Desus & Mero are on deck to host this year’s Television Critics Association Awards. The duo, who launched their new Showtime talk show in February (and expanded it to twice a week earlier this month) will take the stage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel ballroom as the 35th annual TCA Awards takes place on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Real names Daniel Baker (“Desus Nice”) and Joel Martinez (“The Kid Mero”), the “Desus & Mero” hosts will open the TCA Awards before turning it over to TCA members, who will present this year’s honors for best performances and series. TCA members, consisting of journalists and critics from across the United States and Canada, vote for the TCA Awards winners; nominations will be revealed in mid-June.
The TCA Awards are not televised, allowing for a relaxed, informal atmosphere that allows the show’s hosts to play to the audience with plenty of inside-TV business jokes. Last year’s host, Robin Thede, had plenty of reason to throw out pointed barbs: Her BET talk show had just been canceled days before.
Other recent hosts include Kristin Chenoweth, James Corden, Terry Crews, Bryan Cranston, Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele, Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O’Brien, Drew Carey, Craig Ferguson, Wanda Sykes, the Smothers Brothers, Nick Offerman, Dax Shepard and Bob Newhart.
For Desus & Mero, the gig also comes following plenty of critical acclaim for their new Showtime series. Recent guests on “Desus & Mero” include Gabrielle Union, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Wu-Tang Clan, Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen and Lil Nas X. The duo has also attracted athletes and politicians, including Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to their show.
Prior to Showtime, Desus & Mero hosted a late-night show on Viceland. The duo first came to fame on social media, where their quick wit and pop culture commentary soon led to a hit podcast, “The Bodega Boys.”
The TCA Awards recognizes achievement in 12 categories, including drama, comedy, reality, youth programming, sketch/variety, news and information, and more. The TCA also recognizes trailblazing series with its Heritage Award, and the life and legacy of entertainment figures with the Career Achievement Award.
Source: Variety
Katt Williams recently sat down with Jemele Hill for her “Unbothered” podcast, where he revealed that his former employees stole $59 million from him.
Williams explained the situation starting at the 9:45 mark, “In my search for who was the enemy that was causing all these things to repeatedly happen to me over and over again when they shouldn’t, we uncovered that it was actually my people that was involved. We didn’t really know that until the Department of Justice started indicting these people for the embezzlement of $59 million from Katt Williams.”
Katt fired the employees after learning of the theft and he revealed that some of them tried to blackmail him in return. The comedian added that he was almost caught up in the embezzlement case, stating, “They thought I had found some way to sequester the funds until they actually dug in and realized ‘why would I be money laundering my own money.’ It’s been a lot, and a lot of it you can’t really talk about. It’s ongoing.”
On Showtime’s Black Monday, which chronicles the 31st anniversary of the worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street, actress Regina Hall is used to pushing the envelope when it comes to what jokes come out of her mouth. But as she tells The Hollywood Reporter‘s Comedy Actress Roundtable, there was one joke regarding legendary singer Whitney Houston that she refused to say.
“There was a joke, and I can’t remember, but it was a joke I think about drugs and it was about Whitney Houston, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to say that,'” Hall recalled. “Artists give so much … and so to make fun of what was a challenge and an illness. … The great thing about our writers is they were like, ‘Absolutely. We’ll just do something else.'”
The actress also discussed why her Black Monday character, Dawn Darcy, felt freeing to her, and why it was important to “represent a demographic that’s not normally present” on Wall Street.
“It was great to be in the ’80s and be successful, and be in a world that, no matter what color you are, a woman who’s Spanish, black, white — they just weren’t really in Wall Street, and they still really aren’t, so to represent a demographic that’s not normally present in a world even today was fun,” she said.
“For her to be as cunning and sharp and as wild and unapologetic, and she’s as gross as the men,” Hall continued. “I like to be able to do that because I find that most women who I know are like that. They’re quite fun and quite delightful and quite smart and dirty and a little raunchy and all things.”
