Would you like to see a new ‘Friday’ movie, starring Oshea Jackson, Jr. and DC Young Fly? As you know, Oshea’s father, Ice Cube, starred in the hit 1995 film alongside comedian Chris Tucker.
This week, Young Fly posted a photo with OShea teasing,
Looks like grown-ish is off to a great start.
The Yara Shahidi-fronted black-ish spinoff’s first episode ranked as Freeform’s biggest series launch in 2 years among Total Viewers (1.562 million), Adults 18-49 (917,000/0.71 rating), Women 18-49 (658,000/1.01 rating), Women 18-34 (340,000/0.98 rating) and Females 12-34 (448,000/0.96 rating) – since Shadowhunters in 2016.
grown-ish also opened as Freeform’s best comedy debut in nearly 6 years in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Women 18-49 – since Baby Daddy in June 2012.
It also opened as Wednesday’s No. 1 scripted series on cable TV among Women 18-49, Women 18-34 and Females 12-34, and was was the strongest scripted comedy series launch on basic cable among Women 18-49 since April 2014 (MTV’s Faking It), among Women 18-34 since July 2014 (FX’s Married) and among Adults 18-49 since September 2016 (FX’s Atlanta).
The show also generated 4.5 million views across linear and digital platforms, which is the best digital debut in Freeform history, according to the network. It was the most social cable series on TV for Wednesday, with 214,000 engagements across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr.
grown-ish follows Zoey (Shahidi), Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) popular, entitled, stylish and socially active 17-year-old daughter from black-ish, as she heads into her freshman year of college.
Shahidi is joined on-screen by series regulars Trevor Jackson (who has guest-starred twice in black-ish, including the backdoor pilot) as Aaron Jackson, Jordan Buhat as Vivek Shah, Emily Arlook as Nomi Segal (in a recasting and character retooling from the backdoor pilot), Francia Raisa as Ana Torres, Chris Parnell as Dean Parker black-ish star Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy. Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Abraham D. Juste and Luka Sabbat also recur in the series.
Kenya Barris, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and E. Brian Dobbins are executive producers of the series. grown-ish is produced by ABC Signature Studios.
Source: SHadow & Act
On this day in comedy on January 9, 1972, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Deon Cole was born in Chicago, Illinois
Cole began his comedy career in 1993 when a friend bet him $50 he wouldn’t go up at an open mic. From there Cole appeared on most of the requisite stand up shows including BET’s Comic View, Comedy Central’s Laffapalooza, Showtime at the Apollo, BBC’s The World Stands Up, Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment Stand Up and HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. He toured domestically, internationally and established a reputation as a comedian who could write; based on the innovative nature of his approach to material. He could also ad-lib which was evident on Nick Cannon’s Wild ‘N Out. Cole’s first stand-up special aired on Comedy Central in 2007.
In 2009 Cole’s writing ability changed his career. He made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and soon afterwards received an invitation to become a writer for the show. This made Cole the first black writer in the history of The Tonight Show. O’Brien’s tenure was cut short, but he liked Cole and took him on his “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television” stand-up tour. Once a new deal was in place with TBS, O’Brien brought his late-night antics to a new station and Cole along with him; giving Cole on-air spots to display his comedic abilities. TV Guide declared, “A Star is Born” after Cole’s commentary pieces kept growing in popularity.
Cole formed a production company and mounted Deon Cole’s Black Box on TBS. That show was short-lived, but he was liked at TBS and got his role on Angie Tribeca when producer, Steve Carell hit it off with Cole and made it clear he wanted Cole on his show. Cole had a similar path to the ABC smash hit, Black-ish where Cole’s recurring character, Charlie became a breakout character. His onscreen persona fused likeability with maniacal unpredictability.
During his career Deon Cole has touched as many comedy bases as possible. His distinctive voice earned him narration work. He’s done speaking engagements, made guest-starring appearances on sitcoms and featured roles in films (Barbershop 1, 2 & 3). He’s received Primetime Emmy nominations for writing and the WGA Award for Best Comedy/ Variety.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 3, 1989, The Arsenio Hall Show debuted in syndication.
