The premiere of TBS‘ new comedy series “The Last O.G.” starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish drew 1.8 million total viewers on Tuesday night in Live+Same Day, 882,000 of those in the adults 18-49 demographic.
That is the biggest cable comedy premiere since 2016, the largest scripted cable comedy premiere since 2015, and the best TBS original debut ever.
Amazon has greenlit a documentary series on Lorena Bobbitt with Jordan Peele attached as an executive producer.
The four-part series, titled “Lorena,” will delve into the notorious case of husband and wife John and Lorena Bobbitt. In 1993, Lorena made headlines around the world when she cut off her husband’s penis. She later claimed that she did so after he raped her. The series will examine how the case laid the groundwork for the modern 24-hour news cycle and increasing sensationalistic media coverage. It will also explore the national discussion on domestic and sexual assault in America.
“When we hear the name ‘Bobbitt’ we think of one of the most sensational incidents to ever be catapulted into a full blown media spectacle,” Peele said. “With this project, Lorena has a platform to tell her truth as well as engage in a critical conversation about gender dynamics, abuse, and her demand for justice. This is Lorena’s story and we’re honored to help her tell it.
Josh Rofé will direct the series. Peele and Win Rosenfeld will executive produce for Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions. Rofé will also executive produce along with Steven J. Berger for Number 19, Jenna Santoianni and Tom Lesinski for Sonar Entertainment.
“Jordan has proven himself as a captivating voice of social critique and we are excited to work with him on this project,” said Heather Schuster, head of unscripted for Amazon Originals. “‘Lorena’ reframes Lorena Bobbitt’s story around issues of sexism and domestic abuse and offers Prime members an exclusive new view into how America got her story wrong and maybe continues to get it wrong.”
Peele is coming off of an Oscar win for best original screenplay for his film “Get Out.” He is also the co-creator of the TBS comedy series “The Last OG” starring Tracy Morgan. Peele is also set to executive produce a reboot of “Twilight Zone” for CBS All Access and “Lovecraft Country” for HBO.
Source: Variety
Dave Chappelle has been hit with a lawsuit. A man named Christian Englander, who threw a banana peel at the comedian, during a 2015 performance in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is suing him and his presumed bodyguard.
Englander says he was struck twice by Chappell’s bodyguard as he was being restrained. Englander is white and says throwing the banana peel at Chappelle, was not racially motivated. He says that he threw the peel at the comedian because he was upset by something that he said.
At the time of the incident, Englander faced charges of battery and disturbing the peace. Chappelle would not participate in the prosecution, so the charges were dropped.
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“If you’re not going to do the work, drop the class,” Tiffany Haddish warns in Universal’s newly released trailer for its Kevin Hart-led comedy Night School, from Girls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee.
In the film, Hart’s character, along with a group of misfits, is forced to go back to school to get his GED in hopes of securing a new job after his business goes up in flames.
Ben Schwartz, Taran Killam, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Rob Riggle, Megalyn Echikunwoke, and Yvonne Orji co-star in the film from Hart’s Hartbeat Productions and Will Packer’s Will Packer Productions.
Night School hits theaters September 28.
Check out the video above.
On this day in comedy on April 3, 1961, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Musical Artist, Edward Regan “Eddie” Murphy was born in Brooklyn, New York, 1961
When his father, Charles, an amateur comedian, died when Murphy was young, Eddie Murphy and his older brother Charlie found themselves in a foster home for a year because their mother had fallen ill. It was that time, Murphy later said, that helped form his sense of humor. His mother, Lillian, later remarried after regaining her health and reunited the family and young Eddie began performing skits he’d written around the age of 15.
Murphy’s writing skills came in handy in 1980 when he landed a featured player spot on Saturday Night Live during the show’s bleak period. It was Murphy’s infusion of signature characters (Buckwheat, Gumby, Mr. Robinson, and James Brown) that admittedly kept the show afloat during the era creator / producer, Lorne Michaels was absent.