The full Comedy Actress Roundtable is set to air June 23 on SundanceTV. Hall appears on the roundtable panel along with Tiffany Haddish, Jane Fonda, Natasha Lyonne, Alex Borstein, Maya Rudolph and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Follow all the Emmy season roundtables at THR.com/Roundtables.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
BET Networks has set a new talk show, Black Coffee, hosted by Marc Lamont Hill.
According to the network, the half-hour daily morning show “will keep viewers up to speed on Black Twitter’s buzziest conversations and “feature news-making interviews with top celebrities, athletes, and social media stars.” The show will delve into pop-culture, relationships, music, politics, race, and social justice.
The series will debut on June 3 across multiple platforms including YouTube, Facebook Watch, Twitter, BET Now App and BET.com.
Additionally, David A. Wilson, co-founder of TheGrio, has joined as Senior Vice President of Digital Content of Studios. Wilson will oversee all aspects of digital content of BET non-linear platforms, BET’s digital and social strategy, content development, social programming, editorial, business development/partnerships, and digital business operations.
“We are excited to have Marc host our new irreverent digital series. Marc is one of the nation’s leading voices on culture, entertainment, sports, and politics, with equal parts unfiltered wit and raw street savvy,” said Wilson. “Powered by Viacom Digital Studios, Black Coffee, is an example of the forward-thinking content and engaging programming we plan to deliver our audience across BET’s digital properties.”
“BET Networks has been home to me for many years, and I am proud to expand our partnership with this innovative series. I look forward to galvanizing the Black community on our platforms and encouraging dialogue that moves the culture forward,” said Hill.
On Wilson’s new role at BET, network president Scott Mills said: “We are so thrilled to have David join the BET team, as he brings with him an unsurpassed knowledge of digital engagement and a shared vision of bold culture-driven content. He will be a tremendous asset to our group as we look to refine our digital editorial and social voice. Under his leadership, we look forward to developing the next iteration of BET digital’s offerings that better reflects our brand values and super serves our audience with best-in-class content.”
Season 3 of Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven spinoff, Raven’s Home is coming.
Season 3 picks up with the iconic character of Raven Baxter (Raven Symoné), her family and friends pursuing their creative dreams. Booker, Nia and Tess form a music group, The Chi-Lective, with Levi as their music video director, Raven is determined to launch her fashion line, while Chelsea has finally found her niche as a life coach.
Guest stars for this season include Jaleel White, Charles Robinson and Jonathan McDaniel returning once again as Devon. The season will also contain the television directorial debut of Symoné, who also executive produces the show.
The series stars Raven-Symoné, who reprises her role from the staple 2000s comedy, That’s So Raven (2003-07), Issac Ryan Brown as Booker Baxter-Carter, Navia Robinson as Nia Baxter-Carter, Jason Maybaum as Levi Grayson, Sky Katz as Tess O’Mally and, also reprising her role That’s So Raven role, Anneliese van der Pol as Chelsea.
Season 3 of the series is executive produced by Warren Hutcherson (Reed Between the Lines, The Bernie Mac Show), Raven-Symoné, and the late Eunetta Boone (One on One, Cuts). The series was created by original That’s So Raven creators Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman and developed by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas.
The new season premieres June 17 at 8 p.m.
Source: Shadow & Act
Amandla Stenberg is attached to star in Universal’s reimagined take of the 1996 thriller Fear.
The original movie, released in 1996, starred Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon early on in their careers as young lovers David and Nicole. David is charming and affectionate, but Nicole soon sees a darker side to him.
Oscar nominee Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) is writing the pic. Brian Grazer, who produced the original film, again produces for Imagine Entertainment alongside Imagine’s Karen Lunder. EVP Production Jon Mone will oversee production for Universal.
Stenberg most recently starred in Fox 2000’s impactful drama The Hate U Give, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival. She was also recently seen in Where Hands Touch, Everything, Everything, As You Are, and The Hunger Games.
