TBS comedy 'The Detour' to have a NASCAR-themed episode

DOVER, Del. – Actor and writer Jason Jones doesn’t have to wander too far for reviews of his work. His biggest critic, Samantha Bee, is his wife and writing partner.

They write episodes of “The Detour,” the TBS comedy starring Jones, as a team and separately. The show is based on their family’s experiences on vacations. Bee also is the star of “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” a late-night talk show on TBS.

“I write a lot, and then she tells me it’s not very good and I go back and rewrite it and she tells me again that it stinks,” Jones said Saturday at Dover International Speedway, where he is grand marshal for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

“We work together as a team. She’s like my editor. She basically says something is good or bad and then adds her own little flavor. We’re a chainsaw-and-scalpel type team. I’m the chainsaw.”

A “Detour” episode scheduled later this season has a NASCAR theme. Jones said NASCAR pitched the idea to the show, and parts of the episode were shot at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“My wife steals away with a billionaire who owns a team, and I crash my minivan on the track trying to chase her down,” Jones said. “It’s about an average dad getting out of a minivan on top of banking dodging cars on the way down – a unique situation.”

“The Detour” has gotten good reviews and has been renewed for a second season, but Jones said comedy always will be subjective.

“If you don’t laugh at it, it’s not funny,” he said. “And you could just be having a bad day. It could be the funniest show in the world, and you don’t laugh at it because you have intestinal gas.”