Tapings of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” have been cancelled for the week of Nov. 6-10 in light of the death of Jimmy Fallon’s mother, according to a statement from NBC. Repeat episodes will be scheduled.
Fallon’s mother, Gloria, died Saturday at a hospital in New York, Variety has confirmed.
Her death came one day after NBC canceled a taping of “The Tonight Show” due to her illness.
“Jimmy Fallon’s mother, Gloria, died peacefully on Saturday,” a Fallon family spokesperson said in a press statement. “Jimmy was at his mother’s bedside, along with her loved ones, when she passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. Our prayers go out to Jimmy and his family as they go through this tough time.”
Fallon’s mother was ill and in a hospital at the time of the ‘Tonight Show’ cancellation, said a person familiar with the matter. The Nov. 3 episode was replaced with a rerun from September.
Though Fallon keeps much of his personal life private, he revealed touching moments with his mother over the years. During a #MomQuotes segment of the show, he shared a memory of Gloria.
“My mom and I were talking on the phone for the third time that day and she actually said, ‘We don’t talk enough,’” he tweeted.
Fallon described his childhood with mom Gloria, dad Jim and sister Gloria in a 2004 New York magazine article. “My dad was in Vietnam, and he was in a doo-wop group,” Fallon said. “My mom was like a total square; she wasn’t allowed to leave her stoop in Brooklyn. She was a nun for about a month, but then she was like, ‘You know what? I didn’t get the calling!’ Ha!”
He told Howard Stern that his mother was a nun on an episode of “The Howard Stern Show” as well. He said his parents grew up together and met in high school, and that she was only a nun for about a week.
Source: Variety
Disney has made the official announcement that has been rumored for some time. Beyoncé will voice Nala in the live-action remake of The Lion King.
She joins Donald Glover as Simba, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar and many others.
Wednesday’s new castings also included John Kani as Rafiki, Eric Andre as Azizi, Florence Kasumba as Shenzi, and Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari.
The film will be released in 2019.
Source: Shadow & Act
It’s a different world for Yara Shahidi in the first teaser for her black-ish spinoff, aptly-titled, grown-ish.
It will kick things off January 3.
The show will anchor a Wednesday comedy night for the network with new comedy, Alone Together.
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.
Watch the first teaser below:
Jordan Peele is staying busy. His post-Get Out work continues to pile up.
On a company earnings call on Thursday, it was announced that CBS All Access is preparing an updated version.
It is unknown if the project is just in development or if it has been ordered as a series.
The iconic science-fiction series originally ran on CBS from 1959-1964. There was a revival in the 80s on CBS, and a short-lived one on UPN in 2002. There was a potential anthology reboot in 2012 to be directed by Bryan Singer as well.
This comes as CBS All Access has successfully launched a Star Trek reboot, Star Trek: Discovery, which has been renewed for a second season.
Peele is the perfect person to helm a Twilight Zone remake after the success of his horror film Get Out.
Next up for Peele: the feature Black Klansman is set to start production soon and The Last O.G. is set to premiere on TBS in 2018.
Source: Shadow & Act
On this day in comedy on October 29, 1972, Comedian, Actress, Model, Producer, Tracee Ellis Ross (nee Tracee Joy Silberstein) was born in Los Angeles, California
After careers in theater, modeling, television hosting, serving as a contributing fashion editor to Mirabella and New York magazine as well as roles in several independent films, Ross got her introduction to comedy doing skits on The Lyricist Lounge Show on MTV.
Ross became best known to audiences for her role as Joan Clayton on the Kelsey Grammer produced, UPN/CW sitcom, Girlfriends. As the lead in the ensemble featuring three other females (Persia White, Golden Brooks and Jill Marie Jones) and a male friend (Reggie Hayes), Ross garnered two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.
Once the show wrapped in 2008, Ross kept busy. She appeared in the Tyler Perry film, Daddy’s Little Girls and the 2009 movie Labor Pains. She starred opposite Malcolm Jamal Warner in the BET sitcom, Reed Between the Lines. This role got her another NAACP Image Award for Outstanding actress in a Comedy Series.
In 2014 Ross landed the part of Dr. Rainbow Johnson on the ABC sitcom Black-ish with Anthony Anderson. The show centers on a doctor mother, ad man father and their four kids (along with Anderson’s father and mother) living in the suburbs and trying to keep it black. For this role Ross received yet another NAACP Award for . . . you guessed it – Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series.
All told Ross has been nominated 18 times (NAACP, Prism Awards, BET Comedy Awards, Black Reel Awards, NAMIC Vision Award and Emmy Awards) for acting honors. She has won four . . . so far.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on October 28, 1963, Comedienne, Actress, and Talk Show Host, Sheryl Underwood was born in Little Rock, Arkansas
Underwood got her initial comedic recognition as the first female finalist in the Miller Lite Comedy Search. The year was 1989 and Underwood was on a mission to succeed. She later drove from Los Angeles to New York to throw her hat in the ring as an alternate for HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, but was out-of-luck. Everybody showed up to perform in their coveted spot, but the initiative, drive and determination was not lost on entertainment executives. Underwood performed on Def Jam the following season. She also impressed on BET’s Comic View and won “Funniest Female Comedian on Comic View” award in 1994.
Sheryl Underwood was a known quantity with her peers before mainstream success. A self-admitted “sexually progressive, God-fearing, Black Republican”, she hosted a male stripper/comedy show for BET’s Pay-Per-View division. She toured extensively domestically and abroad, often to entertain the US military personnel (she had served in the armed forces herself). She was the co-host of BET’s Oh, Drama and host of BET’s Comic View, as well as Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment for Starz.
