On this day in comedy on January 23, 1996, Moesha premiered on UPN
Originally ordered by CBS, the Tiffany Network got cold feet at the prospect of a sitcom starring a teenage black R&B singer (Brandy Norwood) set in South Central L. A. so they pulled out and gave the new UPN network its first hit and one of the greatest successes in the history of that network.
Moesha centered on the escapades of the title character, her prank playing younger brother (Marcus T. Paulk) and her friends (Yvette Wilson, Shar Jackson, Countess Vaughn, Lamont Bentley). The show tackled issues such as teen pregnancy, premarital sex, drugs, gang violence, racism, parental death and infidelity. On the show Moesha’s father, Frank (William Allen Young) is a car salesman and a widower. The latter part is where we get our conflict because he married Moesha’s vice-principal (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Moesha doesn’t like it. Additional conflict comes in a pivotal episode when it’s discovered that Frank was unfaithful to Moesha’s mother and his nephew is actually his son. Moesha moved out and the show got very real.
Created by Ralph Farquhar and written by Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears, Moesha featured Fredro Starr as Moesha’s love interest and real life brother Ray J as TV brother, Dorian. Bernie Mac was a recurring character as were Ricky Harris, Kara Brock, Jo Marie Payton, Antwon Tanner, Jon Huertas, Merlin Santana, Jazsmin Lewis, Ginuwine, Olivia Brown, Usher, Lahmard Tate and Master P. The list of guest stars was staggering: Kobe Bryant, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Doctor Dre, Faith Evans, Jamie Foxx, Adele Givens, Meagan Good, Robert Guillaume, Bo Jackson, Quincy Jones, Jermaine Dupri, Sanaa Lathan, Lisa Leslie, Marsha Warfield, Kym Whitley, Russell Simmons, Sinbad, A Tribe Called Quest, Lil Kim, Nancy Wilson, Octavia Spencer, DMX, Deion Sanders, Keith Sweat, Shaquille O’Neal, Nia Long, Jessica Simpson, MC Lyte, Shemar Moore, Vanessa Bell Calloway, LeAnn Rimes, Silk, Kellita Smith, Gabrielle Union, Morris Day, Johnny Gill, Boyz II Men, Maureen McCormick, Ja’Net DuBois and Loretta Devine.
Moesha was nominated for almost 40 awards over its six season run, winning an Image Award for Best Supporting Actress for Countess Vaughn and an Outstanding Youth Actress for Brandy as well as The SHINE Award for Comedy Episode for Brandy. The highly acclaimed series also spun-off the sitcom, The Parkers, starring Countess Vaughn, Mo’Nique and Yvette Wilson.
Moesha aired its last episode of May 14, 2001, but its appeal internationally is impressive for an American sitcom. Not only was it syndicated in the UK, but since 2008 it’s also been seen in Spain, Italy, Russia, Jamaica, France, Korea, Singapore, South Sudan, India, China, Israel, Australia, Mexico, South Africa, The Netherlands, Kenya, Germany, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Brazil, Ireland and Ethiopia.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 22, 2003, Chappelle’s Show premiered on Comedy Central
Created by Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, this sketch comedy show became legendary. With precursors such as Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and In Living Color, Chappelle’s Show took hard-hitting sketch comedy to a new level. The show reflected its times and left no scatological rock unturned. It skewered every topic/person with equal delight and because it was on an up-until-then low rated cable network, Chappelle and many in the cast thought it would be canceled at any moment so the artists threw everything against the wall and damned if they didn’t make them stick.
