On this day in comedy on January 26, 1892, Actress, Zara Frances Cully was born in Worchester, MA
Once known as the oldest performer on television, Zara Cully received fame late in her career mainly because she was militant. She was recognized as the world’s greatest elocutionist following a 1940 stage appearance in New York for Cully had put her formal training (the Worchester School of Speech and Music) to good use. She wrote, produced, directed and starred in many plays in Jacksonville, Florida and opened her own studio where she taught for over 15 years. Cully’s irreconcilable obstacle became her intolerance for the ways of the old South and she packed her bags and headed west to Hollywood.
In California Cully found the respect she craved. She was a regular member at the Ebony Showcase Theatre and appeared in numerous films including, The Learning Tree, Sugar Hill, The Liberation of L. B. Jones and The Great White Hope. On the small screen Cully was seen Playhouse 90, Run For Your Life, Cowboy in Africa, Name of the Game, Mod Squad, Night Gallery and All In The Family. It was on that latter program that Cully landed the role of her lifetime.
The Jeffersons was a spin-off of the Norman Lear hit, All in the Family. At the age of 82, Cully was introduced on an episode featuring her son, George (Sherman Hemsley), his wife Louise (Isabel Sanford) , who Cully’s character, “Mother Jefferson”, did not approve of and her grandson, Lionel (Mike Evans). From there the dynamics was set. Mother Jefferson would make visits to her successful son’s high rise apartment in Manhattan, argue with Louise, praise George and Lionel and generally pout about how she’s neglected. Cully pulled it off masterfully until the third season. The venerable performer had contracted pneumonia and had a collapsed lung. Regardless, that didn’t stop her from returning to the show after a 17 episode absence where she was embraced by cast and audience alike. However, that hug tragically ended on November 12, 1977 when Mother Jefferson made her last appearance on The Jeffersons. Three months later the woman who brought the adorable character to life passed away on February 28, 1978 in Los Angeles, California of lung cancer. She was 86 years old.
The NAACP awarded Zara Cully a posthumous special Image Award on June 9, 1978.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 25, 1980, Black Entertainment Television (BET) was launched
Following the model of urban radio and print media, Bob Johnson, a former DC cable lobbyist, founded BET using his connections in the fledgling cable and satellite television industry. After consulting with an investor looking to target the elderly for a niche station, Johnson (with permission) altered and used that pitch to begin the first black targeted network. He secured funding ($500,000) from entrepreneur friendly media executive, John Malone and that, along with a $15,000 loan got Johnson’s dream off the ground. It was headquartered in Washington, DC.
The initial programming for BET consisted of music videos, direct-to-video movies, reruns of old sitcoms and a smattering of theatrical films. It was only on for two hours per week as part of Nickelodeon and wouldn’t be its own fully operational station until July 1, 1983, but it made inroads right away and built its target audience. By 1988 there was BET News with anchorman, Ed Gordon and BET Tonight, a talk show hosted by Tavis Smiley (and later by Gordon) in 1996. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991 (the first black-owned company to ever do so) and in its heyday BET was known for Comic View (the stand-up comedy showcase hosted alternately by D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore, Don DC Curry, Rickey Smiley, J. Anthony Brown, Sherryl Underwood and others), Video Soul with Donnie Simpson, Video Vibrations, Teen Summit, Screen Scene, Lead Story, Softones, Unreal/Planet Groove/Caribbean Rhythms and Jam Zone/Cita’s World.
In the late ‘90s BET went digital and expanded its brand with BET Jazz (targeting that specific market) and later partnering with John Malone to launch BET / Starz (later known as Black Starz and Starz in Black). The station added hit show 106 & Park in 2000.
In 2001 Johnson sold off his holdings to Viacom for $3 billion. It instantly lost its status as a black-owned company even though Johnson stayed on as president and CEO until 2005 when he stepped down and turned over his duties and titles to his long standing vice-president, Debra Lee. In 2007 the network launched BET Hip Hop, BET Gospel and slated a slew of reality shows. Reginald Hudlin, who had been the president in charge of entertainment left in 2008 and was replaced by Stephen Hill; the executive VP of music programming and talent.
BETs official slogan “We Got You” took on a negative connotation to some. Over its run, BET has experienced its share (if not more) of criticism for its programming. Celebrities and black organizations came out against the way women were portrayed in rap videos and black stereotypes in general. This prompted the station to launch BET Uncut from 2001 to 2006 so they could display this suggestive themes with a warning to the target audience of young adults over the age of 17 (without any way to monitor such a requirement). Most of these videos came from lesser known artists with poor production quality. However, they never did come up with an off-shot to combat the stereotypes.
Despite its bumpy history, BET became more than just a basic cable station for black people. It became an institution and brand for African-Americans (regardless of who owned it at the time). In 1993 it started broadcasting in the United Kingdom. In 1995 the BET Walk of Fame Awards was established. In 1997 BET became available in Canada. The BET Awards began in 2001 to celebrate black accomplishments in the acting, music, sports and other forms of entertainment. In 2004 proceeds were shared between the United Negro College Fund and the BET Foundation and in 2008 The BET Honors was established to pay tribute to the achievements of black luminaries and soon afterwards the station was licensed to be broadcast in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and is an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party is always the hottest ticket before the Grammy Awards. Saturday night he dropped an exceptional surprise. Davis tonight introduced Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson to sing a couple songs, and then told the audience that Hudson will be playing Aretha Franklin in an upcoming biopic about the life of the Queen of Soul. Hudson was in fact hand picked by Franklin to play the role. It was appropriate that Davis introduce all this, since he has such a long professional relationship with Franklin. The party began with performances by Barry Manilow, Luis Fonsi, Ben Platt, Alicia Keys, Khalid and Logic. Hudson was the last singer to perform. Hudson sang Franklin classics Think, and Respect as part of her performance.
Hudson seems one of the few actresses with the vocal range to do justice to Franklin’s soaring classics. MGM will move quickly to set a filmmaker and a screenwriter.
Source: Deadline
It was a Dave Chappelle kind of night, and in a good way, as the sometimes mysterious comedian took home the rarely-televised award for Best Comedy Album.
Chappelle appeared briefly during Kendrick Lamar’s electrifying opening number, and later introduced the Best Rap Album winners before winning his own Grammy.
“I am honored to win an award (finally),” said Chappelle. “I want to thank everyone at Netflix, Saturday Nite Live, the Chappelle Show, my wife, kids, sisters, brothers,and their kids and my mother …whew – see you on Monday!”
Chappelle’s opening bit during the Kendrick Lamar performance offered his characteristic thought-provoke, when commented, “I just want to remind the audience that the only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America.”
He later drew a loud ovation during his intro to the Best Rap Album when he name-checked some of the lesser-known but influential rappers who passed away this year.
Chappelle won the category with his The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas, beating Cinco by Jim Gaffigan; Jerry Before Seinfeld by Jerry Seinfeld; A Speck Of Dust by Sarah Silverman; and
What Now? by Kevin Hart
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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