New Tiffany Haddish Stand-Up Series To Land At Netflix
Tiffany Haddish is teaming with Netflix to bring up-and-coming comedic voices to the world.
The breakout star of Girls Trip and Night School is executive producing a series of stand-up specials for the streamer. Titled Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready, the series will feature six of Haddish’s favorite comics in half-hour specials.
Fellow comedian Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz, whose Push It Productions was behind the 2014 revival of Last Comic Standing on NBC, will also executive produce. The title of the series is a callback to Haddish’s 2017 Showtime special She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood, which came on the heels of Girls Trip.
The comedians featured in the series are Chaunté Wayans, April Macie, Tracey Ashley, Aida Rodriguez, Flame Monroe and Marlo Williams. Haddish has a history with all six, having worked with them in comedy clubs or on TV, and They Ready aims to bring more women, people of color and LGBTQ performers into the spotlight.
“I am introducing six of my favorite comedians,” said Haddish. “In my eyes, they are superstars — the epitome of They Ready.”
Push It Productions is also producing stand-up specials from Haddish and Sykes for Netflix. The company also produces Talk Show the Game Show for TruTV and stand-up series Unprotected Sets for Epix.
They Ready is the latest addition to Netflix’s large and ever-growing slate of stand-up series and specials. The streaming giant has titled the market for stand-up comics with huge deals for the likes of Chris Rock, Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle, and series like The Standups and The Comedy Lineup have given platforms to lesser-known comedians.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
WATCH: New Trailer For ‘John Wick Chapter 3’!
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – In theaters May 17, 2019. Starring Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Boban Marjanovic, with Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.
Watch the trailer above.
‘I Am Richard Pryor’- The SXSW Film Review
Set to air March 15 on the Paramount Network after its SXSW world premiere, “I Am Richard Pryor” is a largely satisfying if thoroughly conventional portrait of the immensely gifted and deeply troubled entertainer whose richly deserved reputation as a comic genius stems at least partially from his frequent and fearless willingness to make himself the target of his take-no-prisoners humor.
Director Jesse James Miller has entwined film clips, archival material and talking-heads interviews to fashion what occasionally feels like an officially sanctioned biography — an impression only reinforced by the billing of Jennifer Lee Pryor, the subject’s widow and a recurrent interviewee in the film, as an executive producer. Still, the story that emerges is undeniably fascinating, and may prove especially intriguing for viewers who have only recently discovered the late legend through his scripted features and comedy-concert films.
Even longtime fans of Pryor might be surprised by those sections of the documentary that illustrate highlights of his early career, during a time when the only way a black comic could hope to achieve mainstream success was to come across as safe and unthreatening as Bill Cosby did. (Miller is savvy enough to just place that factoid squarely on the table without any side orders of shade or snark.) At one point, we see a snippet from a 1966 episode of “Kraft Summer Music Hall” in which Pryor appears alongside a well-groomed George Carlin and a squeaky-clean John Davidson — and all three men look like they’re ready to join an Up With People singalong.
Pryor couldn’t play that game very long, however. After literally walking away from a high-paying Las Vegas gig (which, the documentary pointedly observes, called for him to perform for mostly Caucasian audiences), he blazed a path to stardom on his own terms with much edgier, more personal, and unapologetically foul-mouthed stand-up material. Tiffany Haddish, a contemporary comic performer who credits Pryor as an influence, sounds at once admiring and astonished as she marvels at how, as early as the 1970s, Pryor was offering savagely satirical commentary on, among other issues, police shootings of African-American men.
Miller’s narrative proceeds on parallel tracks that often intersect, showing how Pryor’s vertiginous mood swings and ever-increasing reliance on drugs failed to impede — for a while, at least — his string of successes as a live performer, on comedy records (his 1975 Grammy Award-winning “That Nigger’s Crazy” is duly noted as a groundbreaking career highlight) and, of course, in movies.
There’s a case to be made that “I Am Richard Pryor” could have benefitted from a wider range of scenes from Pryor’s cinematic oeuvre. It would have been amusing, and revealing, to see a very young Pryor — cast as a cop! — making his movie debut, and holding his own opposite Sid Caesar, in William Castle’s “The Busy Body” (1967). And it might have been downright gobsmacking to see Pryor and Bill Cosby actually together at long last in the 1978 film of Neil Simon’s “California Suite.”