From the outset, Chappelle’s Show became an instant, bonafide comedy classic. Its star and master of ceremonies, Dave Chappelle would offer up a brief monologue/dialogue with his live audience and then one by one introduce each prerecorded sketch (with an occasional live skit) and wrap it all up with a live performance by a soul or hip-hop artist(s). Season 1 kicked things off with a sketch about a blind white supremacist who just happened to be black and when he found out he divorced his wife for being a nigger lover. From there the show piled on. There was the lily white family circa 1950 who was named The Niggar Family. There was the Racial Draft where races drafted members to other races (Wu Tang Clan got to be Asian for example). Boisterous, yelling Samuel L. Jackson has his own beer that’s advertised just like Samuel Adams (complete with Chappelle dressed as Jackson dressed as Adams). Wayne Brady debunked his image as a puedo-Uncle Tom in a skit where he’s really gangsta. There were so many: Dave living out the perks of dating Oprah. What if the Internet was a real place? Why is working at McDonalds not good for a young ghetto dwelling person’s self-esteem? What happens when keeping it real goes wrong? And of course there was the joy of “The Playa Haters Ball”; the parody of the notorious annual Players Ball; a flamboyant celebration to pimps everywhere.
The writing was brilliant. Not every skit worked, but their batting average was Hall of Fame caliber. The fan base for Chappelle’s Show grew quickly and the show gave them the recurring characters they came to love. Lil Jon appeared with an Ivy League accent after Chappelle had played a slightly exaggerated version of Jon. It was all “yeah” and “okay”. He had comedy legend and cast member Paul Mooney doing “Negrodamus” where he predicts the future from a black point of view. Charlie Murphy was featured in “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories”; based on his real celebrity adventures with Rick James (where footage of the real Rick James was intercut as the funkster attempted to throw shade on the show’s version of him) and Prince. There was Tron Carter, the richest man in the world who gained his fortune through reparations and a hot dice game. There was also Tyrone Biggums, the overzealous crackhead, Donnell Rawlings as Ashy Larry (the name says it all), Robot Dancing Man (he does the robot anywhere and everywhere without a word or acknowledgment of anybody by him or them) and many others.
Unfortunately, the show’s run ended in controversy. Having broken all existing DVD sales at the time, Dave Chappelle was offered a sweetheart deal in excess of $50 million to keep the romance going. The deal had been made and the advertising juggernaut was in full force. Then the unexpected happened. During a taping Dave was doing a sketch about a Nigger Pixie and a white crew member emitted a laugh that was not so much laughing with Dave as much as laughing AT him. This changed the comedy paradigm for the artist, who had already expressed dismay about how the show was a 20 hour a day commitment which had taken him away from stand-up comedy which was his first love. Sure, he’d been approached in public settings with non-blacks using the “term of endearment” word (aka N-word) and had his reservations regarding the lack of public understanding when it came to satire, but this was different. He was now made to feel uncomfortable in his work environment. Dave Chappelle needed to reanalyze the genie he’d let out the bottle. So he left and went to Africa to chill with relatives; all the while the feces were hitting the fan and after he refused to return to the show if his creative demands weren’t met the executives leaped into action.
The third season was dubbed “The Lost Episodes” and aired without the participation of Dave Chappelle. For this abridged version of the show (3 full episodes), cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings were enlisted to act as co-hosts. Chappelle had made it clear that if shows were aired without his okay he would never, ever return. The cast members did not know this. The suits did. So the die was cast and the lightning in the bottle was extinguished.
Executive produced by Chappelle, Neal Brennan and Michele Amour, Chappelle’s Show had a cast of comedians and comedic personalities. It featured Bill Burr, Guillermo Diaz, Dominique, Brian Dykstra, Sophina Brown, Drake Hill, Yoshio Mita, Anthony Berry, William Bogert, Randy Pearlstein, Nick Wyman, Amanda Rowan, Drago Ruschinsky, Allen Levy, Max Herman and musician / actor, Mos Def. The guest starring list included Arsenio Hall, Eddie Griffin, Susan Sarandon, Rashida Jones, Jamie Foxx, Joe Rogan, Jim Breuer, Carson Daly, Star, Michael Rapaport and Ron Jeremy. Also seen were musical talents Ice T, Method Man, Redman, RZA, GZA. Q-Tip, De La Soul, Fat Joe, Killer Mike, Anthony Hamilton, Kanye West, Slum Village, Questlove, John Mayer, Cee Lo, Ludacris, Talib Kweli, DMX, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Snoop Dogg, Common and Erykah Badu.
