Tracy Morgan’s ‘The Last O.G.’ Gets April Premiere Date On TBS
TBS has slated an April premiere date for Tracy Morgan’s return to television in new comedy series The Last O.G. The series, starring Morgan and executive produced by Morgan and Jordan Peele, will air Tuesdays at 10:30 PM ET/PT beginning April 3. The date was announced Thursday as part of TBS’ presentation at the TCA winter press tour.
In The Last O.G., Morgan stars as Tray, an ex-con who’s shocked to see just how much the world has changed when he is released from prison on good behavior after a 15-year stint. Returning to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, he discovers that his former girlfriend Shay (Tiffany Haddish) has married an affable, successful white man (Ryan Gaul) who is helping raise the twins (Taylor Mosby & Dante Hoagland) Tray never knew existed. Wanting nothing more than to connect with his kids, but having neither the money to support them nor himself, Tray falls back on the skills he learned in prison to make ends meet while treading on unfamiliar territory.
The Last O.G. also stars Cedric the Entertainer as the head of the halfway house where Tray is staying, and Allen Maldonado as Tray’s cousin Bobby, who helps him adjust to life on the outside. Executive-producing with Morgan and Peele are Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, John Carcieri and Joel Zadak of Principato Young.
Guest stars scheduled to appear this season are Edi Patterson (Vice Principals),Chrissy Metz (This is Us), Malik Yoba (Designated Survivor), Joel Marsh Garland (Orange is the New Black), Heather Simms (As the World Turns), Wendy Makkena (NCIS) and Ray Anthony Thomas (The Hoop Life).
Source: Deadline
Taraji P. Henson Producing And Starring In A New Film Directed By John Singleton
In an interview with GlobalGrind during a press event for her upcoming film, Proud Mary, Taraji P. Henson has revealed she is producing and starring in an upcoming film on the life of Emmett Till. The film, now titled The Emmett Till Story, will be directed by John Singelton and Henson she will portray Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.
She said, “We don’t have a start date yet, but the deal definitely has been done. That’s one (project) I’ve been passionate about since Trayvon Martin was murdered.”
While we initially thought this was the first public announcement about the project, news about the film actually appeared back in February 2017 in a Vanity Fair piece about other Till projects in the works. Back then, Vanity Fair reported that Singleton was directing and Henson starring — with Michael De Luca and Laray Mayfield producing, and Michael Roden and Jerry Mitchell writing the script.
Here are the other projects on Emmett Till that have been announced over the past few years. The status of these projects is currently unknown:
— In 2016, Goldberg has now also signed up to direct an Emmett Till film in her narrative feature directorial debut. This Emmett Till film hails from Keith A. Beauchamp (the director of the 2005 documentary, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till) and producer Frederick Zollo (Mississippi Burning, Ghosts of Mississippi), and will be based on Beauchamp’s documentary, as well as Simeon Wright’s Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till.
— A film produced by the late Roger Ebert’s wife Chaz Ebert, based on the book, “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America,” co-written by Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (who passed away in 2003), and journalist Christopher Benson. No director, writer or cast attached.
— Another film would be based on the play, The Face of Emmett Till. Skyland Pictures and FireRock Bay Pictures are behind the project, which James Moll is attached to direct, from a script penned by David Barr III and David Scott Hay, who are also co-producing. And just like the Chaz Ebert project, which will be based on a book co-written by Emmett Till’s mother, the play that this film will be based on, was also co-written by Till’s mother, the late Mamie Till-Mobley, along with David Barr III. The Face of Emmett Till is a true-to-life dramatization of the death of Till and the aftermath. The film adaptation had been set for a 2016 shoot in Chicago and Mississippi.
— An HBO miniseries, from a producing team that includes Will Smith, Jay-Z and Aaron Kaplan, based on Devery Anderson’s 2015 biography, Emmett Till. Deadline had described the series is described as “an immersive and in-depth exploration of the Emmett Till story.” Steven Caple, Jr., who was just recently announced as the new director for Creed 2, was on board to write the script for the 6-hour miniseries.