On the other hand, the movies that are excerpted here (including the underrated “Greased Lightnin’”) are adequately representative of his starring performances — and the clips from his classic 1977 “Richard Pryor: Live in Concert” are so uproariously funny, they may well cause a sizable spike in Netflix streaming.
Seeing Pryor at his most hilarious makes it all the more painful to follow “I Am Richard Pryor” as the documentary charts his decline and fall. Naturally, the film pays an appropriate amount of attention to the night in 1980 when Pryor nearly burned himself to death while freebasing. But long before that, Miller makes it clear, early and often, that Pryor was psychologically scarred by his harsh childhood in Peoria, Ill. His mother was a prostitute, his father was a pimp and his grandmother was a madam — facts he carefully scrubbed from his biography during his salad days in showbiz, but never, ever forgot.
Jennifer Lee Pryor, along with other intimates and admirers, describe with equal measures of affection and clear-eyed explicitness a brilliant but undisciplined artist who could never fully control his demons. And while his rages sometimes were justified — such as when he battled nervous network censors of his short-lived NBC variety show — he made impossible demands on the people who cared about him most, and caused collateral damage with his self-destructive impulses. “I Am Richard Pryor” celebrates its subject. But, to its credit, it stops short of entirely excusing him.
SXSW Film Review: ‘I Am Richard Pryor’
Reviewed at SXSW Film Festival (Documentary Spotlight), March 12, 2019. Running time: 92 MIN.
PRODUCTION: (Documentary) A Paramount Network presentation of a Network Entertainment production in association with Tarnished Angel. Producer: Derik Murray. Executive producers: Paul Gertz, Kent Wingerak, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Frank Anderson, Steve Kotlowitz, Greg Zeschuk, Jhod Cardinal, Jaimee Kosanke, Jon Slusser, Kevin Kay, David Reeder, Robert Pirooz, Peter Scarth.
CREW: Director, writer: Jesse James Miller. Camera (color): Shaun Lawless. Editor: Graham Kew. Music: Schaun Tozer.
WITH: Lily Tomlin, Tiffany Haddish, Howie Mandel, Sandra Bernhard, Mike Epps, Jimmie Walker, Henry Jaglom, Jennifer Lee Pryor, Ron De Biasio, Rocco Urbisci.
By Joe Leydon
OWN Announces New Series For Anthology Drama Titled ‘CHERISH THE DAY’ Created By Ava DuVernay
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today that Ava DuVernay, award-winning filmmaker and creative force behind the network’s critically acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar,” is bringing her next series to OWN.
With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay will create and executive produce “Cherish the Day,” an original anthology series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio. Oprah Winfrey will executive produce alongside DuVernay for a winter 2020 premiere on OWN.
Additionally, DuVernay has set acclaimed filmmaker Tanya Hamilton (“Queen Sugar,” “Night Catches Us”) as executive producer/showrunner. Hamilton will direct the series premiere. DuVernay’s longtime producing partner Paul Garnes (“Queen Sugar,” “Selma”) will also executive produce the series.
Each season, the anthology series chronicles the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
“OWN is home. I’m honored to create television for a network headed by an artist with spectacular vision and unbridled passion for the stories that we want to tell,” said DuVernay.
“Ava is a visionary storyteller. She brings so much care, so much heart, so much love to the art she creates,” said Winfrey. “I’m excited to continue collaborating together with our very first anthology series for OWN.”
“Cherish the Day” will join OWN’s programming slate of popular dramas including “Queen Sugar,” “Greenleaf,” “The Haves and the Have Nots” and “If Loving You is Wrong” – four of the top 12 original scripted series on ad-supported cable in 2018 for women 25-54 and the top four original scripted series on ad-supported cable for African American women and total viewers. In addition, OWN will premiere two new anticipated drama series in 2019 – “Ambitions” from box office hit-maker Will Packer and “David Makes Man” from Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”).
“Cherish the Day” is produced for OWN by Forward Movement and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes, Tanya Hamilton and Oprah Winfrey are executive producers.
Netflix Orders New Comedy Series From Mindy Kaling Based On Her Childhood
Netflix has ordered a coming-of-age comedy series inspired by the life of Mindy Kaling.
The untitled series, which has received a 10-episode order, was co-created by Kaling and Lang Fisher, with the latter also set to serve as showrunner. The series will follow the complicated life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl.
