Sanaa Lathan Joins Showtime’s Drama Series ‘The Affair’
LOS ANGELES – SHOWTIME has announced that Sanaa Lathan (American Assassin, Shots Fired) will recur on the network’s Golden Globe®-winning drama series THE AFFAIR. Lathan will play Jenelle, the tough-as-nails principal of the charter school where Noah (Dominic West) teaches, who intrigues him. She’s got a lot to prove to her school’s oppositional administration and faculty, who seem to fight her at every turn. THE AFFAIR will return for its fourth season on SHOWTIME in 2018.
THE AFFAIR stars Golden Globe nominee Dominic West, Golden Globe winner Ruth Wilson, Emmy® Award nominee Maura Tierney and Screen Actors Guild Award® nominee Joshua Jackson. The series explores the emotional and psychological effects of an affair that destroyed two marriages, and the crime that brings these individuals back together. Season four finds Noah (West), Helen (Tierney), Alison (Wilson) and Cole (Jackson) in their own orbits, alienated from each other, spinning further and further away from where they all began. Every character is involved in a new relationship, forcing them each to decide if they’re ready and willing to leave the past behind for good – a season about new beginnings, tragic ends and the ever-elusive possibility of forgiveness. THE AFFAIR is currently in production in New York and Los Angeles. WGA Award-winning playwright and writer/producer Sarah Treem (House of Cards, In Treatment) and Hagai Levi (In Treatment) created the series. Treem, also the showrunner, and Levi serve as executive producers.
Nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for her lead role in Love and Basketball, Lathan has starred in feature films including American Assassin, Alien vs. Predator, Contagion, The Best Man and The Best Man Holiday, The Perfect Guy,Now You See Me 2, Something New, Out of Time and BrownSugar. She also received a Tony® Award nomination for her Broadway performance in A Raisin in the Sun, later reprising the role for television, where she has performed in series that include Boss, Nip/Tuck, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and a starring role on Shots Fired.
TODAY-On This Day In Comedy… In 1935 ‘ Different World’s’ Lou Myers Was Born!
On this day in comedy on September 26, 1935, comedic actor, Lou Lealengula Myers was born in Chesapeake, WV.
Known to comedy audiences as Mr. Vernon Gaines on “A Different World”, Myers was typecast as the grumpy old man. His characters were always cantankerous trash talkers. Besides, television, Myers attained film acclaim in motion pictures such as “Cobb”, “Tin Cup”, “Bulworth”, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “The Wedding Planner”.
Myers career encompassed plays, television, and film. He’s won a NAACP Image Award and the prestigious AUDELCO Award for theater.
Lou Myers died of pneumonia at the Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia on February 19, 2013.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1983 Comedian, Actor, Writer, And Musician Donald Glover Was Born!
On this day in comedy on September 25, 1983, Comedian, Actor, Writer, Musician, Donald McKinley Glover was born in California.
Raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Glover multi-tasked comedy and rap through his alter ego, Childish Gambino. The character released several albums (one he disowns) and won Glover two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album and Performance. His hit song, “Redbone” was featured in the box office smash film, “Get Out”. He also performs as a DJ under the name mcDJ; making many of his mixtapes available free on his website.
Glover’s adeptness at humor had been recognized by classmates early on and he earned a degree in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Then Glover took his writing skills and wrote for NBC’s 30 Rock for several seasons; making on-camera appearances as well. His stint there earned him three Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series.
Glover showed off his acting chops as a cast member on the acclaimed NBC sitcom, Community. He was seriously considered for the part of Peter Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man before the role went to Andrew Garfield. He did, however, voice the character in the animated version, Ultimate Spider-Man.
The multi-talent joined the improv troupe, Derrick Comedy; the group that starred in the film, Mystery Team, and why not? They wrote and produced it. Glover has also appeared in films, The Muppets, The To Do List, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike XXL, The Martian and the upcoming Star Wars Universe’s Hans Solo film, where Glover has landed the role of a young Lando Calrissian. His television credits include, Girls and Sesame Street and he’s provided voices for Robot Chicken, Adventure Time and China IL.
Glover’s first stand-up special aired on Comedy Central in 2010. He toured with a show that included comedy, rap, video portions and often features guest artists. In Atlanta, the show he created and starred in, Glover plays the opportunist relative of a talented fledgling rapper. There’d been a feeding frenzy for Atlanta, with FX being chosen because Glover wanted to tour and FX said they could work around that.
Throughout his career, the highly decorated Donald Glover, has won 2 Emmy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, the Rising Comedy Star Award at the Just for Laughs Festival; the Comedy Awards Breakout Breakthrough Performer of the Year; Gold Derby TV Awards for Best TV Ensemble (Community); PAAFTJ Television Awards Best Cast in a Comedy Series (Community); TV Guide Awards Favourite Ensemble (Community); an mtvU Woodies Award for Best Video Woodie from his EP, Kauai and two RIAA certifications.