Hall has the distinction of having two separate late-night shows named after him (not that he even tried to find another name). The first one took the world by surprise and changed late night’s approach and demographics. Once that tsunami subsided Hall came back years later under the same name. That second effort was produced by Tribune Broadcasting and distributed by CBS. It was short lived (September 9, 2013 – May 30, 2014); plagued with poor writing, a changing attitude towards late night shows and middling support from the media (Brian Williams famously did not mention Hall when listing hosts on the late-night programming grid). That second effort is not Hall’s legacy.
The revolutionary late-night talk show created by Hall was known not only for its black host, but its embrace and influence on pop culture. For decades other late-night entries were the bastion of safe, pre-slumber fare. Hall’s show introduced acts like Bobby Brown for more of a late-night party feel. If you were in bed it wasn’t for sleeping. Hall had then-presidential hopeful Bill Clinton on, who in a single moment of cool, broke out his saxophone and jammed with Hall’s house band known as his ‘posse’. If you didn’t vote for Clinton at least you thought about it. The Arsenio Hall Show had his signature ‘dog pound’ of fans barking at the host. He had labels for sections of his audience. He had things that make you go Hmmmm. His introduction had a long sustained “O” as he stood in the shape of a giant “A”. It had style. It was cool. People talked about it the next day. In short, the show was an event.
The initial show was produced by Arsenio Hall’s company, Arsenio Hall Communications. After the seasoned stand-up had a run as the warm-up comedian and co-host for Paramount’s Solid Gold dance series, Hall served as host for 13 weeks on Fox’s late-night talk show as a replacement for the fired Joan Rivers. Hall was a hit in the slot and before Fox knew it Hall had made a deal with Paramount for his own late-night show; a show that appealed to a younger audience and sponsors.
The Arsenio Hall Show looked like there was no end in sight and it was in for a run as long and comfortable as the gold standard, The Tonight Show. Then suddenly, the planets in the late-night universe began to collide. First Jay Leno snagged The Tonight Show hosting gig over at NBC leaving the presumed heir to the Johnny Carson seat, David Letterman, publicly embarrassed. That didn’t last long. Letterman wiped the egg off his face and jumped over to a delighted CBS. The one who was not delighted was Hall, who now had to watch CBS affiliates either drop his show or move it to an inconsequential time slot in favor of the golden boy, Letterman. Well, at least Hall had his Fox affiliates or, so he thought. They had instructions to move or drop Hall in favor of the new Chevy Chase late night talk show. Now Hall was screwed because even though the Chase show lasted only 5 weeks, most of those Fox affiliates didn’t reschedule Hall.
The final death knell came when Hall booked Louis Farrakhan. The die had already been cast with affiliate defections, but when Nation of Islam’s polarizing leader sat down for an interview the mainstream media declared the questions soft and the scheduling of such a figure questionable and offensive. Hall stood by the interview and was soon off the air. The last episode aired on May 29, 1994.
The Arsenio Hall Show won 2 NAACP Image Awards for Best Series (1993 & 1995) and 2 Emmy Awards (1990 – Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special and 1993 – Outstanding Technical Direction/ Camera/ Video for a Series).
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 7, 1970, Comedian, Actor, Producer, Filmmaker, Doug E. Doug (Douglas Bourne) was born in Brooklyn, New York
Doug got started in comedy at age 17 as a stand-up. His initial break came when he was spotted performing at the Apollo Theater by Russell Simmons. Next thing he knew Doug was writing and starring in The New Music Report, a Simmons production. The exposure led to a string of projects.
Doug did movies. His first line on film was in Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. From there the laughs just kept coming: 1991 – Hangin’ With the Homeboys, Jungle Fever; 1992 – Class Act; 1995 – Operation Dumbo Drop; 1997 – That Darn Cat; 2002 – Eight Legged Freaks. The most prominent of these was his role as the happy-go-lucky bobsled racer, Sanka Coffie in 1993s Cool Runnings.
ABC aired Doug’s sitcom, Where I Live in 1993. It was loosely based on his life and he co-produced it, but unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Fortunately, it got the attention of Bill Cosby which got Doug a featured role on Cosby’s CBS sitcom, Cosby. That lasted for four seasons.
Doug played a number of cards from the deck of comedy. He did animation (the voice of Bernie the jellyfish in Shark Tale; Turbo the turtle on Rusty: A Dog’s Tale; Percy the pet store owner on Nickelodeon’s Little Bill). He co-wrote, produced, starred in and directed, Citizen James for Starz Encore/ BET Movies. He kicked off his YouTube comedy channel, The Doug Life Show in 2012.