Source: Shadow & Act, GlobalGrind, Deadline
In Case You Missed It- Tiffany Haddish Hijacks New York Film Critics Dinner
The surprises at the annual New York Film Critics Circle dinner bash aren’t in the awards; they were announced last month. The appeal of this gathering – which in its raffishness is something like the Golden Globes but with noses tilted slightly upward – lies in how the honored artists will behave when addressing some of the most prominent bylines in the business. Graciousness generally prevails, which is no fun at all. Sometimes an honoree will let loose, and that’s when the fun begins.
This year’s affair, the group’s 83rd, at celebrity stable Tao Downtown, was more staid than recent years, and it could hardly be otherwise: As the Circle’s chairman and event host Eric Kohn, chief film critic of Deadline’s sister site IndieWire, said at the outset, the awards season has been cast in the long shadow of Hollywood’s very public reckoning with sexual harassment and assault scandals, as well as the death last week, felt personally by many in the audience, of New Yorker Films head Dan Talbot and the imminent shuttering of his indie palace, the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
So it was more than a tonic when Tiffany Haddish abandoned formality as she approached the podium and proceeded to kidnap the show. It was a relief. Accepting the award for best supporting actress in Girls Trip, she inspected the citation to be certain her name was spelled correctly (it was) and thanked God for putting her parents together, her parents for conceiving her and nature for the panoply of experience-enhancing substances she apparently had been partaking of freely.
Tiffany Haddish
REX/Shutterstock
Haddish opened up about her attempts to get pregnant, her affection for the crews on her films (“When I work with people, I work with everybody from the person that’s working the camera, the person that’s putting the clothes on me, the person that combs my hair…because all of y’all make my dreams come true”). She was not the first honoree to insist she didn’t read reviews, but easily was the most sincere in dismissing her celebrants. (“Because I’m sensitive,” she said, “that’s just who I am.”)
She spoke of making the film, in which she is the unfiltered catalyst to some seriously raunchy femme bonding, and told an unprintable story about a bit she wanted to include in Girl’s Trip that the producers declared out-of-bounds as it involved branding a male body part and oral infidelity. (Evidently, you can get the whole squirm-inducing version by attending her stand-up act.) She also spoke of the positive influence of fear, and her hope that strangers approach her with a happy face.
Willem Dafoe
Dave Allocca/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock
Haddish was so terrific that Edward Norton, who had to follow her to introduce best supporting actor Willem Dafoe (for The Florida Project), opened by saying, “This is awkward but Tiffany gave my speech, word for word.”
It was an especially good night for women in the industry, with the best film award going to Greta Gerwig’s solo directing debut with Lady Bird and that film’s star, Saoirse Ronan taking the honors for best leading performance by an actress.
Ronan and Gerwig
Dave Allocca/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock
But the most resonant speech was by Career Achievement honoree Molly Haskell, a film critic not only of incomparable stature but one whose entertaining, enlightening analyses of the role of sex in films extends back more than half a century (notably in her books From Reverence to Rape and Holding My Own In No Man’s Land) and could not have been timelier.
Referring to the loss of Dan Talbot, Haskell recalled the flourishing of independent film in the late 1960s and early 70s less as a golden age of film than as “a golden age of critics. It wasn’t that the criticism was better, but it was a smaller world.
“Everybody was talking about films,” she said. “And at the same time, women were emerging, women’s roles were being shown, and that was where I came in. It just seemed natural to me to take an interest in men’s and women’s roles. I did say I was a film critic first and a feminist second. I always felt that my first
Molly Haskell
Dave Allocca/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock
allegiance was to film as an art form, and I still think that. Through the decades, people would be saying ‘this is the year of the woman,’ but actually, very little progress was being made. Until 2017. And this moment of reckoning turned into a groundswell. It’s really a revolution. Monuments have toppled. And it’s both exhilarating and terrifying, and we don’t know how it’s going to play out.”
Haskell noted that the ’70s were a time of male buddy films, but “in my experience, women do a lot more bonding than men.” Both Lady Bird and Girls Trip helped redress that imbalance, and that the latter “is wilder and raunchier than any Rat Pack film,” she noted with amusement. “I looked at that tonight and thought, ‘Yeah, man, you got it.’ So if this award is reparations to women, I’m quite happy to accept it on behalf of women everywhere – and especially women critics everywhere.”