Both Kaling and Fisher will executive produce along with Howard Klein and David Miner. The series was set up under Kaling’s overall deal at Universal Television, with Universal set to produce the new series. Kaling recently exited that deal for a rich new pact with Warner Bros. Television.
In a previous interview with Variety, Kaling described how the series came to be. “Netflix approached me about doing a series on young Mindy,” she said. “I wasn’t as interested in telling a period piece about an Indian girl growing up in the ’80s, but I told them I’d love to do a show about a 15 year old Indian girl now.”
Kaling previously created, executive produced, and starred in “The Mindy Project” which ran for six seasons–three on Fox and then three on Hulu. Prior to that, she was a writer and executive producer on “The Office” at NBC in addition to appearing onscreen. She is also currently working on a series adaptation of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” which will debut on Hulu and is also a Universal project. She also wrote, executive produced, and starred in the film “Late Night.” The film, which stars Emma Thompson, debuted to considerable acclaim at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Amazon Studios for $13 million. She has also published two comedic memoirs to date–“Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” and “Why Not Me.”
Source: Variety
Comedy Central Announces New Show ‘The New Negroes With Baron Vaughn And Open Mike Eagle’
Comedy Central today announced the premiere date and stacked talent list for The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle, debuting on Friday, April 19 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central with a simulcast on BET. The full schedule and talent list is below. Each episode will include stand-up performances from three different comedians and will conclude with an original music video featuring Open Mike Eagle and a guest recording artist, with some guest-actor appearances.
The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle is a socially aware stand-up and music series showcasing a collection of new and established comedians and musicians. According to Vaughn and Eagle, the pair took inspiration for the series and title from the term “New Negro” as popularized during the Harlem Renaissance, referring to Black Americans speaking up, telling their own stories, and affirming their various identities to dismantle outdated assumptions and beliefs.
“Our series gets its title and its mission from a book named ‘The New Negro’ by Alain Locke,” said Vaughn and Eagle. “That book was a collection of essays, poetry, fiction, and music from a generation of emerging artists credited with launching the Harlem Renaissance. In other words, it was a place where black people shared their lives, their perspectives, and their ideals. It was a place where black people could define themselves instead of being defined by others. Our show aspires to do the same with stand-up comedy, music, and music videos. We’re paying homage to that original movement by inviting comedians and musicians to do what they do best: speak.”
The newly launched ComedyCentral Stand-Up YouTube channel, Comedy Central Stand-Up social-media accounts, and the CC App will feature clips and exclusive extended stand-up sets from each episode. Full episodes of The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle will be available the day after premiere on the Comedy Central App, cc.com, on-demand, and download-to-own platforms. Fans can follow the social conversation about the series on Twitter via @StandUp and Instagram via @ccstandup.
Recently, Vaughn and Eagle brought the live version of The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle to SXSW 2019 for a show featuring Sam Jay, Josh Johnson, Dulcé Sloan, Phonte, with a special appearance by Hannibal Buress. Vaughn and Eagle also recorded exclusive Comedy Central digital content on site to be released closer to premiere.
Eagle, Vaughn, Rob Anderson, Lance Bangs, Funny Or Die’s Mike Farah, and Gary Sanchez Productions’ Betsy Koch are Executive Producers for The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle. Anne Harris and Kellyn Parker are executives in charge for Comedy Central.
Featuring an expertly curated line-up of series and specials, Comedy Central is the epicenter of stand-up. From its Friday Night Stand-Up anchor on television to its social platforms, from 24/7 access on Comedy Central Radio and the Comedy Central App to home assistants, fans of Comedy Central stand-up consumed over 10 billion minutes of stand-up content in 2018. The recently launched Comedy Central Stand-Up channel on YouTube is a gold mine of both original material and exclusive clips for fans looking to revisit a classic special from a legendary comedian or discovering a new favorite performance. Available on-air, online and on-the-go via the Comedy Central App, Comedy Central (www.cc.com) is the #1 brand in comedy and is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Comedy Central’s press site at press.cc.com and follow us on Twitter @ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
Comedian James Yon Launches New Late Night Talker On Afro TV Titled ‘The Lowdown’!
In case you haven’t been paying attention to all of the late night noise, there seems to be a battle for the late night audience brewing; it looks like DL Hughley launched a show on TV One this past Monday, while comedian James Yon has launched his new late-night talker on the new Afro TV.
