According to a new report, a spinoff series of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is in the works.
In an extensive feature profile in The Hollywood Reporter, it is one of the many film and television projects in development from Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.
The report states: “In addition to producing Smith-fronted film projects, Westbrook is developing a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air spinoff series (he still earns hefty royalties from the 1990s NBC sitcom, now licensed to air in 193 territories).”
This comes at a time where prior intellectual property is in high demand. Almost every day a classic series or film is being revisited, whether as a reboot, sequel or spinoff.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran from 1990-1996 and starred Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, was the launching pad for his acting career after already being a successful rapper.
Wayne Brady is going to have to get his lines straight.
The comedian, known for his work on the improvisational comedy show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?,” has joined the cast of the CW series “Black Lightning” for season 3. Brady is set in a recurring role and will first appear on the show in early 2020.
He will play Tyson “Gravedigger” Spikes, a World War II-era member of the U.S. military who became a “super soldier” after a secret experiment gifted him with enhanced strength, agility, tactical genius, and hand-to-hand combat expertise. After the war, Spikes defected to the country of Markovia rather than return to a segregated America
Based on the DC character, “Black Lightning” is centers around Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), a high school principal who is forced to don his superhero suit once again after years of retirement when a local gang arises and recruits one of his star students. The show also stars Christine Adams, China Ann McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar, Marvin Jones III, and Damon Gupton.
In addition to his “Whose Line” appearances, Brady is also the host of CBS’s “Let’s Make A Deal” and has played prominent stage roles in the form of Lola in “Kinky Boots,” and Aaron Burr in the Chicago production of “Hamilton.”
Season 3 of “Black Lightning” premiered Monday to a 0.3 rating and just under 900,000 total viewers. The show is produced by Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Source: Variety
The main cast of Girlfriends, (Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White and Jill Marie Jones) recently sat down with radio host Charlamagne Tha God to speak about the Girlfriends reunion that happened on last night’s black-ish episode “Feminisn’t.” They also discussed more of the behind-the-scenes issues regarding the show within the Hollywood landscape circa 2008.
Ross talked about how Girlfriends set a precedent for shows with a diverse cast and crew. The show was led by Mara Brock Akil and that the writers’ room “was majority Black women,” she shared.
“…Our director of photography was a Black man…and it changed the way I go forward in my career because it was such an assumption [that diversity is the norm] and that’s not the way it is everywhere,” she continued.
Ross also later said how the media at the time didn’t support Girlfriends. While today’s TV critics have written about the rise of the natural hair movement on screen and regarding storylines about Blackness on television, and more diverse topics.
“There were so many things that didn’t exist then–and we were talking about and doing–but we as a show were in a landscape that did not support us in that way. It was not celebrated. On my entire eight years on Girlfriends, I was never on a late-night talk show. And we never went to the Golden Globes, Emmys, nothing.”
They also discussed Jones’ departure from the show when her contract was up. “One thing you cannot do is tell someone or project how you would do something onto someone else. She made a choice that was right for her. That was her choice and we have to respect that, and we did,” said Brooks.
Jones denied speculation of beef with the other cast members. “I booked Girlfriends at 25. So now, not only am I a woman, I’m a Black woman. So I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to get stuff going.’ Because I don’t know what’s next. So fear played a part. Studios and networks, they can fire you at any time but we have a contract. There was something I loved about having the conversation with myself, ‘Do I want to sign a new contract? Where do I want to go in my personal career?’ I have that choice and at the time, it felt right for me,” she said.
The cast felt like the show did not have closure, and even revealed that Jones was supposed to come back to give that. “The last episode we actually shot was during the writer’s strike, I directed it. None of our crew and regular people were there. So it was so no closure. We had no party, nothing,” said Ross, to which Brooks and White added that they didn’t really know about what was happening and just got phone calls.
“I had like five, six lunch meetings with Mara. I was to come back for four episodes at the end,” said Jones.
The discussion was prompted by black-ish, who invited Charlamagne to talk with the Girlfriends cast. While a lot of people loved the conversation, there were some who felt it was disturbing that Charlamagne was invited to discuss feminism instead of a Black woman. Other Twitter users also brought up Charlamagne’s past controversies regarding sexual assault.
Source: Shadow & Act
The final episode of Martin aired in 1997, but the rift between Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, who played Lawrence’s love interest, Gina, lasted well beyond. However, the 2016 death of Martin co-star Thomas “Tommy” Mikal Ford, who played Martin’s friend Tommy, helped to bring all of the cast back together.
If you remember correctly, the original rift Campbell and Lawrence happened because Campbell accused Lawrence of sexual harassment during Martin‘s final season. According to a 1997 People magazine article, Campbell left the show before issuing a lawsuit against Lawrence. She later returned to the show after securing an agreement that in the scenes she would film, he wouldn’t be present on the set.
But Ford’s death and the reality of mortality helped to mend Lawrence and Campbell’s relationship. Both Campbell and Lawrence spoke about Ford’s death and the subsequent healing of their relationship to TV One, as Bossip reported.
“When we recently lost Tommy, that was a blow to all of us,” Campbell said.
“He just was the glue, always positive, keeping us together, always funny, never negative,” said Lawrence.
“When he left us, I had just spoken to him. He brought us back together, sadly at his funeral,” Campbell continued. “That’s where you go, let’s heal. Let’s keep in touch. Let’s not let all this time go by.”
You can watch the full video below.
Source: Shadow & Act
Yahya Abdul-Mateen has landed a lead role in The Matrix 4. He’ll star in the film with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, who will be reprising their roles.
