BET has ordered five new scripted series and six unscripted projects for the upcoming season. The slate includes a comedy remake inspired by the 1992 pic “Boomerang” and a look at the life of “Soul Train” maestro Don Cornelius.
BET unveiled its 2018-19 season programming slate on Tuesday amid the crush of cable upfront presentations this month. The Viacom cabler has vowed to boost the volume of original series by 21% over last year. BET Networks president Scott Mills emphasized the cabler’s “special connection with the African-American audience.”
During the past few years BET has faced increased competition for African-American audiences from OWN, TV One as well as Viacom’s own VH1. The original programming push is in keeping with Viacom’s larger strategy of focusing its cable resources on six core channels, of which BET is one.
“Creating powerful, engaging and provocative content has been BET Networks’ legacy for decades,” said Connie Orlando, Head of Programming, BET Networks. “With the increase in our original programming slate for 2019, we’re committed more than ever to telling the most compelling and authentic stories about the black experience.”
BET also has the sudser “Peachtree Place,” set among a group of 30-somethings in Atlanta, coming from producer Will Packer.
BET’s unscripted slate includes a docu-series “Ladies Night” that follows a contemporary tour of 1990s female soul and hip-hop stars En Vogue, Salt, Pepa, Spinderella and SWV. There’s also music competition series “The Next Big Thing,” steered by Swizz Beats and A&R veteran Tina Davis.
Here’s a rundown of BET’s new series orders:
SCRIPTED SERIES
AMERICAN SOUL – Inspired by the personal trials and professional successes of a young, ambitious and troubled impresario Don Cornelius. The drama series is an unflinching look at the entrepreneur, his Soul Train dancers, crew and musicians in an unforgiving Hollywood in the 1970’s – how they work, play, rise and fall against the backdrop of Soul Train — “the hippest trip in America” and one of the most predominant television shows for African-American culture. Produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, AMERICAN SOUL is executive produced by Jesse Collins, Jonathan Prince, Devon Greggory and Tony Cornelius with Co-Executive Producer Andy Horne. Greggory and Prince, who created the series will also pen the pilot.
FORMAT: One-hour drama
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
THE ARCHER CONNECTION [WORKING TITLE] – The ten-episode half-hour series follows the life of tech genius Archer Grant, a young, black, iconoclastic mastermind who has developed Archer App – a software that measures the sexual chemistry between its user and anyone in the room. In launching the app and managing its rapid growth, Archer clumsily navigates between worlds – hipster Brooklyn, bloodthirsty Wall Street, underground hip-hop, innovative Silicon Valley – while trying to avoid the treacherous grip of capitalism and his own precarious sex addiction. THE ARCHER CONNECTION is co-executive produced and written by Chad Sanders.
FORMAT: FORMAT: Half-hour dramedy
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
BOOMERANG – BET and Paramount Television are partnering to reboot the 1992 American romantic comedy film BOOMERANG, in which a successful executive finds that his lifestyle choices have turned back on him when his new boss turns out to be a bigger deviant than he is. This updated version explores contemporary workplace dynamics, including the changing role of gender, office politics, relationships, and the conflicts between Generation X and Millennials.
FORMAT: Half-hour comedy
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
GAMES DIVAS PLAY – Based on the popular book by Angela Burt-Murray, this sultry new thriller takes viewers inside the high-stakes world of professional sports where everyone plays to win. With an ensemble cast of dynamic characters including an ambitious reporter, a millionaire basketball player, a desperate housewife, a scandalous groupie, and a murderous stalker, the series follows three women Nia, Vanessa and Laila and the men in their lives. In a ruthless battle for success, these women’s passions and motivations are seldom altruistic, but their life choices and drive will determine what it really takes to stay on top. GAMES DIVAS PLAY is executive produced by Tracey Edmonds of Edmonds Entertainment, Angela Burt-Murray and Vanessa Middleton, who also serves as showrunner for the series.
FORMAT: One-hour drama
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
PEACHTREE PLACE – Follows five 30-something year olds living in Atlanta as they try to build professional and personal lives they can be proud of, but find that being a real adult is easier said than done. Unresolved feelings from college are uncovered and secrets revealed, forcing these friends to finally deal with uncomfortable truths about love, sex and reluctantly, growing up. PEACHTREE PLACE is executive produced by Will Packer and co-executive produced by Sheila Duckworth and Felischa Marye, who also serves as a writer on the series.