Doug E. Doug received multiple acting nominations throughout his career. His work in Hangin’ with the Homeboys was recognized by the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Male Lead in 1992 as well as Supporting Actor for Cosby in 1998, ’99 and 2000 by the NAACP. In 1994 he got Best Youth Comedian from Young Artist Award for Where I Live.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 6, 1926, Comedian, Actor, Singer, Producer, Writer, “Capulina” (Gaspar Henaine Pérez) was born in Chignahuapan, Puebla.
Known affectionately by the nickname, “El Rey del Humorismo Blanco” (The King of White Humor), due to his clean, innocent style of comedy, Capulina got his start in show business when he was still innocent. He was 10 years old and had a small part in the 1936 Fernando de Fuentes film, Alla en el rancho grande. He won youth acting honors and by 1946 his musical studies began to pay off when Capulina toured Mexico and the USA as a vocalist with the trio Los Trincas.
Capulina’s catapult to fame came as a duo. He partnered with Marco Antonio Campos as the team of Viruta and Capulina. They made 26 films together starting in 1951. Initially, the pair were compared to American counterparts, Laurel and Hardy, but it wasn’t long before they carved out their own distinctive onscreen personas. Viruta, the thin one was smart. Capulina the fat one was the fool.
The duo gained fame throughout Latin America. They had their own TV show, Cómicos y canciones; a sketch comedy show that included as one of its writers, comedian Chespirito. However, as time moved on Viruta and Capulina made less films together and on their last six they were constantly feuding; feuding about not making enough films. The fighting stopped when Viruta died after his fourth heart attack.
Capulina mourned the untimely death of his partner but believed in the old adage that the show must go on. In his long career, Capulina made 84 moves; 58 of them as a solo act. His formula was simple – his dimwitted character would get into a pickle trying to carrying out an easy task and be aided by a celebrity (like a pro wrestler’s El Santo or Tinieblas, an adventurer or he’d gain some special power). In any case, the results were often hilarious.
Capulina was a national treasure. He released 12 albums, had another television series in 1989 and a telenovela in 1996. As a comedian, he toured until 1997 when he claimed he was too old to keep doing it. That premature prediction became a reality on September 30, 2011 when Capulina died from complications of pneumonia and a gastric ulcer.
His voiceover role in the 2015 film, Seleccion Canina was released 4 years after his death.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 5, 1906, Comedian, Actor, Fred “Snowflake” Toones was born
Toones was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history of any race. He appeared in over 200 motion pictures in a career that spanned from 1928-1951. His specialty was westerns and he worked for acclaimed directors such as Preston Sturges and with noted cinema stars like John Wayne, Bruce Bennett, Laurel and Hardy and the Three Stooges, just to name a few. In most of his appearances his characters often went by Toones’ stage name of “Snowflake”, but many times he went uncredited.
Fred Toones was part of the old studio system which meant Fred Toones was a victim of old Hollywood stereotyping. Toones stereotype was that of the domestic. He played a porter over 50 times. He also played janitors, elevator operators, doormen, bellhops, stable grooms, valets, butlers, cooks, and bartenders. In six of his films Toones portrayed a shoeshine man. The irony of this was the fact that not only did Fred Toones play shoe shiners in the movies, he actually ran a shoeshine stand at Republic Studios.
Some would consider Toones a poor man’s Stepin Fetchit, but that characterization would be inaccurate. In the over 200 films Toones made he was only credited in 73 of them. As an uncredited actor, those roles were considered bit player work and he was paid as such. Whereas Stepin Fetchit made only 53 films, but he was paid for all of them. So even though they played the exact same roles, Stepin Fetchit became the first Black millionaire movie star and Fred Toones shined shoes on a studio lot.
Fred Toones died on February 13, 1962
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 5, 1974, Comedian, Impressionist, Pablo Ridson Francisco was born
Beginning his comedy career in Tempe, Arizona, Francisco built his reputation on his frenetic, hyper brand of stand-up. Using a barrage of non-sequiturs and a cornucopia of callbacks and sound effects, he became an audience favorite. His forte was impressions and Francisco counted Keanu Reeves, Ozzy Osbourne, Jackie Chan, Christopher Walken, Danny Glover, Dennis Haysbert, William Shatner, Aaron Neville, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Springer, “Tony Montana”, Ricky Martin, Chris Rock, Kermit the Frog, Mr. Magoo, Celine Dion and George Clooney as part of his crowd-pleasing expansive repertoire. However, his most famous was of Don LaFontaine aka “The Movie Voiceover Guy”. That characterization put Francisco on the industry radar.
