SHOWTIME will debut DESUS & MERO, the weekly half-hour late-night series starring Desus Nice and The Kid Mero on Thursday, February 21 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT, which will air on Thursday nights from New York City. The first ever weekly late-night talk show on SHOWTIME will feature popular TV and podcast personalities Desus and Mero speaking off the cuff and chatting with guests at the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, politics and more.
BET Networks is set to premiere two powerful specials in December, embracing the holiday spirit that uplifts and celebrates black excellence. “A THOUSAND WORDS WITH MICHELLE OBAMA” premieres on Wednesday, December 5 at 9PM ET and “Q85: A MUSICAL CELEBRATION FOR QUINCY JONES” will air on Sunday, December 9 at 8PM ET.
“A THOUSAND WORDS WITH MICHELLE OBAMA” is an empowering new one-hour special featuring former First Lady Michelle Obama in candid conversation with former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama Valerie Jarrett at the Leading Women Defined symposium at the St. Regis hotel in Miami, FL. The women discuss a range of topics as Michelle Obama shares words of uplift, stories of sisterhood, the importance of self-care and her marked growth through her husband’s eight years in office.
Tune in to the captivating conversation with the Former First Lady as she shares anecdotes and salient advice from her worldwide bestselling autobiography, Becoming. “A THOUSAND WORDS WITH MICHELLE OBAMA” premieres Wednesday, December 5 at 9 PM ET/PT on BET.
“Q85: A MUSICAL CELEBRATION FOR QUINCY JONES” is a star-studded evening that celebrates the life and legacy of the icon. Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Brian McKnight, John Legend, Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan, Fantasia, Charlie Wilson, Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo, Meghan Trainor, Patti Austin, Yolanda Adams, Ledisi, Cynthia Erivo, and Gregory Porter all hit the stage to pay tribute to Mr. Jones performing his classic works in this nostalgic musical special. Additionally, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Danny Glover, Usher Raymond, Dave Chappelle, LL Cool J, Rashida Jones, Ludacris, and Aloe Blacc share their personal stories of how Quincy has impacted them throughout the years.
Kevin Hart is saying Bye Bye Bye.
The comedian has set up a female-driven dramedy that remakes a Korean film at Universal, which has acquired the pitch that has Hart’s Hartbeat Productions producing with CJ Entertainment.
Amy Aniobi, a writer-producer on HBO’s Insecure, will pen the script.
Bye Bye Bye is described as a dramedy about a group of adult friends who reunite 20 years after high school. It is based on a 2011 Korean hit titled Sunny, that saw friends come together when one of them is stricken with cancer. The movie is one of the highest-grossing films in Korea of all time.
“Amy is an incredible writer who has put a fun spin on the classic mother-daughter story that will make you want to laugh and cry,” said Hart in a statement. “We are so thrilled to work with her, Universal and CJ Entertainment on Bye Bye Bye. Universal continues to be a fantastic partner, and CJ Entertainment is the premiere media company in South Korea. Plus, they’ve promised to help me achieve my life-long dream of becoming a Kpop Star.”
Bye Bye Bye will be produced by Hart and his HartBeat president, John Cheng. CJ’s vp of global co-productions and head of U.S. production Francis Chung will produce for his respective banner. Jerry Ko, head of international at CJ, will exec produce.
Overseeing for Universal will be exec vp of production Kristin Lowe. Carli Haney and Cheng will oversee for HartBeat while Fred Lee and Jihyun Ok will oversee for CJ.
Hartbeat is coming off of Night School, Universal’s comedy which has made over $101 million worldwide on a budget of $29 million. The company recently signed a first-look deal with Nickelodeon to develop and produce scripted kids content for television.
Aniobi, a first generation Nigerian American, is a writer on the rise who, before working on Insecure, served as an exec producer on 2 Dope Queens, a consulting producing on Brothers in Atlanta, and a story editor on Silicon Valley. She is also rewriting American Princess, a Fox feature with Issa Rae attached to star.
Aniobi is repped bu UTA and Ziffren Brittenham.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Stand-up comedian Sommore brings a full house of class and sass for the debut of her new one-hour comedy special, SOMMORE: A QUEEN WITH NO SPADES, on Friday, December 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. In the special, directed by Kevin Layne and Scott Woolley and filmed at the Faena Theater in Miami Beach, Sommore commands the stage with her frank and fearless take on today’s issues and her unique perspective on life, politics and individual choice.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Sommore has been a trailblazer for women in the comedy business since she first grabbed a stand-up mic in 1995. The comedian, actress, writer, executive producer, entrepreneur and television host is undeniably a queen of comedy.