While not in the ranks of DL Hughley with a syndicated radio show on daily, Yon intends to help kick off the brand new network launched on Comcast with his new show titled The Lowdownwhere the discussion covers everything from the topics of today to interviews with guests discussing hot topics.
Yon is putting his comedic stamp on the network as he also has had a show on titled Viral Breakdown, and we here there are more things in store on the channel from this Florida native.
Yon, is no stranger to comedy as he has graced the stage with some of America’s top talent including, Joe Torry, Jimmy J.J Walker, Tom Rhodes and Michael Winslow. He was a finalist for NBC’s stand up for Diversity and appeared on the FOX.
He was the 2011 and 2012 winner of the Orlando Improv’s Clash of the Comics.
AFRO is the first independently owned and operated African American television network. Visit www.afros.tv for more information on content and programming. The channel aims to appeal to the sensibilities of African-American/Black families by producing and broadcasting an aura of refreshing and blooming polycultural Black content from a wide array of genres.
Esai Morales Joins DC’s ‘Titans’ As The Villain Deathstroke
The Titans just made a killer cast addition: Esai Morales will portray Deathstroke, the fan-favorite assassin and archenemy of Teen Titans leader Dick Grayson.
The Titans, the first original programming franchise for the DC Universe subscription steaming site, launched in September and finished its first season in December. The weekly show follows the superhero squad that’s led by Batman’s former sidekick, Robin, aka Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), and includes the hot-tempered alien princess Starfire (Anna Diop), the mysterious empath Raven (Teagan Croft), and the green-skinned shape-shifter Beast Boy (Ryan Potter).
That Titans line-up of characters was introduced with much fanfare in the pages of DC Comics back in 1980. The team, created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, didn’t have to wait long to find their signature antagonist: Deathstroke the Terminator was introduced in issue No. 2 of The New Teen Titans in December 1980.
The character bio from the show’s producers: “Slade Wilson is known for being DC’s deadliest assassin. While serving his country, Slade became an elite soldier before government testing enhanced his physiology to near superhuman levels, putting him on a path of darkness and revenge. To his family, Slade is a father and husband, but to the rest of the world, he is feared by many as the infamous Deathstroke; selling his services to the highest bidder as the ruthless assassin that never gives up and never misses.”
The character is well known to fans of the popular Teen Titans animated series from Cartoon Network as well as the show’s 2018 tie-in feature film Teen Titans Go! to the Movies. Deathstroke has also been portrayed by Manu Bennett in 36 episodes of The CW series Arrow while Joe Manganiello (True Blood) appeared as the assassin in the 2017 feature film Justice League but only with an uncredited cameo.
The DC Comics character represents an interesting footnote in Marvel Comics history. The character Deadpool, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the popular R-rated Fox film franchise, was created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld in 1990 as a thinly disguised version of the DC villain. Not only do the characters share similar costumes, Deadpool’s alias is Wade Wilson, which in fact rhymes with Slade Wilson.
Adding a bit more confusion for casual fans, both Deadpool and Deathstroke have similar attributes to Deadshot, a DC Comics villain introduced in the 1970s and portrayed by Will Smith on the big screen in Suicide Squad in 2016.
Morales, a Brooklyn native and graduate of New York’s High School for the Performing Arts, began his acting career in El Hermano at the Ensemble Theatre Studio and at New York’s Shakespeare Festival In The Park in The Tempest. Morales found his feature film breakthrough role as Bob Morales in Taylor Hackford’s La Bamba, the landmark 1985 biopic about Ritchie Valens.
The actor’s feature film credits include Bad Boys, Rapa Nui, Mi Familia, Fast Food Nation, Paid in Full, The Line, Atlas Shrugged: Part II, Jarhead II: Field of Fire, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca, and Gun Hill Road, a film he executive produced and starred in. Gun Hill Road was a grand Jury Nominee at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Most recently Morales starred in Sony’s Superfly and the indie film The Wall of Mexico.
Morales’ recent television credits include Ozark (Netflix), Mozart In The Jungle(Amazon Prime), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), and Chicago PD (NBC). Morales also had notable credits over the years on shows such as NYPD Blue (ABC), Miami Vice (NBC), Fame (NBC) Law and Order: SVU (NBC), Caprica (Syfy), and Criminal Minds (CBS).
Morales is repped by Innovative Artists, LINK Entertainment, and Eric Feig Entertainment & Media Law.
