HBO has ordered a series of four interview specials with host Charlamagne tha God.“Charlamagne brings a provocative, thoughtful and always honest voice to all of his interviews,” said Nina Rosenstein, executive vice president, HBO Programming. “We think these specials will be surprising and enlightening and we look forward to seeing who he brings to the table.”
The series, “The Gray Area With Charlamagne tha God,” will be executive produced by Charlamagne Tha God and Karen Kinney. The first of the four specials is slated to premiere later this year.
“I feel extremely blessed to be able to announce my official partnership with HBO on a new conversation series which will provide a safe space for ‘unsafe’ people to curate their stories and control their own narratives,” said Charlamagne. “The reality is, when it comes to people’s stories, it’s not black or white, it’s always an area that’s a shade of gray and that’s usually where the lies end and the truth begins, and this show will give those people an opportunity to share their truth. Thank you to my new television home, HBO and all praise is due to god!”
Charlamagne is a New York Times bestselling author and co-host of the nationally syndicated iHeartRadio program “The Breakfast Club.” He is represented by KK Entertainment, Loan Dang of Del Shaw, and ICM Partners.
On This Day In Comedy… In 2002 ‘Juwanna Mann’ Was Released by Warner Brothers!
On this day in comedy on June 21, 2002,Juwanna Mann was released by Warner Bros.
Starring Miguel A. Nunez, Jr., Juwanna Mann is a comedy about the redemption of a bad boy professional basketball star. In the big league he’s one of the best but can’t stay out of trouble and after going off once too often (stripping on the court) Nunez is banned. In an instant, his entire house of cards crumbles. He loses his house, cars, friends, girl, and life. Nunez is forced to go live with his no-nonsense aunt. Those arrangements smack him in the face that he can’t live like that, so he resorts back to the only thing he knows – basketball. He dresses up like a female to play women’s pro ball.
The gender-swapping plan works wonders. Nunez becomes a star in the women’s league with all the perks that come along with it including a male groupie (Tommy Davidson) hell-bent on getting some. Nunez has his hands full trying to avoid that one and tries to get his hands full of his teammate with the big booty (Vivica A. Fox), but can’t because he’s supposed to be a girl – remember? Meanwhile, Fox is dating a rapper (Ginuwine) who’s cheating on her. Oh, drama!
The redemption part is coming up. Nunez learns to be a better player (teamwork) and a better person thanks to his experience. Too bad it had to blow up in his face. When the women’s team played their championship game it was at the same time Nunez (the male version) was having a hearing to get reinstated. He chose to play ball and not let his team down, but during play, his wig comes off and the jig is up. Now he has nothing again until Fox and the other girls vouch for his renewed character and all’s well that ends well. He got his career back and the girl.
Juwanna Mann was written by Bradley Allenstein, produced by Bill Gerber and directed by Jesse Vaughan. It co-starred Jenifer Lewis, Kevin Pollak, J. Don Ferguson, Kim Wayans, Lil’ Kim and real league players (Cynthia Cooper, Rasheed Wallace, Teresa Weatherspoon, Vlade Divac, Katy Steding, Muggsy Bogues, Jeanne Zelasko, Dikembe Mutombo). The movie was not well received by the critics or the public. On a budget of $15,600,000 the film grossed $13,802,599 at the box office.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1972 Comedic Actor John Cho Was Born!
On this day in comedy on June 16, 1972, Comedic Actor, John Yohan Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea
Cho grew up in Los Angeles and began acting while at the University of California, Berkeley. He got with the East West Players’ theater in downtown L.A. and appeared in several Asian films before moving into the mainstream. In the latter, they were mainly background parts as Cho liked to call them; roles like “Aide #3”, “Man #1” or “The Nightclub Cleaner”. He was getting seen (in the background) and getting paid, but not getting far. Then he got a part in American Pie; that teen flick where a guy discovers the joys (and lack of drama) of screwing pastry. Suddenly Cho received cult status as “MILF Guy #2”. They made several more.