Underwood has been more than a creature of television. She was featured in the Warren Beatty film, Bulworth, the 1998 film, I Got the Hook Up in the role of Bad Mouth Bessie and in 2005’s Beauty Shop. She was a contributor on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and then abruptly left to join the crew of the Steve Harvey Morning Show. She was executive producer of the variety show, Holla and had her own radio show on Sirius XM called Sheryl Underwood and Company.
In 2011 Underwood became a talk show host. Leah Remini stepped down from her post on The Talk and Underwood stepped up. Along with Julie Chen, Aisha Tyler, Sharon Osbourne and Sara Gilbert, Underwood discusses controversial topics daily. Sometimes additional controversy follows these discussions like the time Underwood criticized “black hair” and praised so-called “white hair”. She also took heat for publicly blasting former Queens of Comedy, Laura Hayes, Sommore and Adele Givens. She’s been under the microscope for other comments as well.
Sheryl Underwood has guest starred on The Young and Restless as a judge and has made numerous guest appearances as herself.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on October 27, 1995, Vampire in Brooklyn was released by Paramount Pictures
This Eddie Murphy vehicle is about a vampire in search of his mate in of all places, Brooklyn, New York. The film co-stars Angela Bassett as the mate and Kadeem Hardison as Murphy’s unwitting ghoul. John Witherspoon, Allen Payne, Zakes Mokae and Joanna Cassidy lend support. In a script from Murphy, his brother Charlie and Uncle Vernon, Vampire in Brooklyn was directed by horror master, Wes Craven.
Murphy has a dilemma on his hands. He needs to seduce Bassett and convince her she is his true love or lose her forever. She’s has no idea she’s descended from vampire stock (on her daddy’s side) and is living a human life blissfully as a cop. Her partner is too shy to express his feelings, so Bassett is vulnerable to Murphy’s advances until she finds out he’s a bloodsucker and then the deal is off. Unfortunately, vampires never take the hint to leave and drastic measures always must be employed. Murphy’s case was no different. As in all vampire movies somebody’s got to die.
Vampire in Brooklyn grossed $19.8 Million on a budget of $14 million.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
Russell Simmons returns to HBO for the all-new, six-show stand-up series ALL DEF COMEDY, debuting FRIDAY, DEC. 1 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, followed by four other editions subsequent Fridays at the same time, with the finale debuting Friday, Dec. 29 (10:30-11:00 p.m.). The season will showcase well-known comedians such as Deon Cole (“Blackish,” “Angie Tribeca”), DeRay Davis (“21 Jump Street,” “Barbershop: The Next Cut”), Gary Owen (“Ride Along,” “Meet The Blacks”) and JJ Williamson, along with emerging talent like Alex Babbitt, Tony Baker, Sydney Castillo, Henry Coleman, D’Lai, Ryan Davis, Kareem Green, Jess Hilarious, Nate Jackson, Kelly Kellz, Na’im Lynn, Karlous Miller, Just Nesh, Leonard Ouzts, Robert Powell, Teddy Ray, Jordan Rock, Daphnique Springs, Clayton Thomas and Mark Viera.
The series will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
Taped in October at the Avalon Theatre in Los Angeles, ALL DEF COMEDY is hosted by Tony Rock (“All of Us,” “The Tony Rock Project,” “Apollo Live”), with DJ Mustard as the new music supervisor. The show features stand-up performances in a variety of styles from known and up-and-coming comics discovered at All Def Digital’s live weekly showcase and covers a wide range of topics.
ALL DEF COMEDY continues the longstanding relationship between the network and Simmons, whose previous HBO series, “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam,” helped launch the careers of a host of today’s comedy superstars, among them Bernie Mac, Dave Chappelle, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart, Cedric the Entertainer, Katt Williams, J.B. Smoove, Bill Bellamy and many more. “Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam” aired on HBO from 1992 to 1997 and returned in 2006, followed last year by the special “All Def Comedy.”
ALL DEF COMEDY will be executive produced by Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan, along with Chris Conti and Jeru Tillman; directed by Stan Lathan.
A planned “Bad Boys” spinoff series starring Gabrielle Union has landed at NBC with a pilot production commitment, Variety has confirmed.
Union will star as Syd Burnett, her character from “Bad Boys 2,” who was last seen in Miami taking down a drug cartel. As an LAPD detective, she can now pursue all the pleasures Los Angeles has to offer and leave her past behind. But things will get complicated when her new partner, Nancy McKenna, learns that Syd’s unapologetic lifestyle may be masking a greater personal secret.
More to come…
Source: Variety
Corey Hawkins is the latest to join Spike Lee’s and Jordan Peele’s Black Klansman.
The Kong: Skull Island actor will appear alongside Adam Driver and John David Washington in the movie that tells the true story of a black detective in Colorado Springs, Ron Stallworth, who in 1978 joined the local chapter of his Klan, going undercover to gather intelligence on the hate group.
Hawkins will play civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame) in the crime thriller that also stars Spider-Man: Homecoming actress Laura Harrier.
Lee will direct from a script he co-wrote with Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, and Kevin Willmott.
Peele and his Monkeypaw Production banner will produce, along with Sean McKittrick, Shaun Redick and Raymond Mansfield of QC Entertainment and Jason Blum of Get Out production company, Blumhouse. Lee will also produce.
Focus Features will distribute Black Klansman.
Hawkins, who played Dr. Dre in Straight Outta Compton, starred in the TV reboot 24: Legacy and was recently nominated for a Tony for his work in the play Six Degrees of Separation.
Source; The Hollywood Reporter
