The second season of Insecure ended last month on HBO but star and co-creator Issa Rae looks to just be getting started with the premium cabler.
With a third season of the acclaimed comedy in the works, the Golden Globe nominee is now also developing a drama with HBO, I’ve learned. With Rae set to executive produce and set in Los Angeles in the early and turbulent 1990s, the project will center on an African-American family dealing with the events of the time. National Book Award finalist and The Turner House author Angela Flournoy will write and EP the still untitled project.
“I’m so thrilled to be working with Angela,” Rae told Deadline. “I was a huge fan of The Turner House and we feel so lucky to bring her beautiful storytelling to HBO,” the actor added of the 2015 first-time novel from the NAACP Image Award nominee who was also shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize.
Source: Deadline
Additional cast members have been announced for Netflix’s “Bird Box.” “Moonlight” breakout star Trevante Rhodes and The Carmichael Show co-star Lil Rel Howery will join the ensemble cast along with Danielle Macdonald, Jacki Weaver, Sarah Paulson, Rosa Salazar and Sandra Bullock, who will star in the film. John Malkovich is also on board.
The project, which is directed by Susanne Bier, follows a woman and a pair of children who are blindfolded, and make their way through a post-apocalyptic setting along a river.
As of this writing, its unknown which character each actor will be playing.
Source: http://thejasminebrand.com/
On this day in comedy on October 23, 1970, Comedian, Actor, Radio Personality, Donnell M. Rawlings was born in Washington, DC
Rawlings was raised in Alexandria, Virginia and stationed in South Korea when he was in the Air Force. He learned a lot of Korean insults and used them in his comedy. Best known as a cast member on Comedy Central’s Chappelle Show, they came in handy many times. On that sketch program Rawlings played a number of memorable characters. His most notable was Ashy Larry; a brother who looked like he’d bathed in chalk. Rawlings originated the catchphrase, “I’m rich, bitch” and was known for hitting the East Coast overused exclamation of “Son” at the end of sentences.
Dave Chappelle’s show was a dream project for a comedian. Unfortunately, it went nightmarish when Chappelle left abruptly leaving Rawlings and Charlie Murphy to co-host the Chappelle-less Season 3, or as comedy Central billed it – Chappelle Show: The Lost Episodes.
As an actor Rawlings has made numerous guest appearances. He was seen on HBO’s The Wire as an ex-con, Spider-Man 2 as a bystander and The Ricki Lake Show as a judge. Rawlings has been in music videos as well as Guy Code, Reality Bites Back, Howard Stern and D L Hughley Breaks the News. Rawlings worked on radio, too. The problem with the latter medium was how touchy it can be. Rawlings was fired for telling a joke about a powerful race in the entertainment industry with strong ties to Israel.
Donnell Rawlings continues to do stand-up and act.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on October 22, 1976, Car Wash was released by Universal Pictures
It’s the day in the life of a Los Angeles, California carwash and its multi-ethnic staff. The star is Bill Duke as Abdullah, a revolutionary under suspicion for everything and Franklyn Ajaye as a man out to win a radio call-in contest and take his girl to a concert. Richard Pryor makes a cameo as a greedy media preacher. Professor Irwin Corey plays a bomber suspect and Antonio Fargas plays a proud cross-dresser. The owner’s son smokes weed in the restroom and George Carlin drives a cab, searching for the whore that stiffed him.
Michael Schultz directed a Joel Schumacher script and a cast that included DeWayne Jessie, Jack Kehoe, The Pointer Sisters, Ivan Dixon, Melanie Mayron, Pepe Serna, Darrow Igus, Arthur French, Clarence Muse, Garrett Morris, Tracy Reed, Sully Boyar, Renn Woods, Brooke Adams, Tim Thomerson, Jason Bernard, Leonard Jackson, Lorraine Gary, Richard Brestoff and Danny DeVito. With hit songs by Rose Royce and a soundtrack by Norman Whitfield, in 1977 Car Wash won the Technical Grand Prize and Best Music Award at the Cannes Film Festival as well as a Grammy for Best Album of Original Score.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on October 22, 1967, Comedian, Actor, Carlos Mencia was born as Ned Arnel Mencia in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Mencia got into comedy via an open mic night at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. From there he became a regular at the Comedy Store and got seen by the right people. He appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show and got the hosting job for Loco Slam for HBO in 1994. In ’98 he was on Galavision hosting Funny is Funny along with touring as part of “The Three Amigos” (with Pablo Francisco and Freddy Soto).
Carlos Mencia was drawn to hot topics. He’d slam race, politics, social issues and crime and the system meant to suppress it. Comedy Central liked that style and in 2005 he got his own sketch show, Mind of Mencia. It lasted three seasons and was the second highest rated show on the network on its second season.
Besides stand-up Mencia’s worked as an actor. He’s guest-starred on Moesha, The Shield and The Proud Family. His stand-up, on the other hand, has been the subject of controversy. Accused of stealing jokes, Mencia has been confronted in print and in person by Joe Rogan. George Lopez also said Mencia took material from him without permission as well as similarities to the bits of other comedians including Bill Cosby. This left a taint on Mencia’s stand-up career and a strained relationship with his fellow comedians.
Regardless, Mencia won a CableACE Award for his second HBO Best Stand-Up Comedy special.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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In this action-packed thriller, Liam Neeson plays an insurance salesman, Michael, on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes, for himself and his fellow passengers.