John Cho gain international status when he co-starred in the hit Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Cho swam against the stereotypical tide (which he personally despised) and played an Asian-American who unapologetically smoked weed. The part was written specifically for him and Cho loved the role of Harold because it was different than the whitewashed parts Hollywood wrote for those of Asian descent. The accent written for him in his film Big Fat Liar was so offensive Cho refused to do it and the part had to be reworked. Whereas the part of Harold just plain worked and there were several sequels.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe racial pioneering is still being made in the 21st century, but oh – it is and Cho was on the front line for male actors. Besides puffing herb and not bucking his teeth, he was the first Asian-American romantic male lead on American TV (Selfie). His other television credits include FlashForward, Off Centre, Sleepy Hollow, Kitchen Confidential, Ugly Betty, How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock. Cho’s film career was also an active one. He’s Sulu in the new Star Trek films; where he was praised by critics. He was also featured in Total Recall, Identity Thief, Grandma, Down to Earth, Evolution, Bowfinger, Better Luck Tomorrow and American Dreamz.
Cho is part of a garage rock band, Viva La Union, won the Boston Film Critics Award for Star Trek (Best Cast) and he was voted as one of the sexiest men alive by People Magazine. That last entry is here because we sometimes like to end with a joke and that’s a hot one.
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias To Tape New Netflix Special Titled ‘ONE SHOW FITS ALL’
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias will be taping his new Netflix comedy special “One Show Fits All” in Houston on September 13th and 14th. Ticket pre-sale is Wednesday, June 20th (password: FLUFFY) and on-sale is Friday, June 22nd at fluffyguy.com and www.houstontoyotacenter.com at 10am local time. Tickets range from $30-$80 plus fees. Gabriel is currently performing his “One Show Fits All” world tour around the country. This will be Gabe’s second Netflix comedy special following 2016’s I’M SORRY For What I Said When I Was Hungry, his third comedy special for Netflix will tape in 2019.
Gabriel Iglesias is one of America’s most successful stand-up comedians performing to sold-out concerts around the world. He is currently featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 40 Comedy Players of 2018 issue alongside comedy giants Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Lorne Michaels. He is also one of the most watched comedians on Youtube with over 350,000,000 views and has over 10 million followers across social media. The comedian has also had the distinct honor of being one of the few to headline and sell-out Madison Square Garden, Staples Center and Sydney Opera House.
Later this summer Iglesias will begin production as star and creator of Netflix’s upcoming multi-cam television series Mr. Iglesias. Iglesias plays a good-natured public high school teacher who works at his alma mater. He takes on teaching gifted but misfit kids to not only save them from being “counseled out” by a bully bureaucrat Assistant Principal, but also to help them unlock their full potential. The series will have 10 half-hour episodes.
Other feature film credits include co-starring roles in A Haunted House 2, and his voice can be heard in numerous animated films including the Academy Award winning Coco, Ferdinand, The Star, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Norm of the North, The Book of Life, The Nut Job and Disney’s Planes. Gabriel also starred in the theatrical stand-up concert comedy film, The Fluffy Movie. For the past three years Comedy Central has aired Iglesias’ hit series Stand-Up Revolution. The cable network also premiered Gabriel Iglesias: Aloha Fluffy in an unprecedented two-night comedy special generating over 15 million viewers. The special was a follow-up to his previous DVD specials, Hot & Fluffy and I’m Not Fat…I’m Fluffy, which have sold a combined total of over 2 million copies.
Mike Epps Implores The Youth To Stop All Of The Senseless Killings
Mike Epps took a break from the laughs to share an important message with today’s generation about the senseless violence taking place with the recent deaths of rappers Jimmy Wopo, 21, and XXXTentacion, 20, who was gunned down in their hometowns on June 18.
“Life is precious, it’s short and you have to enjoy every bit of it,” the comedian urged his listeners. “You ain’t even killing for honor. You ain’t even killing for self-defense. You just killing so people will think you’re a killer. But you basically work for the devil.”
He continued on speaking about the cycle that comes with leading a “gangster” lifestyle including prison time or death. “Get a grip on it ya’ll. Put the pistols down and stop killing for nothing.”
Watch to hear the message Epps said God told him to share below.
WATCH: Jamie Foxx Discusses His New Comedy Special On Netflix, Hosting The BET Awards With Big Boi
Here is a conversation Jamie Foxx had yesterday morning on Big Boi in the Neighborhood in Los Angeles, and he discusses his new Netflix special which he is preparing to film. He also discusses the new hosting gig he landed for the BET Awards this year, and his future projects.
Season Four Of Bounce’s Hit TV Comedy Series ‘In The Cut’ Sets Its Premiere Date
Bounce is set to kick off Season Four of its hit original comedy series In The Cut on Monday, July 2 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes every Monday night this summer.