During and after his tenure at SNL, Murphy stretched his stand-up muscles. He released his first album, Eddie Murphy in 1982, Delirious in 1983 and Raw in 1987. However, Murphy virtually abandoned stand-up when his film career took off, starting with 1982’s 48 HRS, co-starring, Nick Nolte. It was a hit as were his next two films, Trading Places with Dan Aykroyd and Beverly Hills Cop (Murphy’s first starring vehicle). With a trifecta like that out of the box, Murphy was a certified movie star. So naturally they dug up one of his early duds and tried to capitalize on his success and momentum. The dud was Best Defense, starring Dudley Moore. Murphy had a small part boosted up in the marketing to be a big part (they dubbed him “Strategic Guest Star”). The main part was Murphy himself said it was a terrible flick and went back to making hits and offered hits. Murphy was originally slated to be the 4th Ghostbuster, a part written specifically for him by Dan Aykroyd for the box office hit, Ghostbusters, but when scheduling conflicts occurred the part of Winston Zeddemore went to Ernie Hudson.
Few things slowed Murphy down in the early days. Similar to the way he saved, SNL from financial ruin, he did the same for the dollar strapped Paramount Studios. Thanks to Murphy the studio came back to profitability. He cranked them out for that studio and others: The Golden Child, Beverly Hills Cop II, Boomerang, Another 48 Hrs., Vampire in Brooklyn (co-written with brother, Charlie), Harlem Nights (where he wrote, directed and starred alongside, Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx), Life, Mulan, Dr. Doolittle, the Shrek Saga, Daddy Day Care, The Haunted Mansion and Bowfinger (with Steve Martin).
It’s no surprise Murphy was criticized for playing multiple parts in his films (Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, The Klumps, etc.), a practice he rightfully defended since it was an homage to one of his comedy idols, Peter Sellers, who did it in many of his films, most notably Dr. Strangelove.
With such massive successes, there were statistically bound to be failures; especially in a collaborative field such as film. And when Eddie Murphy had a bad film it was always reported as the end of his career. The list of laugh-stoppers included Beverly Hills Cop III, Metro, I-Spy, Holy Man and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (rated as one of the worse films ever made with a worldwide box office take of $7 million to prove it).
The film adapted from the Broadway smash hit, Dreamgirls was a turning point in Murphy’s career. He played a dramatic part which required singing and was rewarded for the stretch. He won the Golden Globe, SAG and Broadcast Film Critics Association awards for his performance and was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He left the auditorium when he lost the Academy Award to Alan Arkin. They said the shocker of a loss was because of his film Norbit, in which Murphy played multiple parts, one being a fat woman some found offensive. Any excuse.
Eddie Murphy also sang . . . seriously. He did background vocals for songs released by his buddies, The Bus Boys. He released “Boogie in Your Butt” and had hits with “Party All th Time” which was produced by Rick James and “Put Your Mouth on Me”. Murphy recorded, “I Was a King”, a duet with Shabba Ranks and the reggae song, “Red Light” with Snoop Lion in 2013.
Comedy Central ranked Eddie Murphy #10 on its list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. Box-office takes from Murphy’s films make him the 5th-highest grossing actor in the United States. His films have made over $6.6 billion worldwide and he was awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2015.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
Paramount Players has hired Tracy Morgan and Aldis Hodge to join Taraji P. Henson’s comedy “What Men Want.”
It was first reported on Feb. 2 that Adam Shankman had come on board to direct the film, which is inspired by the Nancy Meyers’ 2000 rom-com, “What Women Want.” Will Packer and James Lopez are producing and Shankman executive producing.
The original movie starred Mel Gibson as a marketing exec who suddenly has the ability to hear what women are thinking after a freak accident. In the remake, the roles are reversed, with Henson playing sports agent who has been constantly boxed out by her male colleagues. When she gains the power to hear men’s thoughts, she is able to shift the paradigm to her advantage as she races to sign the NBA’s next superstar.
“What Men Want” has already been set to open on Jan. 11, 2019. It’s being spearheaded by Brian Robbins and Ali Bell under the newly formed division at Paramount, which launched in June.