LOL- WATCH: Comedian Bigg Jah Is Back With ‘WHEN SHE LIES TO YOU’
It looks like comedian and sketch artist Bigg Jah is back with another comedy classic! This comedy sketch is titled ‘When She Lies To You’, and pretty sure many people can relate to this video.
Watch below;
Bounce TV Set To Premiere New Comedy ‘Grown Folks’!
Bounce, the nation’s fastest-growing television network designed for African-American audiences, today announced the biggest primetime line-up in its history to date. Mon. Oct. 2 will feature the world premiere of the new comedy series, Grown Folks, the fifth season premiere of the hit sitcom, Family Time, and an all-new installment of the network’s primetime newsmagazine show, Ed Gordon.
Bounce also announced today the addition of Living Single, one of the most popular African-American-centric sitcoms ever. Bounce will debut the series Mon. Oct. 2 with four episodes back-to-back starting at 7:00 p.m. (All Times Eastern).
Bounce’s Fall Season Kick-off Oct. 2:
Living Single Debut 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Living Single is one of the most popular sitcoms of its era, ranking among the top five in African-American ratings in all five seasons it ran on FOX. The popular series follows the lives and careers of six African-American professionals, four women and two men, living in a shared Brooklyn brownstone and stars Queen Latifah, Kim Coles, Kim Fields, Erika Alexander, Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson and John Henton. Bounce will air the series Mon.-Fri. nights 7:00-9:00 p.m. starting Oct. 2.
Family Time Season Premiere 9:00-9:30 p.m.
Bounce’s record-breaking comedy series, Family Time, returns for season five following Tony Stallworth (Omar Gooding), a struggling general contractor and his beautiful wife, Lisa (Angell Conwell), a pair of high school sweethearts living a new life in the suburbs with their mischievous children, Devin (Bentley Kyle Evans, Jr.) and Ebony (Jayla Calhoun). If Lisa and Tony are not quarreling with each other, they are tackling parenting two teenage children by meddling in their dating lives, coaching them for the SATs but, most importantly, persuading them to go to college. This season will feature a variety of notable guest stars including singer-songwriter and TV personality Tameka “Tiny” Harris and TV host Fonzworth Bentley.
Grown Folks Series Premiere 9:30-10:00 p.m.
From the creator of Family Time and In The Cut, Bentley Kyle Evans, comes Grown Folks, a half-hour situation comedy about two blue-collar couples who share a duplex while navigating life, marriage and friendship. Grown Folks stars Gary “G Thang” Johnson (Disaster Movie, Moneyball) as a frugal skycap for an international airline, Tracey Cherelle Jones (Don’t Be a Menace to South Central, The Players Club, Baby Boy) as his wife Jillian who’s a pragmatic social worker, Jay Phillips (Semi-Pro, Baby Mama, Prom Night) as zany plumber James and Caryn Ward Ross (The Game, You Take the Kids) as Jay’s stay-at-home wife Brenda. In Honeymooners-esque fashion, the couples deal with all the issues of life in hilarious ways. Grown Folks guest stars include two-time GRAMMY®-nominated singer Durrell “Tank” Babbs, who plays local bar owner Quincy, singer-songwriter and producer Brian McKnight, and comedians Joe Torry, Ellia English and Tammi Mac, among others.
Ed Gordon – New Episode Premiere 10:00 – 11:00 p.m.
The next all-new episode of Bounce’s primetime newsmagazine show, Ed Gordon, features an in-depth conversation with Steve Harvey as the popular comedian and TV host discusses his life and career, the backlash he faced because of recent political meetings at the White House, his infamous leaked office memo and more. U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is also profiled, and she discusses her outspoken perspective on the Trump administration among other issues. The award-winning journalist and series host Gordon also interviews Black-ish star and rising young actress Yara Shahidi and GRAMMY®-winning singer-songwriter Gregory Porter.
Bounce has grown to be available in more than 99 million homes across the United States and 95% of all African-American (AA) television homes, including all the top AA television markets. Bounce features a programming mix of original and off-network series, theatrical motion pictures, specials, live sports and more.
An All-Black Ensemble Comedy Murder Mystery Titled ‘5KNIVES’ Launches On YouTube!
Hailing from one of the writers of Blavity’s Situationships, Kar Logan, 5KNIVES follows five friends fresh off a wild night of partying after they wake up to find a dead body in their apartment.
The plot thickens when they each find a bloody knife in each of their hands, but little to no detailed memory of the previous night. The group of friends must find out the true killer, fighting against the fact that all signs point to them.
Think Clue, but the all-black version.
