NEW YORK (AP) — Boundaries between work and family aren’t just blurring in the new CBS sitcom “Poppa’s house” starring a father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.

“It’s great to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute,” said the senior Wayans. “I don’t think there are words to express how happy I am.”

Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a grumpy radio DJ who is more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son Damon, an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a job he hates.

“My character, Pop, is just an old-fashioned guy who’s a little stuck in his ways,” says Wayans, who starred in “In Living Color” and “My Wife and Kids.”

Pop longs for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn’t complain if he was fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation’s participation trophies.

“It’s old school versus new school and they’re teaching each other lessons from both sides,” said Wayans Jr., who played Coach on the Fox sitcom “New Girl.”

“They (the characters) bring out the best in each other and are initially resistant. But throughout the episode, they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people,” he adds.

The two have worked together before: Dad appeared in son’s “Happy Endings” and “Happy Together,” while son was a writer and guest star on dad’s “My Wife and Kids.” But this is the first time they’ve headlined a series together.

The half-hour comedy — which premieres Monday and stars Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — cleverly leaves places in the script where father and son can let go and create, such as a moment in the pilot where the son has to wait while his father sips. tea.

“We have a lot of those moments in every episode. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to focus on: finding the comedic set pieces, at least one for each episode,” the son says.

“I tell the writers, ‘Don’t write funny things.’ Put us in the realm of the funny and we will find it,’” Wayans says. “You know, if you have Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, don’t put them in a pie factory to read books.”

He has some influence on the writers: including he and his son, as well as Kim Wayans, Michael Wayans and Shawn Wayans, siblings of the older Wayans.

The Wayans family is like the Barrymores of comedy, a clan that includes Keenen Ivory. The Wayans have been behind everything from ‘In Living Colour’ and ‘White Chicks’ to ‘Bamboozled’.

Viewers of the first episode of “Poppa’s House” see the older Wayans challenged when a new female co-host (played by Atkins) is hired, while the younger Wayans strains his happy marriage by threatening to quit his job as a salesman. to say.

In later episodes, Poppa will start a podcast at home – further blurring the divide between home and work – and explore the different ways the generations deal with grief and discipline. In one show, a family photo leads to a discussion about who and what is family. Will it survive a divorce?

“I think we’re dealing with a lot of relatable storylines that I think people will enjoy. And besides enjoying it, you will also laugh out loud,” says Wayans Jr.

Speaking of laughs, do the two men have the same approach to comedy? Wayans Jr. says they usually laugh at the same things.

“I would say they are very similar and the differences are minuscule. It’s because my comedy comes from my upbringing, and the same goes for him,” he says.

Dad agrees: “Yes, I call it same humor, different sensibilities. Like, he’ll say things that in a million years I would never think of that joke. And that’s what I love about his sense of humor. It’s like, ‘That’s so random.'”