FORMAT: Half-hour comedy
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
UNSCRIPTED SERIES
FINDING JUSTICE – From executive producers Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and David Leepson, this compelling docuseries tells the powerful stories of heroes, leaders, advocates and change agents in African American communities across America as they uncover injustices and fight to bring healing and change. With the grit and edge of investigative journalism and the profound heart of a powerful documentary, each episode delivers a riveting look at the faces of change in Black America. FINDING JUSTICE is produced by Seven Bucks Productions and Leepson Bounds Entertainment.
FORMAT: Crime, Docuseries
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 6
DREAM TEAM – In the summer of 1992, a basketball team comprised of 11 future Hall of Famers showed up at the Olympics in Spain and changed the face of sports and global culture forever. DREAM TEAM is an intimate journey from the spark of an idea to the podium in Barcelona, examining an incomparable legacy that still resonates 25 years later. Based on acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum’s New York Times bestselling book that follows the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball team, the five-episode docuseries from BET and Paramount Television, will explore how a group of extraordinary and complex individuals became a team and how that team transcended sports. DREAM TEAM is directed and executive produced by Emmett and Brendan Malloy of Malloy Brothers Productions. Underground’s Trevor Engelson and Five All in The Fifth’s Douglas Banker also executive produce. McCallum will serve as a consultant for the series. The docuseries is created with the cooperation and support of USA Basketball and the NBA.
FORMAT: Limited series
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 5
THE NEXT BIG THING [WORKING TITLE] – This hybrid docu-music competition series highlights super-producer Swizz Beats, Tina Davis, music veteran A&R Exec (Def Jam, Empire), former manager of Chris Brown as we follow a league of powerhouse music icons, put up-and-coming artists through the ultimate development boot camp. After being coached and challenged on performance preparation, these artists must give the best performance of their career to land a deal with one of six major record labels. Produced by Releve Entertainment, the series is executive produced by Swizz Beats, Tina Davis and Holly Carter.
FORMAT: Music Competition
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
LADIES NIGHT – This new docuseries follows the personal and professional drama of the iconic 90’s girl groups En Vogue, Salt, Pepa, Spinderella and SWV as they embark on a national tour. With a run of shows across the US, these iconic artists must create, choreograph, and execute a night featuring all of their famous hits. With major money on the line, the OGs will need to put their pride to the side in order to launch something truly memorable. Produced by Entertainment One’s Tara Long, Mark Herwick, Madison Merritt serve as executive producers.
FORMAT: Docuseries
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
THE GRAND HUSTLE – From the streets to the boardroom, T.I. wrote the book on hustling and now he’s looking for the nation’s next big hustler to see who will come out on top. Set in the streets of Atlanta, these contestants use the city to prove they have what it takes to out-hustle the rest! In the end, T.I. will choose one person to be named King or Queen of the Hustle – landing a six-figure job working at one of T.I.’s companies. Produced by 51 Minds Entertainment, THE GRAND HUSTLE is executive produced by Christian Sarabia, Clifford “T.I.” Harris, Brian Sher, Vinnie Kaufman and Johnny Petillo. Petillo also serves as showrunner for the series.
FORMAT: Competition, Docuseries
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 12
THE HUSTLE: BROOKLYN – This new coming-of-age docuseries set in Brooklyn, follows a cast of young and sexy millennials with a balance of economic backgrounds, focusing on transitional moments of their lives. Produced by Entertainment One & Creature films, Tara Long of eOne and Mark Ford and Kevin Lopez serve as executive producers.
FORMAT: Docuseries
NUMBER OF EPISODES: 10
We discovered the news today that comedian and actor Brandon T. Jackson is in final stages of launching a coffee franchise out of Atlanta, titled Kingdon Cafe And Vegan.
According to Jackson, it’s not a competition with everything that’s happening to Starbucks, as this plan has been in the works for over 2 years. As a matter of fact, this coffee shop franchise is the complete opposite; “its built on equality and support”. Again, Jackson states, “This is not a boycott of Starbucks, it’s just us trying to launch a business. We want your support Starbucks. We are a black-owned business. Starbucks, support us if you really love us, and teach us, and watch us grow.”
Co-created by Elba and TV producer Gary Reich, the series follows Charlie (Elba), a struggling DJ and eternal bachelor, who’s given a final chance at success when he reluctantly becomes a manny to his famous best friend’s problem-child daughter. Netflix has ordered an eight-episode first season of the half-hour series. Production will begin this May in the U.K.
Elba and Reich will executive produce along with Tristram Shapeero. Shapeero will also direct the series with Matt Lipsey. Laura Neal, Femi Oyeniran, and Victoria Asare-Archer serve as writers with Georgia Lester also serving as writer as well as supervising producer. Martin Joyce and Ana Garanito are co-executive producers. Gill Isles will serve as producer. The series will be co-produced by Reich’s Brown Eyed Boy Productions and Elba’s Green Door Pictures.
