If you have been looking for a college show like ABC Family's Greek that has the outrageous sense of humor of The Sex Lives of College Girls, then you have found exactly what you've been searching for in Prime Video's Overcompensating. The series comes from comedian and online personality Benito Skinner, who stars in the series that's loosely based on his experiences.
The forthcoming series has drawn interest for its subject matter and high-profile guest appearances from stars like Emmy nomniee Connie Britton and pop superstar Charli XCX. It's by far one of the new shows coming to streaming this spring that needs to be on your radar, but before you check out Overcompensating when it premieres this month, you need to be in the know.
We're sharing all the basics prospective viewers need to know about the Prime Video comedy, including the when to start watching, who you'll see in the main and supporting cast, and what to expect from the off-the-walls college series!
Overcompensating release date on Prime Video
Even though the spring semester is coming to an end at universities around the country, the fall semester's just getting started in the new series. Overcompensating premieres on Thursday, May 15 on Prime Video. Rather than releasing weekly episodes, all eight episodes of the first season will be available to watch at once on May 15. There's no waiting a week for new episodes!
While the exact release time for Overcompensating hasn't been revealed ahead of its release, there's a great chance the full season will drop on Prime Video at midnight PT/3 a.m. ET. However, sometimes the streamer has been known to release new episodes the evening before they're intended in the United States at 12 a.m. GMT, which would be 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. No matter the release time, the episodes will be available on May 15.
Benito Skinner leads the cast
Not only did Benito Skinner create the series and write or co-write nearly every episode, he also stars in Overcompensating as a version of himself. Even though Skinner isn't actually college-aged in real life — he was born in 1993 and is currently 31 years old — he's playing much younger in the series. In fact, much of the main cast is in their 20s or 30s.
Here's the full main cast of the series:
- Benito Skinner as Benny
- Wally Baram as Carmen
- Mary Beth Barone as Grace
- Adam DiMarco as Peter
- Rish Shah as Miles
In addition to the five stars who make up the main cast, Overcompensating also features a great supporting cast full of excellent supporting players. These are the friends, roommates, acquaintances, and parents of the main cast members. Some of them will be familiar faces you've seen before onscreen while others we're meeting for the first time:
- Holmes as Hailee
- Corteon Moore as Gabe
- Owen Thiele as George
- Connie Britton as Kathryn, Benny's mom
- Kyle MacLachlan as John, Benny's dad
- Kaia Gerber as Esther
- Julia Shiplett as Mimi
The eight-episode first season also has its fair share of guest appearances in store, even beyond a highly anticipated appearance from Charli XCX. We'll be seeing the likes of Megan Fox, Andrea Martin, Lukas Gage, Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, James Van Der Beek, Didi Conn, and Rachel Matthews.
The trailer teases hilarious college moments
Overcompensating isn't exactly based on a true story, but Skinner pulled a lot from his personal experiences with learning who he is in college and eventually coming out. Skinner's Benny goes to college as a former high school athlete who's deeply in the closet and looking to simply blend in. He wants to get a girlfriend, party, and experience college like everyone else.
Take a closer look at the series' official synopsis via Amazon:
"Overcompensating is a college-set ensemble comedy about the wild, chaotic journey of Benny, a closeted former football player and homecoming king, as he becomes fast friends with Carmen, a high school outsider on a mission to fit in at all costs. With guidance from Benny’s older sister and her campus-legend boyfriend, Benny and Carmen juggle horrible hookups, flavored vodka, and fake IDs. Deeply funny and personal, the show explores the lengths to which we all overcompensate while on the path to finding out who we really are."
But as the trailer previews, it's not going to all go to plan for Benny. He seems to have a new male crush on campus, which makes hooking up with girls all the more complicated. Benny becomes friends with a fellow offbeat freshman, all while avoiding tension with his sister, who goes to the same school, and her rowdy frat bro of a boyfriend. Before long, he seems to accept who he is.
Overcompensating begins streaming Thursday, May 15 on Prime Video.