In 2018, Stenberg appeared on the cover of Time Magazine for their next generation leaders issue and was given the Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign. She is currently in production on Damian Chazelle’s Netflix series The Eddy. She is repped by UTA and attorneys Nina Shaw and Gordon Bobb.
Source: Deadline
Fueled by a big turnout for “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s ‘All in the Family’ and ‘The Jeffersons,’” ABC won the final night of the 2018-2019 season by strong margins, beating runner-up NBC on Wednesday with season finales of its three “Chicago” dramas by 8% in Total Viewers (7.8 million vs. 7.2 million) and by 30% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/7 vs. 1.0/5). In fact, ABC scored its most-watched, season-closing Wednesday in 12 years – since 5/23/07.
Alfre Woodard has signed on to play Kevin Hart’s mother-in-law in Fatherhood, the Sony Pictures film adaptation based on the memoir Two Kisses For Maddy: A Memoir Of Loss & Love by Matt Logelin. Paul Weitz is directing the motion picture from a screenplay by Dana Stevens. Weitz penned the current draft.
Logelin’s novel details his life after his high school sweetheart, Liz, passed away after giving birth to their daughter Madeline. There was little time to grieve a life-shattering loss for Logelin: his wife bore the brunt of their impending jump into parenting and suddenly he was the sole caretaker for a newborn daughter, his link to his beloved wife.
Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen, David Beaubaire, Free Association’s Peter Kiernan and HartBeat’s Hart are producing the project.
Woodard, an Oscar nominee and four-time Emmy winner, was last seen in Clemency, the Sundance film that picked up the Grand Jury Prize, making director Chinonye Chukwu the first black woman to win the award. Neon picked up the film and will release it in December. Furthermore, she stars opposite Jason Momoa in Apple’s original drama series See, and lends her voice to Jon Favreau’s highly anticipated The Lion King revamp, which Disney will release in July.
Woodard is repped by ICM, Circle of Confusion, and Gochman Law Group.
Source: Deadline
Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City is back with a new slate of 24 comedians from eight cities across the country. Season 3 premieres with back-to-back episodes on June 14 at 11:00 and 11:30 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central, and episodes are double stacked all season for I Hart Fridays power hours of all-new Kevin Hart programming.
Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City follows Hart and costars Joey Wells and Harry Ratchford on a mission to spotlight up-and-coming comics from cities with under-appreciated stand-up comedy scenes. Each episode features stand-up sets from fresh faces, conversations between Hart and the comedians, and interstitial segments with Hart, Wells and Ratchford. Leading into the June 14 premiere, Wells will appear on Comedy Central’s Friday-night interstitial series Stupid Questions with Chris Distefano, which guides viewers through the night’s programming. Comics and schedule are listed below:
June 14
St. Louis, MO, 11:00p, with Vincent B. Bryant, Princeton Dew, Tahir Moore
Dallas, TX, 11:30p, with Blaq Ron, Gerald Piper, KeLanna Spiller
June 21
New Orleans, LA, 11:00p, with Carissa Cropper, Shaddy McCoy, Arron “A.O.” Odom
Cleveland, OH, 11:30p, with Nelsin Davis, Mike Polk, Rob Ward
June 28
Rochester, NY, 11:00p, with Travis Blunt, Joel James, Zack Johnson
Baltimore, MD, 11:30p, with Ty Davis, Ivan Martin, Sir Alex
July 5
Oakland, CA, 11:00p, with Mario Hodge, G. King, Cody Woods
San Diego, CA, 11:30p, with Keith Johnson, Adrian “Adee” McCovy, Dustin Nickerson
Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City is executive produced by Hart, Wells, Dave Becky of 3 Arts Entertainment, and Leland “Pookey” Wigington. Anne Harris and Jackie Sosa are the Executives in Charge for Comedy Central.