This marks the second comedy series Elba has created. He also created and stars in the current Sky One series “In the Long Run,” playing a Sierra Leonean immigrant living with his family in London circa 1985 that is loosely based on Elba’s own life. Elba’s best known TV role is his time spent as Stringer Bell on the hit HBO series “The Wire.” His other TV credits include his starring role in the U.K. police drama “Luther,” the mini-series “Guerrilla,” and guest arcs on shows like “The Big C” and “The Office.” On the film side, he is known for his appearances in the “Thor” franchise and other Marvel films, “Pacific Rim,” “Star Trek: Beyond,” and “Beasts of No Nation.”
Elba is also an accomplished DJ, having performed at festivals like Snowbombing, Glastonbury, Creamfields, and Elrow London. He was also a resident at Hi Ibiza across the summer season, performing with the Mambo Brothers.
He is repped by WME in the U.S. and The Artists Partnership in the U.K.
Source: Variety
The chief accuser at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault retrial talked about framing a celebrity before going to police with her allegations in 2005, a key defense witness testified Wednesday as the TV star’s lawyers began putting on their case.
Marguerite Jackson, an academic adviser at Temple University, took the witness stand after a judge overruled prosecutors and said she could tell her story to the jury.
Jackson said Andrea Constand spoke of the plot while they were rooming together on a road trip to Rhode Island with the Temple University women’s basketball team, where Constand was working as operations director.
After watching a TV news report about a celebrity who had been accused of sexual assault, Jackson said Constand told her: “Oh, wow, something similar happened to me.” Constand said she never reported the assault because her assailant was a “high-profile person” and she knew she couldn’t prove it, Jackson testified.
Jackson said she encouraged Constand to report it. She told jurors that Constand then switched gears, saying, “No, it didn’t, but I could say it did. I could say it happened, get that money. I could quit my job. I could go back to school. I could open up a business.”
Jackson said the conversation happened Feb. 1, 2004, a few weeks after Constand says Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia home. The defense hoped Jackson’s testimony would bolster Cosby’s efforts to show Constand fabricated the allegations against him to extort a big civil settlement. Cosby paid Jackson nearly $3.4 million in 2006.
Constand testified Monday she didn’t “recall ever having a conversation with” Jackson.
Prosecutors wound down their case earlier Wednesday, introducing the comedian’s explosive testimony about giving Quaaludes to women before sex — an old admission that’s taken on new significance after a half-dozen women testified that Cosby drugged and violated them.
A police detective read a transcript of the 2005 testimony as prosecutors saved for the very end of their case Cosby’s own words about using the 1970s party drug “the same as a person would say, ‘Have a drink.'”
Cosby, now 80, is being retried on charges he drugged and molested Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home. He says their encounter was consensual.
Cosby was deposed in 2005 and 2006 after Constand filed suit against him. The deposition was hidden from public view until 2015, when the Associated Press petitioned to have it unsealed, leading prosecutors to reopen the criminal case.
Jurors at Cosby’s first trial last year also heard excerpts from the deposition but deadlocked on sexual assault charges.
In a transcript read to the jury Wednesday, the Cosby Show star said he obtained seven prescriptions for Quaaludes from his doctor in Los Angeles in the 1970s, ostensibly for a sore back, but added he didn’t use them himself because they made him tired.
“Quaaludes happen to be the drug that kids, young people were using to party with, and there were times when I wanted to have them just in case,” Cosby testified, according to the transcript.
The sedative was banned in the U.S. in 1982, the same year one of the women who testified, Janice Baker-Kinney, alleges Cosby knocked her out with pills she suspected to be Quaaludes and then raped her.
Cosby’s lawyers sought Wednesday to minimize the importance of his Quaaludes testimony. Defense attorney Kathleen Bliss underscored that most of that testimony pertained to the 1970s, and a police detective acknowledged during cross-examination that authorities didn’t find Quaaludes in a search of Cosby’s home after Constand went to police.
Prosecutors also unleashed other passages from Cosby’s graphic deposition, including his accounts of purported sexual encounters with Constand and how he apologized to her mother a year later for being “a dirty old man with a young girl.”
They used another of Cosby’s statements, one he gave to police in 2005, to show how he described the encounter for which he is facing aggravated indecent assault charges that could send him to prison for years.
Cosby said he gave Constand one and a half tablets of the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl to help her relax, then fondled her breasts and genitals, according to a police transcript that jurors heard Tuesday.