Source: Deadline
Kerry Washington Talks New Facebook Show, ‘Scandal, And More
Kerry Washington, star of ABC’s “Scandal,” said the scripted teen drama she’s executive producing for Facebook’s Watch video platform is an example of how technology is eroding the clout of Hollywood’s traditional power brokers.
“The latest inspiration for storytelling in the digital and tech space involves more voices at the storytelling table,” she said. “Hollywood is going to spend a lot of time grappling with this… The power of the gatekeepers is being lessened and lessened.”
Washington discussed her new show for Facebook, “Five Points,” at CES 2018 in Las Vegas as part of Facebook’s C Space Storytellers session Tuesday.
Announced in October, the 10-episode “Five Points” is set on Chicago’s South Side and follows high school students from five different points of view. When violence shakes the community, all of the characters’ different perspectives will be necessary to understand the truth.
Washington said Facebook’s Watch ability to combine distribution with community-based group discussions — as well as providing live interactions with the show’s cast — made “Five Points” ideally suited for the social service. The series deals with topics including LGBT identity, gun violence, drug use, and bullying, and her hope is that “Five Points” will spur Facebook audiences to participate and get active in talking about those issues.
“What I’m thrilled about is not only the content itself… but that we get to have it live in a space where we can combine it with groups,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to put this out without creating a place for discussion.” The cast of “Five Points” will be able to create Facebook accounts for their characters to interact with the audience, as well, Washington said.
“Five Points” will premiere on Facebook Watch “very soon,” according to Fidji Simo, Facebook’s VP of product for video, who hosted the discussion with Washington.
“We think it has the potential to be truly genre-breaking… to really bring content and community together,” said Simo.
The show’s cast includes “CSI: Cyber” alum Hayley Kiyoko, actress-model Madison Pettis, Ray Cham Jr., Trey Curtis, Nathaniel Potvin, Jake Walker and Spence Moore II.
Years ago, Washington said she was wary of participating in social media. But now she credits social media with the success of “Scandal.” “When ‘Scandal’ came along, we were not poised to be a hit,” she said. It took a grassroots base of viewers “to build a community around the show and uplift it.”
Ahead of her appearance at CES, Washington on Tuesday shared a behind-the-scenes photo from “Five Points” on social media of herself with executive producers Rodrigo Garcia (left) and Jon Avnet (right):
According to Simo, Facebook’s Watch platform has the potential to “reinvent” a lot of genres, including reality television, game shows and scripted dramas. “Through the lens of what would that look like if you’re putting the story in the hands of your audience in real time.”
Washington’s production company, Simpson Street, is looking at developing other new storytelling projects in the digital space, including using virtual reality and augmented reality. “We’re all trying to figure out how to utilize VR in a way that best serves storytelling,” she said, adding that VR has the potential to let the viewer “step into someone else’s shoes.”
The actress, producer and activist — who is attending CES for the first time — also said she much prefers producing to acting from the “time-management perspective.”
“You don’t have to sit in the hair and makeup chair for three hours as a producer,” Washington said. She said she isn’t hanging up her acting hat, but “I find producing feeds me from a creative perspective, from an intellectual perspective, from a technical perspective.”
“Five Points” was created by Adam Giaudrone, who serves as writer and executive producer. Washington will executive produce under her Simpson Street banner. Jon Avnet and Jake Avnet of Indigenous Media will also executive produce with Indigenous’ Sage Scroope and Ben Fast also producing. Rodrigo Garcia and Thomas Carter (“Save the Last Dance”) will also executive produce, with Carter also directing.
Source: Variety
EXCLUSIVE: Interview With New Group ‘Band Of Brothers’
The Band of Brothers is comprised of four highly talented brothers. Andre “MoDre” Brown (Bass), Jerome “Jslim” Monroe Jr (Keyboards), Sharod “Mister virtuoso” Allen (Guitar) and Jordan “Jhemby” Hemby (Drums). This type of unity and harmony is what is needed in the cutthroat world of the music industry. Bands are no longer viewed as an accessory in the background, they bring so much more to the table and bring the entire show to life: visually, aesthetically and of course musically. The mood and tone of a concert is set by the first note and with the Band of Brothers it is always kicked off on a high note.
US: How did the Band of Brothers come to be? And besides playing a specific instrument, what else does each of you bring to the table?