Variety, who broke Abdul-Mateen’s casting, says that “Director Lana Wachowski had been meeting with actors for the secret role over the last week and in recent days, Abdul-Mateen emerged as the frontrunner.”
And while character details aren’t known for certain, The Hollywood Reporter says sources speculate that Abdul-Mateen could be a young Morpheus. Laurence Fishburne portrayed the character originally.
After rumors persisted for years that Michael B. Jordan would lead an entirely new Matrix franchise, Warner Bros. announced a fourth film in the current franchise with Reeves and Moss returning, as well as Wachowski to write and direct.
The film is produced and will be distributed by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow.
Also written by Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell, the film is expected to begin production next year.
Source: Shadow & Act
Daveed Diggs is in talks to join Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
According to reports, he’d join Halle Bailey, who is portraying Ariel, as well as Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina and Jacob Tremblay. Javier Bardem is in talks to join as King Triton.
The film will be produced by Rob Marshall as well as John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film will go into production in early 2020.
Diggs, most known for his role on Broadway in Hamilton, has been expanding to television and film in recent years. After starring in and writing the critically-acclaimed indie, Blindspotting, his upcoming projects include starring in Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird series.
Source: Shadow& Act
DESUS & MERO will return from its summer hiatus with all-new episodes airing every Monday and Thursday at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT, starting on Monday, October 14. DESUS & MERO features the duo chatting with guests at the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, politics and more, as well as giving their take on the day’s hot topics in their signature style in front of a small live studio audience from New York City. Upcoming guests include DaBaby (on October 14), Taraji P. Henson, Forest Whitaker and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Longtime acquaintances Desus Nice (Daniel Baker) and The Kid Mero (Joel Martinez) reconnected online in the early days of Twitter, where they unleashed their potent personalities and found themselves kindred spirits. That led to stints on Complex and MTV, the Bodega Boys podcast, and a daily late-night show on Viceland, developing a feverish following. The quick-witted duo brings a distinct voice to late night, delivering smart and comedic commentary on any and all topics, that keeps audiences buzzing.
Desus and Mero continue to host their Bodega Boys podcast. Produced for SHOWTIME by JAX Media, DESUS & MERO is executive produced by Desus Nice, The Kid Mero, Lilly Burns, Tony Hernandez and Victor Lopez.
EMMY® Award-winning comedian, actress and writer Wanda Sykes will host the 28th Annual Bounce Trumpet Awards, an exciting night of inspiration, history and crowd-rousing performances celebrating African-American achievements and contributions.
For the first time in its history, the Bounce Trumpet Awards will be held in Hollywood, taking place at the Dolby Theatre. It will tape Dec. 4, 2019 and will world premiere nationwide on Bounce on Sun. Feb. 23 at 9:00 p.m. ET for Black History Month. Bounce, the fastest-growing African-American network on television, exclusively owns, produces and telecasts the event.
“Relocating the Bounce Trumpet Awards to Hollywood gives us an opportunity to build upon the show’s enormous entertainment value by tapping into Hollywood’s talent resources,” said Bounce’s Executive Vice President of Original Programming David Hudson. “Wanda Sykes is the perfect person to helm this year’s Trumpets. Not only is she hilarious and brilliant, she has broken many barriers in her career from being the first African-American woman to host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to conceiving and starring in her own prime-time sitcom. She truly personifies the spirit of the Trumpet Awards – an inspirational celebration of Black excellence.”
Sykes has been called “one of the funniest stand-up comics” by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand-up has sent her career in many different directions. She can be seen in her first Netflix comedy special Wanda Sykes: Not Normal which was nominated for two Primetime EMMY® Awards. She also was seen in the EMMY®-winning reboot of Norman Lear’s The Jeffersons. She is currently in production for two shows she is producing and writing through her Push It Productions banner.
Hudson will serve as Executive Producer of the 2020 Bounce Trumpet Awards, along with Rikki Hughes, CEO of Magic Lemonade Productions. Hughes is an EMMY® and GRAMMY®-winning producer of award shows, comedy specials and independent features. Her credits include four comedy specials with Dave Chappelle for Netflix, HBO’s upcoming comedy special All Def Comedy, The BET 25th Anniversary Special, The BET Comedy Awards and more.
The Bounce Trumpet Awards were conceived to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of African Americans and those who have succeeded against great odds and inspired success in others. Founded in 1992 by American Civil Rights leader Xernona Clayton, The Trumpet Awards were acquired by Bounce in 2016. The list of prestigious honorees includes Muhammad Ali, Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Stevie Wonder, The African-American Women of the United States Congress, Steve Harvey, Martin Luther King, III, Janelle Monáe and Spike Lee.
We just discovered the news that comedian and host Damon Williams will be hosting a new show, titled Laugh Tonight with Damon Williams.
The show is set to be will be twelve 1 hour episodes that will feature three comedians and a celebrity interview in each episode. We hear that the scheduled comedians will perform for at least 10 minutes and a three-minute interview. There are also celebrity comedians attached such as Cedric The Entertainer, Deon Cole, Michael Blackson, DeRay Davis, JB Smoove and more.
As you might expect, those comedians mentioned above who have existing Netflix deals can’t contractually perform, but they have agreed to at least do some interviews on the show.
The show is scheduled to be produced and filmed on Oct 29,30,31 at the Riddles Comedy Club, in a small intimate traditional club setting.
The show will premiere on the new OTT platform known as Urbanflix in about three months after being filmed.
More details soon!