The CW again has given an early renewal to the bulk of its lineup, picking up all returning series on its fall schedule for the 2018-19 season as well as freshmen Dynasty and Black Lightning. The list includes all five DC series, The Flash (Season 5), Arrow (Season 7), Supergirl (Season 4) and Legends Of Tomorrow (Season 4), joined by newcomer Black Lighting (Season 2), as well as the venerable Supernatural, picked up for 14th (!) season, sophomore success Riverdale (Season 3) and praised comedies Jane the Virgin (Season 5) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season 4) for what could be the duo’s final seasons.
“As The CW expands to a six-night, Sunday through Friday schedule next season, we are proud to have such a deep bench of great returning series for 2018-19. By picking these ten series up for next season, we have a terrific selection of programming to choose from when we set our fall schedule in May, with more still to come,” said the CW president Mark Pedowitz. “And I’m especially happy that we’ll continue to work with the incredibly talented casts, producers, and writers who create the series our fans are so passionate about.”
Both new fall CW dramas, Valor and Dynasty, underperformed at similar ratings levels. The former did not get a back order and is expected to get officially canceled. Dynasty‘s ratings continue to be soft as it was moved to the lower-trafficked Friday night. But the reboot of the classic 1980s soap has a lucrative distribution deal with Netflix for CBS TV Studios, whose parent CBS co-owns the CW. Additionally, the CW brass hope that the arrival of Nicollette Sheridan as Alexis Carrington would provide the spark that Joan Collins delivered when she joined the original series as Alexis in Season 2. Sheridan’s first episode recently posted a small viewership uptick.
Of the other CW midseason series, iZombie and newbie Life Sentence are on the bubble. iZombie, now in its fourth season, is in the middle of the pack ratings-wise and has established fan base. Meanwhile, Life Sentence is on shaky ground, logging the smallest Live+same day viewership and 18-49 rating among all CW scripted series this season and recently banished to Fridays after hitting a 0.1 L+SD demo low. There is a glimmer of hope for the dramedy starring Pretty Little Liars‘ Lucy Hale,which has been a solid performer in delayed and digital viewing. That helped Riverdale to snag a Season 2 renewal last year, though renewal for Life Sentence is considered a long shot. Renewal decisions on iZombie, Life Sentence and fellow midseason series The 100, whose new season is yet to premiere, are expected to go down down to the wire in May.
The CW has more real estate to play with next season as it is reclaiming Sunday night for original programming but it also ordered the most pilots ever.
Source: Deadline
Atlanta star Lakeith Stanfield is in talks to join Gina Rodriguez in Netflix’s romantic comedy SOMEONE GREAT, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned. If a deal makes, this would be Stanfield’s fifth Netflix film following War Machine, Death Note, The Incredible Jessica James and the upcoming drama Come Sunday.
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (MTV’s Sweet/Vicious) is directing from her own original screenplay. The film follows a young woman (Rodriguez) who suffers a devastating breakup and decides to seek adventure in New York City with her two best friends before she moves across the country for her dream job.
Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise will play Rodriguez’s two best friends, while Stanfield is poised to play Rodriguez’s ex-boyfriend.
Rodriguez is producing via her I Can and I Will Productions banner along with Paul Feig and Jessie Henderson of Feigco Entertainment, and Anthony Bregman and Peter Cron of Likely Story. Feigco’s Dan Magnante and Likely Story’s Stefanie Azpiazu will serve as executive producers alongside Kaytin Robinson, while I Can and I Will’s Emily Gipson will serve as a co-producer on the project. Production is slated to start next week.
Stanfield recently starred in Jordan Peele’s Best Picture nominee Get Out and he made a memorable appearance onstage at the Oscars in support of that film. Stanfield can currently be seen on FX’s hit series Atlanta, which just started its second season, and he’ll soon be seen as the lead in the Sundance sensation Sorry to Bother You. He’s also part of the impressive ensemble of Sony’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web.