Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Pause With Sam Jay’ On HBO, Real Talk That’s Not Just For Show

What happens when a writer for Saturday Night Live leaves to launch her own talk show on HBO? When that writer is stand-up comedian Sam Jay, you know you’re in for some real talk that’s not just for show. Question then becomes, how much of the six-episode series, Pause With Sam Jay, is pause for laughs versus pause for concern?

PAUSE WITH SAM JAY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We’re inside Jay’s New York City apartment, as she’s welcoming guests to her intimate house party. Jay proclaims: “N— got the stimmy, N— got the vaccine…c’mon world, it’s time to take our lives back, baby!”
The Gist: After putting out one of the best stand-up specials of 2020 (Netflix’s Sam Jay: 3 in the Morning) and appearing in an outdoor pandemic stand-up showcase for Colin Quinn on HBO Max, Jay got her own deal with HBO for a talk show that she created with Prentice Penny. Each of the six weekly half-hour episodes eschews the traditional talk-show look and format. Instead of a studio set, Jay invites a handful of her friends over to her apartment to talk about current topics, then heads out into the field to interview others who have more relevant or pertinent perspectives on the topic.
Jay left her gig as a writer for Saturday Night Live, mid-season after the Christmas episode so she could focus all of her energies on Pause, telling me last week: “I’m a person of faith, I think God had opened the next chapter for me, and I had to be bold enough to walk through the door.”
Her opening topic is a whopper, examining the racial slur “coon” and what it means to be a Black American in 2021. “It used to be a clear line in the sand,” Jay tells us. Clarence Thomas is a “coon” in Jay’s eyes, while Morgan Freeman is not. Today, however, Jay feels some people see her “as a gay coon.” Because among Black Americans, the slur has a deeper offensive meaning, suggesting one of their own aligns with white supremacy out of self-hatred.
Then she sits down in a mansion to interview two young Black conservatives, Olivia Rondeau and King Randall, wondering if they feel as if they’re betraying their race by siding with Republicans. Jay keeps the conversation civil, and at certain points, each of the three speakers finds a revelatory moment.

Meanwhile, back at the party, there’s some talk about Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, and two White stand-ups (Rosebud Baker and Mike Recine) are included along with Jay’s girlfriend, talent managers, and comedians such as Jak Knight, Zack Fox and Reggie Conquest. Their conversations are free-flowing, even if during one moment, Baker turns to the camera with a shrug as if she’s Jim from The Office.
Jay reveals that behind the scenes at SNL, one of her co-workers struggled to hold a conversation after Adele (who hosted earlier this season) appeared in photos sporting Bantu knots. “I was at work, and this bitch was like, ‘Oh, I want to do something but I don’t want to hurt Black people’s feelings.’ And I was like, alright, well what the f– are you talking about? What do you mean?” Jay continued: “That bothered me more than the knots. Was her thinking she had the power to set me into a tizzy with her f—ing hair.”
As far as other segments go, the debut episode features Jay standing in a Brooklyn park, showing bystanders different photos to ask “Racist, Or Just Corny?” There’s one full-fledged sketch, in which Jay imagines the first Black constitutional convention, and outlines its ten-part bill of rights (example: No 5: The Cookout Doesn’t Exist. Stop inviting crackers in and out of blackness.), which concludes with the new national anthem. Surprise! It’s not “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” but rather, a classical strings rendition of “Return of the Mack.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: Since Michael Che’s own talk/sketch series (That Damn Michael Che) just premiered earlier this month on HBO Max, you’ll obviously find yourself comparing the two. Though Jay’s effort proves a more worthy successor to The Chris Rock Show, in terms of SNL/HBO heritage. It’s also as great as Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, but let’s hope HBO doesn’t drop the ball on Jay like they did on Cenac.
Our Take: There’s no sex or nudity, but the language is rough for mixed company, straight from the jump. “Coon”? The n-word? How am I supposed to write about the power of these words without falling into a trap? So I asked Jay straight out.
“I didn’t think about it that way,” she told me, laughing. “But I see your point. I just wanted to talk about the shit that I feel like me and my friends are talking about.”
What’s truly great about Jay’s show is that it’s a true extension of her stand-up comedy and sensibilities. She hasn’t sacrificed any of her probing, thought-provoking ideas about race, sexuality and the nature of equality in America today by adapting herself to a talk-show format. Especially since she’s not holding herself to any of the modern talk-show traditions. No monologue. No live studio audience. No interviews to promote a new movie or TV series or book. Everything is focused on the topic at hand.
“I definitely wanted it to feel like when I throw a party at my house,” she told me, inviting friends, comedians and associates alike who are willing to argue back. “I tend to attract opinionated people.”
But Jay is never smug, nor pedantic, nor any of several other patronizing ways to describe the equally patronizing Bill Maher and his Real Time. Jay offers real talk without having to belabor you with new rules or any explanation. We can just sit back and listen to Jay have the hard conversations, and hopefully we can all move forward along with her.
Parting Shot: After a closing video in which Jay reminds us we don’t know what other people are going through unless we ask or try to empathize with them, we cut back to her apartment, after her guests have left. It’s just Jay and her girlfriend, who wants to clean up. No need for that, Jay exclaims. She’s hired someone for that. “I ain’t no f—ng coon,” she says as the couple looks out over the Manhattan skyline at night.
Most Pilot-y Line: None really. Jay doesn’t stop at any point to explain to us what the shows about. She lets her episode show us, instead.
Our Call: STREAM IT. If you only watch one variety/talk series from someone involved with Season 46 of SNL, please let it be this one.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch PAUSE with Sam Jay on HBO Max