BB: Each one of us brings different assets to the table. All four of us produce music and more. The Band of Brothers originally formed from another group called the 630 Band, which included lead vocalist in 2011. Besides playing instruments all four members of the Band of Brothers adds different flavors to the band like: music production, creative directing and great energy.
We all play multiple instruments, as well as produce and sing.
US: Do you see performing on stage as work or living out your dreams?
BB: Definitely living out our dreams, we’ve all in some shape or form dreamed to be able to use our gifts to travel the world and inspire people. It just so happened we got to make that dream a reality together.
US: Do you organically get picked for each gig or is there a bigger network you are apart of?
BB: As far as touring behind Artists it’s usually based on relationships and reputation. Fortunately enough for us, we spent the better part of 5 years paying our dues, gigging around the city of Atlanta, hitting almost every Open Mic, Jam Session and Friday Night Club gig there was. I think at a point we were playing 6 nights a week which was not to bad for a 18-24 year old musicians. Through maintaining great relationships we had built with promoters, managers and Artists alike we’ve been very blessed to be able to land some pretty dope gigs!
US: Do you have a certain niche of artist you prefer to play for or are you open to new opportunities regardless of the genre?
BB: I would say we’re pretty open, especially being that we all come from different musical backgrounds. Sharod is a Neo-Soul guy and Dre is more Motown and Rock, so it actually works out because it allows us to be a lot more flexible when it comes to the genres. As for the Artists, we honestly just love working with good people that we can have fun with on and off stage!
US: Gracing stages with the Roots, established artists like, Big KRIT, Raury and other scan you see this as a career you can retire with?
BB: Definitely not retire! The world without music would be a miserable place, so we will keep pushing positive vibes until the day we die.
US: Have any of you branched out beyond music?
BB: Of course, Modre established his Business (Classic Music LLC), which is a company that prides itself on helping other musicians and Artists create longevity in this Music industry. Slim is a creative person who loves the Arts such as: Photography, Videography and Creative Directing. Jordan has done a great amount of Event Planning around the Atlanta area as well as promoting shows. Sharod loves to engulf himself in the Film industry as well as engineering recording sessions. So we all bring different things to the table.
US: Which stop on any leg of all the tours you have been apart of, is your favorite?
BB: That’s a hard one…. It’ll probably have to be between Australia and Amsterdam with Raury.
US: How important is it to give back to Independent Artists on the rise?
BB: Very Important! Every Artist out now has been Independent at one point and time in their life. We all need support and help to become great, and that is what we are about, giving back.
US: Who are your mentors?
BB: We have a bunch of older kats that have looked out for us over the years
Jorel Jfly Flynn, Abyss Graham, Claude Deuce, David Price and so many more.
US: Is your single, “No Worries” a stand-alone project or a taste of something more to come?
BB: Our single “No Worries” is a friendly introduction to who The Band Of Brothers are and what we represent. So there will be a lot more to come.
US: What is the inspiration behind “No Worries?”
BB: The inspiration behind No Worries comes from an honest place that we all share in our hearts, concerning our involvement with the music industry. The ups and downs of it all and how we continue to press through the negativity we’ve been through with our positive vibes.
US: Do you have any words of advice for students and musicians who have a desire to perform and play full-time?
BB: It’s not always about how well you play better than others or how talented you are, it’s about your character, heart and intentions. You will make it far if you are an honest, hard working and easy to work with. So work hard, have great integrity and character and connect with as many people you can.
US: How can our fans stay connected with you?
BB: They Can Join the Family @Theebandofbrothers on Instagram and twitter
The teaser for season two of Atlanta is here. The 59 second clip gives us glimpses of the Donald Glover led series. The new season takes place in Atlanta during the holiday season, a time when robberies spike as people have more money and need more money. Brian Tyree Henry’s Paper Boi, Lakeith Stanfield’s Darius, and Zazie Beetz’s Van characters are also returning to the hit FX series.
See the teaser below.
Oshea Jackson, Jr. And DC Young Fly Tease New ‘Friday’ Remake
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,
‘Grown-ish’ Biggest Comedy Series Debut For Freeform In 5 years, Best Debut Overall In 2 years
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… In 1972 Comedian, Actor, And Writer Deon Cole Was Born
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.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1989 ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’ Debuted In Syndication
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).