Sommore’s credits include the films Friday after Next, Soul Plane, Something New and television series The Parkers and The Hughleys. She has been a featured guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and was profiled in “Special Women in Comedy”. Sommore wrote, self-produced and performed in her own one-woman comedy specials, The Queen Stands Alone, Chandelier Status and The Reign Continues.
Whoopi Goldberg is set to adapt the Romanian game show Win Your Country! in the U.S. after optioning the format from Small World IFT.
Goldberg’s One Hoe Productions has teamed with Red Arrow-backed Wahlburgersproducer 44 Blue Productions to develop a U.S. remake of the show with Ellen’s Game of Games co-exec producer Noah Bonnett lined up as showrunner.
The series is a studio-based game show where contestants win big if they can prove they really know their country. Originally produced by Romania’s Zucchero Media for TVR2, the show sees players compete over three rounds, battling it out state by state, region by region, or city by city. Each contestant starts with a chosen territory and must “conquer” neighboring regions by answering a series of questions about that specific territory. Only then will they be able to make it to the next level where a cat-and-mouse game ensues and the remaining opponents try to reach each other’s territory first, leaving just one to battle for the prize money in the final round.
The show has run for 200 episodes in Romania and is sold as a format by Tim Crescenti’s Kew Media-backed Small World IFT, which was responsible for NBC adapting Grandpas Over Flowers as Better Late Than Never as well as ABC’s I Survived A Japanese Gameshow. The format is also currently in development for a Canadian broadcaster and optioned in France.
The U.S. adaptation is now in development and will be executive produced by Goldberg and Tom Leonardis (I’m Coming Home) for One Hoe, in partnership with Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch and Dan Snook for 44 Blue.
“We love the civic nature of this show and the positive focus on unity and identity. It gives the players and the audience a chance to take pride in the place they call home and have a great time doing it, along with a little healthy competition,” Goldberg said. “We think U.S. audiences will love Win Your Country!, and Small World, 44 Blue and Noah Bonnett are the perfect partners to bring it to life here.”
Said 44 Blue’s Noonan Drachkovitch: “We have produced two critically acclaimed series with Whoopi and Tom and are always looking for exciting new content to create together. When we saw Small World’s Win Your Country!, we knew it would be a perfect fit for Whoopi’s brand of topical humor and family fun. The format couldn’t be more relevant, and we look forward to bringing it to the U.S.”
Crescenti added: “The format guarantees plenty of humor, fast-paced quiz/trivia action and viewer interaction. One Hoe and 44 Blue were quick to recognize its strong potential for the U.S. market. And to partner with a rare EGOT winner like Whoopi Goldberg, we couldn’t be more thrilled and honored.”
44 Blue and One Hoe are represented by WME, while Small World IFT is repped by UTA.
Source: Deadline
The red band trailer has been released for What Men Want, starring Taraji P. Henson
It is a remake of the 2000 comedy starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, but this time, from a woman’s perspective.
The description: Ali Davis (Henson) is a successful sports agent who’s constantly boxed out by her male colleagues. When Ali is passed up for a well-deserved promotion, she questions what else she needs to do to succeed in a man’s world… until she gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts! With her newfound power, Ali looks to outsmart her colleagues as she races to sign the next basketball superstar, but the lengths she has to go to will put her relationship with her best friends and a potential new love interest (Aldis Hodge) to the test.
Alongside Henson and Hodge, the film co-stars Tracy Morgan, Richard Roundtree, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Josh Brener, Tamala Jones, Phoebe Robinson, Max Greenfield, Jason Jones, Brian Bosworth, Chris Witaske and Erykah Badu.
The film is director Adam Shankman and its produced Will Packer and James Lopez.
Watch the trailer below:
Guava Island is a project that has captivated us for many months. Now, we have a trailer for it!
Footage surfaced after being shown at Donald Glover’s PHAROS Festival in New Zealand this weekend.
We don’t exactly know if it is a movie, but if we took a wild guess, that’d be our answer. It stars Glover, Rihanna, Letitia Wright and Nonso Anozie.
In the footage from the Cuba-filmed project, which is directed by frequent Glover collaborator Hiro Murai, Glover’s character states: “We live in paradise, but none of us actually have the time or the means to live here.”
Photos from the project first surfaced in August.
No official announcements have been made about the film. In a feature with The Hollywood Reporter recently, Letitia Wright remained coy when asked about it. “I can’t tell you anything, I don’t even know what is Guava Island,” she said. “I have no clue. I don’t know anything. I don’t even know where they got my name from!”
Watch the trailer footage below:
courtney@purelylordeSource: SHadow & Act