TV Guide ranked Chappelle’s Show as #31 from their list of “TV’s Top 100 Shows” The last televised episode aired July 23, 2006.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 21, 2005, Are We There Yet? was released by Columbia Pictures
Originally intended as an Adam Sandler project, Are We There Yet? was produced by Revolution Studios and stars Ice Cube. In this literal road comedy, Cube plays a kid despising suitor determined to make Nia Long his woman. That means getting along with her two kids who do not like suitors. They terrorize all who’ve come around with devious booby-traps and at first Cube is no exception. The traumatizing twosome want to see their recently divorced parents get back together and until then all other men are the enemy. However, after volunteering to take them to their pre-planned destination when their real father wigs out, he wins them over, but not before experiencing the journey from Hell. The adorable little tykes get him beat up at the airport, destroy his prized new truck and run off to be with their dad. Once with pops they discover that guy isn’t thinking about their mother. He’s got a new woman and kid that mathematically is older than their parent’s divorce. Hurt and salty they warm up to Cube. If he went through all they put him through and still wants their mother – that’s okay with them.
Directed by Brian Levant, Are We There Yet? features the talents of Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden, Jay Mohr, M C Gainey, C Ernst Harth, Nichelle Nichols, Sean Millington, Henry Simmons and the voice of Tracy Morgan.
Are We There Yet? was not a big hit with critics, but what do critics know when it comes to what the public likes? The film opened #1 at the box office. On a $32 million budget it grossed $97,918,663 worldwide ($82 million domestically and $15,244,265 internationally) and sold 3.7 million DVDs. It was so popular (sorry critics) it spawned a TBS television series in 2010 starring Terry Crews (in the Ice Cube role and Essence Atkins in the Nia Long role). It was nominated for the 2005 Teen Choice and 2006 Kids’ Choice Award for best Comedy and won the BMI Music Film Award.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 19, 1971, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Producer, Shawn Mathis Wayans was born in New York City, New York
Even though Wayans hailed from a family boasting comedy pedigree, he learned stand-up by playing small venues in the late 1980s in and around Hollywood. He gained his knowledge of film from studying his brother, Keenen Ivory; particularly on the set of I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, where Shawn Wayans had a small part as a pedestrian. So when FOX picked up Keenen’s creation, In Living Color, Shawn was ready to contribute to the groundbreaking sketch show and work alongside brothers Keenen, Damon, Dwayne, Marlon and their sister, Kim. He assumed the role of DJ SW-1 (the show’s spin master) and later became a featured player.
Shawn was as adept behind the camera as he was in front. He and Marlon created their own sitcom, The Wayans Bros which aired on the WB from 1995-1999. It was a popular entry for the new network and gave the brothers clout. Their next move was the big screen. They wrote, executive produced and starred in the 1996 hit Don’t Be A Menace In South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, a spoof of hood flicks.
Film parodies were good for Team Wayans. Following several guest starring appearances on television (including Hangin with Mr. Cooper and voicing the character of Toof for brother, Damon’s animated series, Wayneshead), Shawn Wayans struck gold with Marlon again as writers and stars of the smash hit, Scary Movie; a spoof of horror films. Keenen directed. They had similar success with the 2001 sequel, Scary Movie 2 and kept the formula going with White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006) and Dance Flick (2009).