He said Constand never told him to stop.
Constand said Cosby knocked her out with the pills and then sexually assaulted her, penetrating her with his fingers and guiding her hand to his penis.
Before jurors began hearing Cosby’s testimony about Quaaludes, prosecutors on Wednesday called to the witness stand Judith Regan, who published Cosby accuser Janice Dickinson’s memoir.
Regan testified the model told her she was drugged and raped by Cosby and was insistent that the story be included in her 2002 memoir, No Lifeguard on Duty. She told jurors that Dickinson was upset the company’s legal department wouldn’t let them print such an explosive story without a corroborating witness.
Dickinson testified last week that Cosby raped her at a Lake Tahoe, Nevada, hotel in 1982 while she was immobilized after taking a blue pill he claimed would help her with menstrual cramps.
The book contained a highly sanitized version of the encounter, with no sex at all.
Regan testified that she believed Dickinson’s allegations were credible, but that her account was “modified to deal with this issue without any legal problems.”
Regan said in a sworn statement to prosecutors that she felt she had a duty to publish the truth. On the stand, she explained: “The truth in this case, with this particular incident, was something that we required her to remove from the book.”
The Associated Press doesn’t typically identify people who say they’re victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand and Dickinson have done.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
But the setlist didn’t just focus on his own hits: Dre performed his own “Still D.R.E.,” Snoop Dogg’s “Nothin’ but a G Thang” and nodded back to his own headlining set at the festival — where he was sort-of joined by a hologram of Tupac — by covering his 1996 tag-team with Pac, “California Love.” 50 Cent teamed up for a medley of “In Da Club” and “My Life,” while longtime collaborator Grey joined in on “Stan,” “Walk on Water” and “Love the Way You Lie.”
Donald Glover will appear as both host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” May 5. This marks the first time Glover will appear on the show in either capacity.
“SNL” made the announcement about Glover with a title card during the April 14 episode that saw John Mulaney as host.
Glover, who created and stars in FX comedy “Atlanta,” is also a rapper by the name of Childish Gambino. He previously worked for NBC when he wrote on Tina Fey’s sketch-show set comedy “30 Rock” and starred on Dan Harmon’s collegiate-set comedy “Community.” Glover will also soon appear as Lando Calrissian in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and as Simba in a new imagining of Disney’s “The Lion King.”
Childish Gambino’s most recent album was 2016’s “Awaken, My Love!”, which earned Grammy nominations in the categories of album of the year and urban contemporary album, and just last month he announced a tour, which would be kicking off in Atlanta in Sept.
Glover joins a short list of rare performers who pull double duty on the NBC late night sketch comedy series. The list, made up of primarily pop stars, includes Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Blake Shelton and Ariana Grande.
Source: Variety
In case you haven’t heard the news, actor, comedian, and host, Gary “G-Thang” Johnson is preparing to debut a new comedy album titled G-Thang Live In Atlanta on April 28th exclusively on Apple’s platform, Itunes.
G-Thang is also currently hosting one of the hottest musical tours across the country, The 90’s Block Party which features 112, Next, Dru Hill, Teddy Riley, Guy, and just to name a few.
G-Thang is also starring in the hit TV series from Bounce TV titled Grown Folks, and we hear he also has a couple of other TV projects on the way.
More news as this story develops.
Philadelphia comedian Kevin Hart has responded to the controversial incident that took place at a Center City Philadelphia Starbucks resulting in the arrests of two men.
The ‘Jumanji’ actor tweeted the following message to Starbucks Sunday morning:
“Message to the @Starbucks in Philadelphia….Our city is shining bright like a diamond right now. Please make this situation right. I repeat please make this situation right!!!!!!! Once again MAKE THIS RIGHT”
In a video posted to social media that has been viewed more than 8 million times, Philadelphia police officers can be seen arresting two black men Thursday inside the store at 18th and Spruce streets while other patrons ask ‘What did they do wrong?’
Melissa DePino@missydepino@Starbucks The police were called because these men hadn’t ordered anything. They were waiting for a friend to show up, who did as they were taken out in handcuffs for doing nothing. All the other white ppl are wondering why it’s never happened to us when we do the same thing.
In a follow-up tweet, Hart also questioned why the men were arrested.
@Sarbucks in Philadelphia I have watched the video and do not see these to [sic] young men doing anything wrong….Unless there is footage that shows otherwise you need to do what’s right and handle the manager that was on duty accordingly,” Hart tweeted.
Kevin Hart✔@KevinHart4real@Starbucks in Philadelphia I have watched the video and do not see these to young men doing anything wrong….Unless there is footage that shows otherwise you need to do what’s right and handle the manager that was on duty accordingly.