Coming off its highly-rated third season, In The Cut stars Dorien Wilson (The Parkers, Dream On) as Jay Weaver, an accomplished entrepreneur and barbershop owner who is kept on his toes by Cheryl, played by KellitaSmith (The Bernie Mac Show, The First Family), the co-owner of the beauty salon next door and his love interest-turned-fiancee. Ken Lawson(The Parkers) returns as Jay’s thirty-something illegitimate son from a short-lived fling now in on the family business, as does John Marshall Jones (The Smart Guy) as fellow barber and pal Smitty. Among this season’s storylines: Marriage planning, pressures of single life, love triangles, hilarious barbershop/beauty shop camaraderie and much more. Guest stars will includeDorion Renaud,Michael Jai White, Kyla Pratt, Emmanuel Hudson, Angie Stone, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Vanessa Simmons, Flex Alexander, Milan Christopherand more.
In 2017, the season three double-episode premiere of In The Cut ranked as Tuesday night’s #1 sitcom vs. all ad-supported cable programming in its time period in Households, Persons 18-49, P25-54 and Total Viewers among Bounce’s target audience of African Americans. This series was created by Bentley Kyle Evans and is produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs, both of whom produce the Bounce TV hit original series Family Time.
In anticipation of season four of In The Cut, viewers can binge-watch seasons one through three on Brown Sugar. Brown Sugar is the popular subscription video-on-demand service from Bounce featuring the biggest collection of the baddest African-American movies of all-time and all of Bounce’s original programming. Brown Sugar is available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Channels, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Kindle, Android and Apple smartphones and tablets and web browsers via BrownSugar.com.
Stand Up/Sketch Spotlight: WATCH Godfrey On Stage At The Comedy Cellar
The comedian known as Godfrey recently did a 30-minute stand-up set live at the world-famous Comedy Cellar in New York City.
During his set, Godfrey discusses racism, homeless people, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Africans, and other topics.
Tell us what you think about the performance below;
Kevin Hart And Lionsgate Announce New Programming Slate For Laugh Out Loud Network
Laugh Out Loud, the comedy brand and multi-platform network founded by the world’s top comedian Kevin Hart in partnership with global content leader Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B), announced today an expanded slate of original programming that builds on the network’s rapid growth since launching last summer.
Hart’s undercover prank series Kevin Hart: Lyft Legend returns for season two today. Made in partnership with Lyft Entertainment, the series was the top branded content launch on the Internet the week of its premiere and has reached more than 50 million views across Laugh Out Loud’s network and over 1.4M social engagements.
After taking the Internet by storm with 60 million+ views since its February debut, Hart’s viral series Cold As Balls will return for two more seasons. Sponsored by Old Spice, in season one Hart welcomed Draymond Green, LaVar Ball, Candace Parker, Gabby Douglas, Blake Griffin and more celebrities to the show, where he interviews his guests from a bone-chilling ice bath.
“The massive success of Cold as Balls and Lyft Legend proves how hungry audiences are for bold, hilarious new show formats,” said Kevin Hart. “Laugh Out Loud is dedicated to elevating comedy with original ideas and shining a light on emerging comedians. I can’t wait for audiences to check out this dope slate of shows we’re unveiling this summer.
“We’re excited to kick off a summer of laughs with a strong slate of new and returning comedies,” said Laugh Out Loud’s President, Jeff Clanagan. “We are always listening to our audience and leveraging these insights to inform new and exciting content. We’re also very proud of the audience reception to our original content and the rapid growth of the network.”
Laugh Out Loud will debut season two of its Just for Laughs comedy showcase in August, which is showcased at the world’s largest comedy festival. Hosted by Tony Rock and featuring more than 80 emerging and established comedians, the returning series adds to Laugh Out Loud’s already robust stand up comedy catalog of more than 50 hours. Joining the expanded slate are multiple female-led comedies including the unscripted mockumentary Unmasked and Donors, which is set in a technology hedge fund and stars Sarah Davenport (“Stitchers”), Skye Townsend (“Lucifer”), and Carlie Craig (“MADtv”).
Other programs coming to Laugh Out Loud this summer include In the Zone, a comedic companion to Hart’s CBS series TKO, and the outrageous prank show Rahat’s Terror Traps, starring Youtube prank king Rahat Hossian.