The Commuter – In theaters January 12, 2018. Starring Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Written by Byron Willinger & Philip de Blasi.
Paramount just landed Limited Partners, a pitch for a female-driven comedy vehicle for Tiffany Haddish, who is coming off the hit Girls Trip. The auction was competitive, with Sam Pitman & Adam Cole-Kelly writing the script. Peter Principato, Itay Reiss and Joel Zadak are producing through Principato Young.
We’ve known for a while that one of the fan-favorites from the acclaimed NBC comedy 30 Rock was headed back to TV. Viewers were ready to see where Tracy Morgan would go following the sitcom’s conclusion in 2013. Unfortunately, a car accident in 2014 left Morgan severely injured. Morgan has since recovered and already appeared in a few different projects, but he is set to make a real comeback in a big way on his TV show, The Last O.G., set to air on TBS. However, fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Morgan back on TV. His new show is experiencing some behind-the-scenes trouble and has lost its showrunner.
Per Variety, executive producer and showrunner John Carcieri has departed The Last O.G. No reason was given for Carcieri’s departure. The Last O.G. was originally scheduled to air on TBS next week, but now it has been delayed to debut sometime in 2018. Previously, Carcieri was a writer on HBO’s Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals. He also co-wrote the feature film The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter. No new showrunner has yet been announced.
The Last O.G. is set to star Tracy Morgan in the lead role as a man who returns to Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, only to find that it has become overrun with hipsters and gentrification. Following his six-car traffic accident in 2014, Morgan binge-watched Key and Peele while recovering. The comedian loved the show and reached out to Jordan Peele about developing a series with him. Originally, the project was being developed for FX but it has since moved over to TBS. The show also stars Cedric the Entertainer, Ryan Gaul, Allen Maldonado, and Tiffany Haddish.
This delay is sad news for anyone wanting to see Tracy Morgan back on TV sooner rather than later. The showrunner departing is never really a good thing, but perhaps the replacement will be a better fit. Morgan made his name on Saturday Night Live, but he really won people’s hearts on 30 Rock (now streaming over at Hulu) as Tracy Jordan, an eccentric comedian based lightly on himself. With his clueless attitude, one-liners, and extravagant spending, he quickly became a fan-favorite character.
On this day in comedy on October 19, 1920, Comedienne Actress, LaWanda Page was born in Cleveland, Ohio
The woman who would earn the title “The Queen of Comedy” and “Queen of Black Comedy”, (depending on who was doing the talking) was born Alberta Peal in Cleveland, Ohio on October 19, 1920 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She began her career in show business dancing at the age of 15, then working small nightclubs under the title of “The Bronze Goddess of Fire”; an act where she would light cigarettes with her fingertips and eat fire. From that platform she integrated into stand-up comedy running through theaters and clubs on the so-called Midwestern ”chitlin circuit.”
One of her many friends on the circuit was a former schoolmate and dear friend, Redd Foxx. It was Foxx who encouraged her to go into stand-up comedy. Once she honed her skills from years of club work she moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s and joined Skillet, Leroy & Co. She had signature lines like, “”Honey, that old man couldn’t keep no kinda job. That’s the only man I know that ever went to the unemployment office and lost his place in line.”
Page was making a name for herself on the circuit, but the circuit she was on was limited. She was doing clubs and recordings for Laff Records, but no matter how massive her reign at that level she’d always be a goldfish in a toilet bowl. So, the plan was not to keep waiting to get flushed down the tubes. Page was getting out of show business and had moved back to St. Louis to take care of her ailing mother. All that changed when she got a call from her former schoolyard buddy, Redd Foxx.
Redd was now Fred Sanford. He was going to be on NBC with his own sitcom and he wanted to work with his friends from stand-up and that meant her. She’d play the Bible thumping Aunt Esther, the sister of his deceased wife. It was truly a blessing; that is until she had to deal with the suits over at NBC.
During casting Redd had told one of the show’s producers about Page. This producer was not only familiar with her reputation for being funny, but had himself caught her stage act so he needed no convincing. With that Redd called LaWanda in St. Louis and got her on the first thing smoking back to L. A. She was going to be a TV star. All she had to do was read for the part. She did and got it. Then things got foul. They loved her persona, but after a rehearsal they decided they wanted to go with a trained actress and told Redd to fire LaWanda. She was hilarious and all that, but didn’t know the fundamentals of how a television sitcom was run. Foxx didn’t care how it was run. If you wanted him you’d have to take her. Foxx worked with her, she learned quickly and in virtually no time Aunt Esther was one of the most popular TV characters of all time.
Everybody knew an Aunt Esther. She was pious; knew how to turn the other cheek, while simultaneously slapping yours. So maybe she’d take a zinger from Foxx and other cast members, like the time Sanford’s friend Grady said, ”Nice having her around, she makes the junk look so pretty.” But Aunt Esther would hit back with lines like ”Watch it, sucker!” her favorite catch phrase or “You old fish-eyed fool.” Foxx was the star of the show, but Page was that extra reason to watch.
After brief stints on spin-offs “Sanford” and “Sanford Arms”, Lawanda Page guest starred on practically every black sitcom on television, roasted with best of them on the Dean Martin Roasts and remained active in comedy up until her death September 14, 2002 from complications of diabetes.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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