Francisco got recognized and got the work. He was a featured player on MADtv in the 1990s. From there the Chilean-American humorist got his own half-hour comedy special on Comedy Central Presents in 2000. He toured with Freddy Soto and Carlos Mencia, calling themselves “The Three Amigos”. Francisco also appeared on The Mind of Mencia as Voiceover Man. He was a perennial on the comedy show circuit on shows like Make Me Laugh, Last Comic Standing, Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. He did The Tonight Show when Jay Leno had it and Frank TV when Frank had it.
Pablo Francisco released his comedy album, Knee To The Groin in 1998, Sausage in 2000, his DVD Bits and Pieces in 2004, Ouch in 2006 and They Put it Out There in 2011.
By Daryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 5, 1969, Comedian, Actor, Robert “Guy” Torry was born in St. Louis, MO
Torry got his start in comedy in college then once out he went to Hollywood. His brother, Joe Torry had already made the journey and was a successful host of The Comedy Act Theater when Guy arrived. Going by the stage name of Guy T, the younger Torry dug right in and honed his skills as a regular at the popular club. He took his talents and knowledge to The World-Famous Comedy Store and created the institution known as Phat Tuesday in 1995. This was the night black Hollywood was celebrated; on stage in the way of comedians and out in the audience in the way of crowd. Celebrities of the moment came to see the celebrities of the future and Torry was the ringmaster. This phenomenal night lasted for a decade, but during that time Torry stayed busy.
Guy Torry showed up a lot on the small and big screen. He first appeared in Family Matters, then Martin (he also wrote for the show as well as for Moesha). Then he got a role in the UPN sitcom, Good News. That didn’t last long, but so what? He made movies; Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, Life, Trippin, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Harbor and his stand out role as a convict who converts the racist protagonist in American History X.
As a stand-up Torry found success on the road. He toured the civilized world and returned to do Def Comedy Jam (his brother was the host of that too) and killed it. He was seen on Comedy Central and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Then Guy Torry became the host of the first outing of the Original Kings of Comedy in 1998. The other comedians were Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and Bernie Mac. Torry left after that first run to star in the UPN action series, The Strip. He played a detective. That show also didn’t last long either. Oh well, he could always do radio, charities, tours, celebrity roasts, film documentaries, guest star on sitcoms, etc., etc., etc.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on January 4, 1975, comedic actress, Jill Marie Jones was born in Dallas, Texas
Prior to becoming an actress, Jones was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, a Dallas Mavericks dancer, a performer for the USO and the United States Department of Defense. She toured Asia and the Middle East, became a model and then moved to Hollywood to become an actress.
Jones wasted no time in obtaining her goals. She made her small screen mark in the Saturday morning series, City Guys. The year was 2000. That was also the year she won her establishing role as Toni Childs on the Kelsey Grammer produced sitcom for UPN, Girlfriends. The show became an instant hit and put Jones in the conversation. As envisioned by the show’s creator, Mara Brock Akil, the character of Toni was the epitome of the self-absorbed woman of her era. Jones embodied and relished that role for six seasons. Once her contract expired in 2006, she left fellow cast members, Tracee Ellis-Ross, Golden Brooks and Persia White to pursue a film career.
Jones stayed in front of the camera. In 2007 she appeared in The Perfect Holiday with Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union. That same year Jones starred in Universal Remote and Redrum. She did Major Movie Star with Jessica Simpson and Drool with Laura Harring. Jones also appeared in music videos including Ne-Yo’s She Got her Own.
Television was never far away. Jones had a recurring part on the Fox series, Sleepy Hollow. She played Cynthia Irving. She had the leading role in the TBS series, Gillian in Georgia. In 2015 she began work as Michigan State Trooper, Amanda Fisher, a central character in the Starz horror-comedy, Ash vs Evil Dead.
Jill Marie-Jones was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in Comedy Series by BET in 2000 for City Guys and the NAACP for her role on Girlfriends.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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