Hart added that this is not a boycott of Starbucks.
“Let’s make one thing very clear….This is not a boycott @Starbucks situation….This is horrible management. The manager on duty was wrong. It’s that simple…That’s who needs to take responsibility for this wrong doing,” Hart tweeted.
Kevin Hart
✔@KevinHart4real
Let’s make one thing very clear….This is not a boycott @Starbucks situation….This is horrible management. The manager on duty was wrong. It’s that simple…That’s who needs to take responsibility for this wrong doing.
Attorney Lauren Wimmer, who represents the two men, told Action News her clients were innocently waiting for a third person to conduct a business meeting. She said it was the manager at the Starbucks who called the police, and that her clients weren’t doing anything wrong.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the department’s internal investigation revealed the officers who responded to the scene acted appropriately, and in accordance with police guidelines.
L.A.’s Finest is now the official title for NBC’s Bad Boys TV spinoff.
While the Bad Boys buddy cop film franchise, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, has been dormant since the 2003 sequel, it will finally return in the form L.A.’s Finest, starring Gabriel Union, who reprises her Bad Boys 2 role as Syd Burnett, the sister of Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett, who happened to be dating his police partner, Will Smith’s Mike Lowery; respective relationships that surprised both men. However, Marcus and Mike eventually learn that Syd was an undercover DEA agent who was investigating the same Cuban ecstasy ring that they were chasing.
While L.A.’s Finest star Gabriel Union’s appearance as Syd in Bad Boys 2 mostly took place in Miami, the spinoff will see her make a fresh start in Los Angeles, where she will work as an LAPD detective. However, her rough approach and brash personality – apparently masking painful secrets – will clash with new partner, Nancy McKenna, who will be played by Jessica Alba. Thus, in the spirit of Bad Boys (with a healthy dollop of Lethal Weapon,) the Peacock Network series will brandish a buddy cop dynamic, except, you know, with a pair of bad girls.
The L.A.’s Finest pilot was written by Brandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier, a duo who work for NBC crime drama The Blacklist as writers and producers. The project was reportedly conceived by Primary Wave Entertainment as a vehicle for client Gabrielle Union. Sony Pictures Television will produce. Original film producer Jerry Bruckheimer is onboard, joined by Doug Belgrad, both as executive producers, via 2.0 Entertainment and Primary Wave Entertainment. – There’s no word yet on whether original film series director Michael Bay will be involved.
For Union, the starring role in a Bad Boys spinoff series is a timely opportunity, with her BET drama series Being Mary Jane ending with a TV movie finale after a four-season run. She’s recently been seen in films such as The Birth of a Nation, Almost Christmas and Sleepless. Long before that, she cut her teeth in teen fare and a 1997 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest role, before finding film success with roles in (Heath Ledger breakout film) 10 Things I Hate About You, the original Bring it On and, of course, Bad Boys 2. She also fielded TV runs on City of Angels, the short-lived Night Stalker reboot series and Flashforward.
Jessica Alba will play LAPD detective Nancy McKenna, the partner to Gabrielle Union’s DEA agent Syd Burnett. Nancy is an Army veteran who joined the military police because women weren’t allowed in combat, spent a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan and is now raising two preteen kids with her husband
Alba’s last regular TV run was back in the 2000-2002 Fox sci-fi/action series, Dark Angel, though she banked appearances on shows such as Entourage, The Office, The Spoils of Babylon and Barely Famous. She was featured in the films Sin City, Fantastic Four and its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer, Machete, Into the Blue, El Camino Christmas, Mechanic: Resurrection. She also founded The Honest Company in 2011.
Original Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson will play Joseph Burnett, the father of Union’s character. Hudson’s seemingly interminable acting resume lives up to the words of his iconic Ghostbusters character, Winston Zeddemore, declaring that, “If there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.” His recent notable roles include a run on Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie, a recurring role on Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival and a regular role on Fox’s cancelled high-tech police procedural, APB.
L.A.’s Finest could be a bellwether revival for the Bad Boys franchise, with rumors continuing to swirl about Bad Boys 3 becoming a reality. Thus, the TV spinoff series could end up making a more welcoming cross-media IP atmosphere for a connected sequel film that would prospectively reunite Smith and Lawrence. Of course, with 1995’s Bad Boys being a $141.4 million (worldwide) surprise smash and 2003’s Bad Boys 2 raking in $273.3 million (worldwide), the movie franchise might also have some mojo left to help generate nostalgic interest for the TV series.
