode's principal plot line and the show in general. Basically, it's about this somewhat nerdy black guy in Chicago who finds himself suddenly living alone after his wife leaves him, and takes their kids and furniture with her.

Although the show is supposedly located in Chicago's West Side, New Yorkers will recognize various exterior shots from New York City. These include a bar front and the view outside the barbershop window, which looks like storefronts familiar to anyone who knows Hudson Street in the West Village.

Like many sitcom pilots I have previewed over the years, the “Rel” pilot shows potential, but it also plays like a not-quite-fully formed version of the show.

It is a typical trait of situation-comedy pilots. They exist, at least in part, to introduce the characters and the show’s “situation.”

In the pilot of “Rel,” we meet Rel, Brittany, Rel’s brother Nat (Jordan L. Jones) and his father, played by Sinbad, whose return to prime-time TV is long overdue.

Comedian Jerrod Carmichael is one of the executive producers of “Rel,” and Lil Rel also co-starred on Carmichael's NBC sitcom, “The Carmichael Show.”

When he is not fixated on the woman Monica's loose boots, Rel has other Costanza-esque quirks, one of which has to do with an aversion to pastrami.

Why this comedian named Rel has the word “Lil” appended to his stage name remains unclear, since he does not seem to be particularly “lil” (little).

The official stage name of his co-star, Jessica “Jess Hilarious” Moore, is also unusual or perhaps the onset of a new trend in which we will all someday have nicknames set off in quotes as part of our names.

As for the “Rel” pilot, it was mildly funny, but not quite hilarious.

“Rel” premieres Sunday night (September 9) at 8 p.m. Eastern on Fox. It returns in its regular time period, Sunday nights at 9:30 Eastern, on September 30.