Laugh Out Loud’s new summer slate and roll out:
June 2018
Lyft Legend – season 2
Join Kevin Hart as he goes undercover as Lyft driver Donald Mac and leaves unsuspecting passengers speechless. Wanda Sykes makes a special appearance in the premiere episode. Produced in partnership with Lyft entertainment, Hartbeat Productions, Free Period Productions, and Pygmy WOLF Productions in association with Lionsgate
Unmasked
From the very strange mind of Michael Anthony Snowden (“In Living Color,” “South Park,” “The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show”), and veteran TV producer Josh Bingham (Relativity Media, BBC Worldwide) comes Unmasked, a mockumentary ensemble comedy that investigates the bizarre world of costumed street performers on Hollywood Boulevard and the strange series of murders that slowly begin to infiltrate their community.
July 2018
In the Zone
In partnership with the Kevin Hart-hosted competition TV show TKO, In the Zone matches brain with funny. Comedians are used to being heckled on stage, but can they still bring the funny when they are navigating a challenging course? Episodes will premiere on the Laugh Out Loud network each week after “TKO” airs on CBS. The show features Hart’s tour mates Plastic Cup Boyz, as well as a variety of notable comedians.
Rahat’s Terror Traps
With the help of Hollywood’s top creature effects artist Anatomorphex and Character Shop Inc., Youtube prank king Rahat Hossian (5.6M subscribers) disguises himself as life-like and terrifying creatures to capture epic reactions from the unsuspecting victims he encounters.
August – September 2018
Just for Laughs – season 2
Kevin Hart presents the best and funniest stand-up comedians from the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec, hosted by famed comedian Tony Rock! Comics include Zainab Johnson, Alice Wetterlund, Loyiso Gola, Todd Barry, Seann Walsh, B Phlat, Tony Hinchcliffe, Brent Morin, Sherrod Small, Adam Ray, Donnell Rawlings, Christi Chiello, Myq Kaplan, PREACHER Lawson, Annie Lederman, Andrew Santino, Dave Smith, Rick Gassman, Dwayne Perkins, Matt Okine and more!
Donors
In this new comedy where SILICON VALLEY meets Broad City, a start-up company is developing
brilliant iPhone app for women with financial help from an enthusiastic tech hedge fund. Cara,
the charismatic face of the company, calls to drop a bomb: the hedge fund is bailing. The money
is gone. Party’s over. Starring Sarah Davenport, Skye Townsend, and Carlie Craig.
Cold As Balls – season 2
“Cold as Balls” is even more icy for season 2! Join Kevin Hart and his special athlete and
celebrity guests as he plunges into icy waters for even more awkward interviews.
New series will roll out on LaughOutLoud.com, the Laugh Out Loud mobile app, and across Laugh Out Loud’s social channels. To sign up, visit LaughOutLoud.com.
Dr. Dre Is Making A Movie About Legendary Soul Singer Marvin Gaye
Dr. Dre is working on a movie about the late singer Marvin Gaye. The rapper, whose film credits include 2015’s “Straight Outta Compton,” on which he served as producer and inspiration for the film, is in the early stages of getting the project off the ground. And rights to use Gaye’s music have been secured, according to sources. Sony/ATV Music Publishing is home to Gaye’s songwriting credits.
There have been multiple attempts to give Gaye the biopic treatment. The soul singer behind such hits as “What’s Going On,” “Sexual Healing,” and “Let’s Get It On” became one of Motown’s most successful artists before he was fatally shot in 1984 at age 44 by his father following a family dispute in their Los Angeles home. F. Gary Gray, Cameron Crowe, James Gandolfini, Scott Rudin, and actors including Jesse L. Martin and Lenny Kravitz all have tried to bring Gaye’s story to the screen, but until now, none had been authorized by Gaye’s family.
The most recent project to get the sign off from the Gaye estate was with Jamie Foxx who landed the rights for a limited series in 2016 but that project has seen no movement in the years since.
As for Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, the hip-hop legend has dabbled in feature projects both in front of the camera, in films like “Training Day” and “Car Wash,” as well as producing. His most recent film credit was “Straight Outta Compton,” which chronicled the rise of his hip-hop group N.W.A and was produced by Dre and fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube. The pic was a massive hit and also scored an Oscar nomination for original screenplay.
In a curious twist of fate, Dre is represented by King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, the same legal firm which defended Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams against the Gaye estate in the closely-monitored “Blurred Lines” trial in 2015. The verdict found in favor of the Gaye family, which contended that “Blurred Lines” infringed on Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up” and ordered Thicke and Williams to pay millions in statutory damages.