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 19, 1955, Comedian, Actor, Paul Rodriguez is born in Mazatlán, Mexico
Rodriguez was initially going to be an attorney, but decided on comedy instead (though that’s not much of a stretch). His career took off quickly with appearances in the films D C Cab and Quicksilver. If you missed him in either, no problem – he got his own sitcom, a.k.a. Pablo; an ABC series meant to pull in the Latin viewing audience. It did for seven episodes before it was canceled. So it was back to movies (The Whoopee Boys, Miracles, Born in East L. A., Made in America, Tortilla Soup, Rat Race, and Ali), TV guest starring roles (Tall Tales and Legends, The Golden Girls, Trial & Error) and album recordings (You’re in America Now, Speak Spanish).
Rodriguez was no one trick pony. In 1988 he hosted the epitome of Americana, The Newlywed Game for a season. He hosted El Show de Paul Rodriguez for Univision from 1990 to 1993. He directed himself in the film A Million to Juan and did voiceover work for King of the Hill, Dora the Explorer and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. His second album, Cheese and Macaroni was released in 1997 and he produced and starred in The Original Latin Kings of Comedy movie in 2002. In 2009 he did the Paul Rodriguez: Comedy Rehab movie and Paul Rodriguez: Just for the Record, a comedy documentary in 2011. From 2010 to 2011 Rodriguez hosted two seasons of Mis Videos Locos as part of MTV’s Latin programming.
Paul Rodriguez’s a businessman as well as a comedian. He is part owner of the Laugh Factory in Hollywood and has farming interests in Central Valley. His activism is renowned: charity shows to benefit causes of the Latin community, his 1995 comedy special shot at San Quentin State Prison, his chairmanship of the California Latino Water Coalition.
Comedy Central ranked Rodriguez #74 on its 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Standups of All Time and he won the NCLR Bravo Awards “Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Variety or Music Series / Special” for his work on Latino Laugh Festival in 1996.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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black-ish star Marsai Martin’s breakout role is here.
She has been tapped to lead the upcoming film, Little, which is from Will Packer and Kenya Barris.
The film “centers on a woman who gets the chance to relive the carefree life as her younger self (Martin), when the pressures of adulthood become too much.”
Martin’s not just starring in the film either. She came up for the script idea and will executive produce as well.
Drumline writer Tina Gordon wrote the most recent draft of the idea and Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver wrote the first draft, which are both based on Martin’s idea.
Packer and James Lopez, producers of Girls Trip are producing through Will Packer Productions along with black-ish creator Barris. Girls Trip star Regina Hall and Josh Martin will executive produce with Martin.
Martin has starred in black-ish for all four seasons so far.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Shadow & act
In their latest announcement of schedule moves, Sony has revealed its anticipated June 15, 2018 release date for the upcoming Super Fly remake, starring Trevor Jackson and Jason Mitchell. This puts it up against Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles and Warner Bros/New Line’s Tag. Considering casting announcements just happened within the last month, they are moving quickly on this release.
Sony also moved Anne Hathaway’s Barbie movie from this August to May 2020, and pushed Slender Man (which is from a black director, Sylvain White) back a little bit from May 2018 to August 24, 2018.
Trevor Jackson will lead the film as Youngblood Priest, with Jason Mitchell set to co-star Eddie, Lex Scott Davis as Georgia, Andrea Londo as Cynthia, Jacob Ming-Trent as Fat Freddy and Omar Chapparo as Adalberto. Rapper 21 Savage is also in talks to join the film in some capacity.
Additionally, rapper Future has come on board as a producer. He’ll also curate the soundtrack. Future will produce with Joel Silver and Steven R. Shore, the son of the original film’s producer Sig Shore, will be an executive producer with Matthew Hirsch, Hal Sadoff and Aaron Ausch. Alex Tse is writing the script.
The original film, which was directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. starred Ron O’Neal as Youngblood Priest, a cocaine dealer trying to get out of the business, and centers on him securing one last deal before getting out. It resulted in two sequels, Super Fly T.N.T. and The Return of Superfly.
Parks, Jr.’s father (Gordon Parks), directed Shaft, which is considered the staple film in blaxploitation genre that took that generation by storm. The original Super Fly’s soundtrack, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, was even more successful than the film, outgrossing its movie counterpart.
