From ‘In Living Color’ nostalgia to new NBC chaos, Damon Wayans’ ‘charming but pompous’ doctor wins over nearly everyone at St. Denis.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
August 11, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Damon Wayans will guest-star as “charming but pompous” Dr. Highland in the Season 3 premiere of NBC’s St. Denis Medical, reuniting on-screen with series regular David Alan Grier more than 30 years after their In Living Color days.
- The pairing is a big nostalgia hit for fans of their iconic and controversial “Men on Film” sketches, which Grier has since said likely couldn’t air in the same form today and should now be tackled by gay performers using their own voices.
- Wayans’ appearance comes as he speaks publicly about managing type 2 diabetes and urging Black and brown communities to seek medical care, while St. Denis Medical returns to NBC on November 2.
More than three decades after Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier gave In Living Color fans “two snaps up,” the comedy veterans are sharing the screen again.
Wayans is set to guest-star opposite his former In Living Color castmate in the Season 3 premiere of NBC’s St. Denis Medical, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He’ll play Dr. Highland, a “charming but pompous” physician brought into the understaffed Oregon hospital while Grier’s character, Ron, recovers from surgery. Highland apparently wastes no time winning over the place: nearly everyone at St. Denis is said to be “head over heels for him and his insights,” with Allison Tolman’s Alex being the notable holdout.
For anyone who grew up on In Living Color, putting Wayans and Grier together again carries considerably more weight than the average guest spot. The pair created one of the groundbreaking Fox sketch comedy show’s most recognizable duos as Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather, the flamboyant cultural critics behind “Men on Film.”
The characters reviewed movies “from a male point of view,” dismissing anything that failed their very particular standards with a booming “Hated it!” while handing out increasingly elaborate variations of their signature “two snaps up.”
The bit became so popular that Blaine and Antoine eventually moved beyond movies into “Men on Art,” “Men on Books,” “Men on Television,” and even “Men on Football.”
But the characters were also controversial for their exaggerated portrayal of gay Black men. Looking back in 2021, Grier acknowledged how differently the material could land today. “I don’t think we could do that now, which is fine,” he said, adding that a modern version of In Living Color should include gay cast members who could “tackle this humor using their voice.”
Wayans and Grier’s history didn’t end with In Living Color. They reunited on the 1998 Fox sitcom Damon, which ran for 13 episodes, and Grier joined the Wayans family onstage when they were inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame in 2025.
Wayans most recently starred alongside his son Damon Wayans Jr. in Poppa’s House, while Grier has become part of the ensemble anchoring St. Denis Medical.
The guest appearance also comes as Wayans, 65, has been speaking publicly about another chapter of his life. Earlier this year, he revealed that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at 47 after his blood sugar reached 535 and he nearly slipped into a diabetic coma. “When I got diagnosed with diabetes, I needed triage,” he said.
The experience required insulin, dietary changes and exercise, and Wayans has since urged others—particularly in Black and brown communities—not to put off medical care. “It doesn’t hurt to know, but it can hurt not to know,” he said.
St. Denis Medical returns to NBC on November 2, putting Blaine and Antoine’s creators under the same TV roof again—this time with lab coats instead of tiny hats.
