Keke Palmer’s KeyTV Debuts Digital-First Scripted Series ‘Sportsfan’

Keke Palmer’s KeyTV Network, the platform she created to amplify diverse creators, is premiering its new scripted series, Sportsfan, co-created, written, and produced by the actress.

According to KeyTV, this new digital-first series is also the first time a short scripted series has been filmed for the network entirely on an iPhone. Complex is exclusively debuting the first episode in full, which also stars Palmer’s boyfriend and co-creator, Darius Jackson, whom she is expecting her first child with. Jackson plays CJ, a passionate football fan who streams about his favorite team, the Beagles, which is a source of frustration for his pregnant wife, Lila (Brittney Winbush).

Episode 1, which has a runtime of seven minutes, introduces the couple and their friends and family as CJ alternates between hosting his wife’s baby shower and watching a game (And, of course, he’s wearing the traditional Burberry baby shower shirt.) The remainder of the series will follow as CJ finds a way to navigate and balance his priorities and what matters most to him. Sportsfan also stars Adriel Lara-cea, Amanda Michelle and Kenneth Whitted.

“Co-creating and writing Sportsfan was a truly exciting experience for me. Pushing the boundaries of traditional storytelling by filming the entire series on a smartphone allowed for a level of creativity and innovation that I believe sets the series apart, and hopefully shows aspiring filmmakers that it’s possible to create content that’s accessible and resourceful,” Palmer says in a statement. “A lot of us have wondered why the multi-cam sitcom has disappeared from our screens, so I wanted to make a series that hit on the nostalgia of that with an updated twist. My co-creator Darius and I pulled from our real-life situations, whether it be Lila planning a baby shower in the middle of football season or CJ dealing with different family dynamics – to make a series that felt relevant, familiar, and honestly fun for the KeyTV viewers!”