The film itself, now a cult classic, did garner criticism because of its portrayal of black people and drugs.
Director X, whose real name is Julien Christian Lutz, is an accomplished music video director, doing work for the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. His feature directorial debut was the Canadian drama film, Across the Line, which starred Stephan James.
Jackson, who currently stars in the black-ish spinoff, grown-ish, was last seen in a film via the controversial 2017 black Greek hazing drama, Burning Sands. TV-wise, he also starred in Season 2 of American Crime with Regina King and Andre 3000.
Mitchell had a huge 2017 appearing in Detroit and Mudbound. He also stars in Lena Waithe’s The Chi on HBO.
This Super Fly remake comes as there is a booming development market for blaxploitation remakes. Kylie Bunbury is starring in a Get Christie Love TV series for ABC, Meagan Good is starring in a Foxy Brown series for Hulu, Jessie T. Usher is starring in an Untitled Shaft reboot and Misha Green is writing a Cleopatra Jones film remake — just to name a few.
Source: Shadow & Act
ABC has officially ordered the reboot of “Get Christie Love” to pilot, Variety has learned.
Kylie Bunbury takes over the lead role in the reboot, described as a music-driven one-hour drama that centers on Christie Love, an African American female CIA agent who leads an elite ops unit. She transforms into whomever she needs to be to get the job done, especially when it’s down to the wire and the stakes are life and death. The project had been given a pilot production commitment at ABC.
Courtney A. Kemp will serve as executive producer and showrunner on the reboot. Debra Martin Chase will executive produce via Martin Chase Productions along with Vin Diesel and Shana C. Waterman via One Race Television. The project is a co-production of Lionsgate Television and Universal Television.
This is the latest TV reboot in the works from Diesel and One Race. The “Fast and Furious” star is also attached as an executive producer to a reboot of “Miami Vice” that is currently in development at NBC.
The original series launched as a TV movie on ABC in January 1974, starring Teresa Graves. It subsequently became a series that ran on ABC from September 1974 until April 1975. It was the first one-hour drama to star an African American female in the leading role.
Bunbury was most recently seen portraying the first female professional Major League Baseball player for Fox in “Pitch.” Her past television roles include ABC Family’s murder mystery series “Twisted”, working opposite Ben Kingsley in the mini-series, “Tut”, and joining the CBS hit summer series “Under The Dome” for writer and creator, Brian K. Vaughn, and Stephen King as a key figure to the finale of the series.
Bunbury is represented by Principal Entertainment and ICM Partners. Kemp is represented by CAA and attorney Michael Gendler. One Race Television is represented by CAA, manager Stacy O’Neil, and attorneys Patty Felker and Eric Suddleson. Martin Chase Productions is represented by CAA and attorneys Nina Shaw and Laurie Megery.
Source: Variety
Tiffany Haddish has signed a first-look deal with HBO.
The two-year pact with Haddish and her She Ready production company comes on the heels of a breakout year for the comic, who won a New York Film Critics Circle best-supporting actress award for her performance in 2017’s “Girls Trip.” Her book “The Last Black Unicorn,” released last month by Gallery Books, was named a New York Times bestseller. Her new stand-up special “Tiffany Haddish: She Ready!” premiered on Showtime last year, and Haddish recently announced 2018 dates for her new stand-up tour.
Haddish will next star opposite Tracy Morgan in TBS’ “The Last OG,” which premieres in April on TBS. She will also star alongside Kevin Hart in Universal’s feature film “Night School,” set to premiere in September.
Among her other upcoming projects are starring roles in New Line’s “The Kitchen” and Universal’s “The Temp,” with Haddish set to serve as executive producer on the latter film. The comic also has “Limited Partners” in development at Paramount, and is set to star in and serve as an exec producer on the project. She recently wrapped production on “The Oath” alongside Ike Barinholtz.
Source: Variety