“Read the Room,” the sketch comedy show from creator Josh Richards, will premiere Season 2 on Aug. 25, TheWrap has exclusively learned. New episodes will premiere on the official “Read the Room” channels as well as Richards’ social media platforms.
Last season generated more than 63 million views across platforms within its first four weeks, and this season promises to be even bigger. In addition to being backed by Fox Creator Studios for the first time, this series from CrossCheck Studios will feature celebrity appearances from former “SNL” castmember Chris Redd, “The Office” alum Kate Flannery and reality star Harry Jowsey, as well as That’s a Bad Idea and “Obsession” duo Curry Barker and Cooper Tomlinson.
There will be 23 new sketches in this upcoming season. “Read the Room” parodies pop culture, Internet trends and creator culture, with Richards as the perfect person for this specific type of mockery. The co-founder of CrossCheck Studios, a media company focused on Gen Z content, Richards has over 24.8 million followers on TikTok alone and is a host of the BFFs podcast alongside Brianna Chickenfry.
In Season 2, fans can expect “bigger swings” from “Read the Room,” Richards told TheWrap.
“Season 1 we were figuring out the format live — what lands, what dies, what people will actually sit through. Season 2 we know. Sharper sketches, killer guests and we stopped hedging on premises,” he shared. “There’s stuff this season I assumed someone would tell me we couldn’t do.”
CrossCheck Studios produced both seasons of the show, meaning that the series wholly comes from Richards and his team. Though Fox Creator Studios is a producing partner on this new season, this new collaboration didn’t change the creative direction of the project, as Richards noted that Fox’s involvement is predominantly on the business side.
“Fox is handling media sales, which means the show can support itself at a scale I couldn’t unlock on my own, and it means the advertiser conversations happen at a level I don’t have to personally be in. That’s the setup for Season 3, where the partnership goes deeper,” he explained. “Right now they’re proving out the commercial side of something we already proved out creatively.”
Fox Creator Studios has helped to bring in advertisers who wouldn’t have thought to advertise with a creator-made show two years ago.
“[This partnership] says the money is chasing the audience now, and the audience is here,” Richards said. “That’s a real signal. Not ‘come make your show inside our building,’ but ‘keep making it where you are, we’ll go sell it.’ CrossCheck sits exactly in that lane — creator-native, built to hold up at studio scale.”
“We built CrossCheck around that vision: developing talent, creating original IP and building media that reflects the way culture moves today both in its content and how it’s consumed,” Chris Sawtelle, co-founder and CEO of CrossCheck Studios, added. “It’s incredibly exciting to have Fox recognize that vision and choose to partner with us as we continue building what we believe is the future of entertainment. We can’t wait for the world to see Season 2 of one of our favorite creations!”
“Josh, Chris and the CrossCheck team have a feel for comedy that’s fast, fearless, hilariously absurd and unmistakably original,” said Billy Parks, head of Fox Creator Studios. “‘Read the Room’ is proof that when creators have a distinct point of view, fans respond. Josh has built a remarkable entertainment business by pairing creative ambition with a deep understanding of his audience, and we’re excited to continue building alongside him.”
