Chris Rock is already working his backup plan. “The heat — or whatever it is I have — is not going to last,” he says. “We all burn out or fade away. Hopefully, when my time comes, I have the skills to do other things.” And he’s already relishing life behind the camera.
“Everybody Hates Chris,” his first network sitcom, is his baby, now launching its second season Sunday nights on the new CW network.
“Chris” is a biographical comedy about the awkwardness of his childhood in the predominantly white Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Rock co-created the series, is an executive producer on it and co-writes some of the scripts.
Rock has yet to appear on “Chris,” but is searching for the right moment to do so. He’s not overwhelmed, though, by the temptation to act in the show. (Rock narrates each episode.)
Rock says he’s finding pleasure in being out of the limelight. That pleasure, in fact, grows as he gets older.
“As long as I can still do (performing) well, I will continue to do it,” he says.
And how will he know when he’s no longer doing it well?
He’s already plotted that scenario out in his head.
“The moment I am just up on stage, collecting a check for laughs, then I’ll know it’s time to quit,” he says. “That’s when I’ll quit.”
On TV
The second-season premiere of “Everybody Hates Chris” airs 6 p.m. today on CW.