The executive producers of Titans are Greg Berlanti, Akiva Goldsman, Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, and Greg Walker.
Source: Deadline
Eunetta T. Boone- Creator Of ‘One On One’, ‘Raven’s Home’ Passes Away!
his is sad news for the TV writing community. Veteran comedy writer/producer and screenwriting teacher Eunetta T. Boone, who created the 2001 comedy series One on One, has passed away suddenly from an apparent heart attack. Boone, who was found unresponsive in her Los Angeles home on Wednesday morning, was 63.
At the time of her death, Boone was working as executive producer and showrunner on the third season of Disney Channel’s hit sitcom Raven’s Home, starring and executive produced by Raven-Symoné. Boone joined the series full-time late last year after a stint as a consultant.
“Eunetta Boone was a wonderful person and a consummate storyteller and teacher, and through her leadership on many productions including Raven’s Home, she did so well what she enjoyed most — mentoring creative talent,” Disney Channel said in a statement. “Eunetta will be dearly missed and fondly remembered by everyone who knew her. All of us at Disney Channel grieve her passing and send our deepest condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.”
In light of Boone’s death, I hear production on Raven’s Home was shut down yesterday afternoon for the remainder of this week. The network has provided grief counselors to the cast and crew.
“My heart is heavy following the loss of Raven’s Home executive producer Eunetta Boone,” Raven-Symoné said. “Eunetta was a pioneer and an inspiration to everyone she met. She was a masterful storyteller, an empathetic leader and a beacon of light to so many. I’m sending love and my deepest sympathies to Eunetta’s family and friends and all who knew and loved her. She will be missed. Thank you for everything Eunetta.”
Raven’s Home marked a return to TV for Boone, who was a rising-star TV comedy writer in the 1990s and early 2000s, working on such popular series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Living Single, The Parent ‘Hood, The Hughleys and My Wife and Kids.
Boone, who was in high demand for staffing, had the distinction of having served as co-executive producer simultaneously on two hit series, My Wife & Kids starring Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin, and The Hughleys starring DL Hughley and Elise Neal.
That led to Boone creating and executive producing her own successful multi-camera comedy series, One on One starring Kyla Pratt, which aired on UPN for five seasons, sold into syndication and spawned a spinoff series, Cuts, starring Marques Houston and Shannon Elizabeth.
For six years after the end of One on One, Boone was a screenwriting instructor with an emphasis in comedy writing for The UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. She also wrote a feature script, Who Is Doris Payne?
Boone began her career as a sports reporter for the Baltimore Sun, the first African American woman to cover sports in Baltimore. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Journalism degree and received her Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
She is survived by her mother, Eunice Taylor; sister, Regina Ward; nieces, Breawna Taylor, MaKenna Ward and a host of friends and family.
Source: Deadline
Nicole Richie Lands In New Comedy Pilot For FOX Titled ‘Richard Lovely’!
Nicole Richie has been cast in a series regular role in the Fox single-cam comedy pilot “Richard Lovely.”
The project follows Richard Lovely (Thomas Lennon), the disgruntled author of the best-selling children’s book series, “Mr. Mouse.” He doesn’t hate children, but rather just everything about them. After a publicity fiasco involving an unexpectedly savvy 9-year-old kid, Mr. Mouse appears in Richard’s real life as he is forced into an unlikely father/son relationship that will change his life forever.
Richie will play Kelli, Richard’s publicist. She is described as a high-functioning millennial who is Richard’s polar opposite in every way except one: they both like to keep their eyes on number one – themselves. The role was originally intended to be a recurring character but after a table read, the producers decided to make Richie a regular.
In addition to Lennon, Richie joins previously announced cast members Wendie Malick, Nicole Sun, Mason Shneiderman, and Asif Ali.
The role marks a homecoming of sorts for Richie, whose breakout TV role came when she starred in the Fox unscripted series “The Simple Life” opposite Paris Hilton in 2003. Richie recently starred in the NBC comedy series “Great News” and has made appearances on HBO’s “Camping” and Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie.” Her other acting roles include “Empire,” “Barely Famous,” “Chuck,” and “8 Simple Rules.”
She is repped by WME, Impression Entertainment, and Morris Yorn.
Billy Finnegan will write and executive produce “Richard Lovely.” Alex Hardcastle will serve executive producer in addition to directing the pilot. 20th Century Fox Television will produce.