Logan also stars in front of the camera of 5KNIVES, which also Situationships’ Cylla Senii, Nicolette Ellis, and Korey Graham.
All five episodes of 5Knives are now available on YouTube.
Source: Shadow & Act
Jay Ellis Cast In Sony’s Psychological Thriller, ‘The Maze’
Insecure star Jay Ellis has booked another movie gig, this time in Sony’s upcoming psychological thriller, The Maze.
He joins Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani Deborah Ann Woll, Logan Miller and Taylor Russell.
The movie is about “about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to survive.”
Deadline, who broke the casting news says the project, filmed in South Africa, is in the vein of the 1997 movie, The Game.
Ellis will also appear in A Boy. A Girl. A Dream: Love on Election Night with Meagan Good and Omari Hardwick.
Adam Robitel is directing The Maze. No word on a release date.
Source: Shadow & Act
TODAY- On This Day In Comedy… In 1968 Actor, Rapper, Producer, Will Smith Was Born!
Today, on this day in comedy, on September 25, 1968, Actor, Rapper, Producer, Willard Carroll “Will” Smith, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After running through a small fortune obtained by early rap success with partner D J Jazzy Jeff and Ready Rock C, Will Smith switched gears and became a successful sitcom star. “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was not just a play on Smith’s rap persona, but also a show based on the experiences of producer, Benny Medina. Smith played a ghetto kid who moves in with his rich relatives and score a major comedy hit for NBC. An admitted non-comedian, (he tried it and found it wasn’t his thing) Smith consistently infused a comedic element in most of his work. For the sitcom he had professional comedian, Alex Thomas coach him on how to pump up the physical funny.
With the visibility and popularity, a top-rated show afforded him, Smith eyed a film career. Following a small debut part as a legless cripple in “Where the Day Takes You”, Smith appeared alongside Nia Long in the comedy “Made in America” with Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson, then “Six Degrees of Separation” with Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing and “Bad Boys” with fellow sitcom star, “Martin Lawrence” while still shooting “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. Once the show went off the air after six seasons, the movie hits came rolling in.
Will Smith made the transition from TV star to film star almost seamlessly. His first major blockbuster was “Independence Day” where he played a pilot who saved the world. From there he piled up an unprecedented string of hits, including a “Bad Boy” sequel, “Wild, Wild West”, “Ali”, “Enemy of the State” and the “Men in Black” franchise. He’s done animation voice-overs (“Shark Tale”); played an alcoholic superhero (“Hancock”), the devil (“Winter’s Tale”) and several fathers to his own son Jaden (“Pursuit of Happyness”, “After Earth”).
Smith has been nominated for several Golden Globes, a pair of Oscar nods and has won four Grammys. He’s had 8 consecutive films gross over 100 million domestically and 11 that grossed over 150 million internationally. In 2014 Forbes ranked him as the most bankable star worldwide with box office receipts, more than, 6.6 billion dollars.
‘Tidal X: Brooklyn’ Concert Announced- Announcements Made If Jay Z And Beyonce Are Performing
COURTESY OF TIDAL
Today, Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service announced the third annual “Tidal X: Brooklyn” concert, taking place Oct. 17 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Tickets for the concert, which this year will benefit natural disaster awareness and relief, will go on sale today (Sept. 22) at 12:00 p.m. ET for Tidal members and to the general publish on Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.
While Us Weekly reported on Thursday that Beyonce and Jay-Z will be headlining the event, host Angie Martinez was the only participant mentioned in the initial announcement. A rep for Tidal told Variety that the lineup for the event had not been confirmed, and a rep for Beyonce denied the report to the Daily News on Thursday.
Since the first Tidal X in 2015, the concerts have raised more than $3 million for social-justice and education non-profits, the company says. This year, all ticket proceeds will be donated to natural-disaster-relief organizations including, Global Giving, All Hands Volunteers, Kids in Need Foundation, Direct Relief, One America Appeal, Greater Houston Community Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, Miami Community Foundation and more.
Past performers at the concert include Jay-Z, Beyonce, Lauryn Hill, Nicki Minaj, Thomas Rhett, Alessia Cara and Lil Yachty.
Source: Variety
Jordan Peele Is Developing A Television Drama Series On Nazi Hunters
Jordan Peele has his first project set under his TV development deal with Sonar Entertainment.
David Weil will write the script and be an executive producer with Peele.
While a network is not attached to the series yet, insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that it is drawing interest from several.
The Hunt’s description: “It follows a diverse band of Nazi Hunters in 1970s America as they set out on a quest for revenge and justice — tracking and killing hundreds of Nazis who, with the unconscionable help of the U.S. government, escaped justice and embedded themselves in American society.”
The Get Out mastermind is also teaming up with Spike Lee on a Black Klansman film and is producing the upcoming TBS comedy, The Last O.G. starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish.
