Prepare for the rise of an Empire in 2016!
Fox’s smash musical drama was honored as the opening show at The Paley Center for Media’s annual PaleyFest event in Los Angeles, and fans were gifted with an up-close and personal conversation with the Lyon family.
The panel was moderated by Entertainment Tonight’s very own Kevin Frazier, and the always candid host kicked off the event with a hard-hitting question: Empire took a bit of a “left turn” during it’s second season — so what happened?
“What happened was it was growing pains,” Empire’s creator and executive producer, Lee Daniels, said of the ratings rough patch in the first half of its sophomore season.
The primetime soap opera hit a high of almost 18 million viewers in its season one finale, but episodes in the new season have dropped as low as nine million with criticism over storylines.
“I think it would’ve happened to any show — any big show — and we still remain number one,” he explained, causing the packed crowd at the Dolby Theater to cheer.
“We’re learning,” Daniels continued. “It’s just a process, and it’s just trial and error. At the end of the day, we came back. It’s really learning about everybody and trying things out, and how do you make greatness without testing?”
Daniels went on to admit that several networks turned Empire down before Fox said yes to the sexy, surprising hip-hop drama — and clearly their decision paid off. Empire was the highest-rated premiere for the network in three years, and the show’s audience continued to grow each week for the 10-episode first season.
“Y’all were nobodies last year,” Daniels joked on stage with his cast. “And now look, after a year, you’re [just as big as] movies stars!”
Daniels revealed that he feels “blessed” each day knowing thatEmpire has become such a cultural smash in today’s society. “It’s an honor to see people of color who are not only [on TV] in the homes of Americans, but in Brazil and Spain and Italy,” he said. “They’re getting a sneak peek into our world and being a part of the African American experience.”
The big screen director also addressed Hollywood’s diversity issues, especially after the#OscarsSoWhite drama was candidly discussed by Academy Awards host Chris Rock just two weeks earlier in the very same venue.
“I don’t have time to deal with racism. If I thought, ‘Yes, am I delusional to say that there’s not racism in America?’ Look at Donald Trump,” he said causing a roar of applause from his cast and the crowd. “The minute I embrace it, it becomes real to me and I don’t have time.”
“I don’t wanna hear, ‘Woe is me, they ain’t treating me right,'” he continued. “You know what? Treat yourself right.”
Empire returns Wednesday, March 30, at 9 p.m. on Fox.
Source: Entertainment Tonight
On this day in comedy on March 12, 1959 Comedienne, Actress, Luenell Campbell (“Luenell”) was born in Tolette, Arkansas.
Luenell cut her comedy teeth in Oakland, California in clubs like The End Zone and Sweet Jimmies. During the Black Comedy Boom of the early 90s she was seen on local cable station, KSBT on Soul Beat, an interview show and received standup television exposure with hilarious appearances on BET’s Comic View. She toured internationally entertaining troops and domestically cracking up audiences from coast to coast.
National notoriety was gained when Luenell toured twice with Katt Williams, the latter being the third largest comedy tour of 2006 (behind Larry the Cable Guy and Dane Cook). She was also featured in the concert film of that tour, American Hustle. Her breakthrough film role had her mistaken for the real thing and not an actress. That too real for the audience part was as girlfriend to Sacha Baron Cohen in the smash hit, Borat. However, there were other films: So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), The Rock (1996), Never Die Alone (2004), Spring Breakdown (2009), All About Steve (2009), Head Case (2009), Hey Luenell (2009 TV movie), 35 and Ticking (2011) and Budz House (2011).
Luenell has the distinction of being seen in 3 films that made it to #1 at the box office. The year was 2012 and the movies were Think Like A Man, the animated Hotel Transylvania (where she was heard) and Taken 2, with old tough guy, Liam Neeson. That same year she also appeared in That’s My Boy, C’Mon Man and Mac & Devin Go To High School.
Television has also been a friend to Luenell. She had roles in Nash Bridges, The Tracy Morgan Show, The Tony Rock Project, Californication, The Boondocks, Laugh Out Loud Comedy Festival, Funny or Die Presents, the Middle, Breaking In, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Comedy Underground.
Luenell has toured extensively as a top headliner and appeared prominently on Snoop Dog’s Bad Girls of Comedy and Stand up In Stilettos.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out the clip:
On this day in comedy on March 10, 1989 Webster aired its series finale
Premiering September 16, 1983, this Stu Silver creation produced by Emmanuel Lewis Entertainment Enterprises and Paramount starred Emmanuel Lewis as the title character and Alex Karras and Susan Clark as his adopted parents. The white couple (who were married in real life) were practically newlyweds when the groom’s 5 year old black godson lost his parents in a car accident. So the ex-bachelor and his bride take him in. Now these two adults (he a retired NFL player; she a socialite) have to navigate adapting to married existence and raising a child. That’s what it was supposed to be about anyway.
Originally “Webster” wasn’t “Webster”. Karras and Clark had their own production company and struck up a deal with ABC to produce a romantic comedy starring them, but when suits from the network saw Emmanuel Lewis in a burger commercial they wanted to give him his own show instantly. Based on the network’s new line-up it would be impossible. So they opted to shove Lewis into an upcoming show and it was going to be the couple’s series, “Another Ballgame”. At first the network wanted most of the focus on Lewis (which was evident when they changed the name of the show to “Webster” despite protests from Karras and Clark). The couple fought opening about rewrites and being minimized on their own show and Lewis would be taken from the set; often blaming himself for the discord.
Eventually ABC relented and gave into the couple. The network had a hit on its hands and didn’t want to blow it. Lewis was the new Gary Coleman and the chemistry with Karras and Clark worked. Thus, they increased the screen time of the newlyweds and off-camera, Karras and Lewis became close. The TV family grew to be more like a family. While on the show they were rendered homeless by Webster who set their Chicago high-rise apartment on fire messing around with the science kit. They moved into a basement and by the fourth season the show that had consistently been in the top 30 had now dropped to #46 and on May 8, 1987 the last episode aired; on ABC anyway.
Due to a contractual agreement with ABC, the couple’s show (now forever known as “Webster”) went into instant syndication with Paramount targeting the core audience of “Webster” – children. Because of this additional success it lasted two more seasons. It could’ve gone on even further, but Emmanuel Lewis (who was 4’3”) was tired of playing a young kid when he was 17 years old in real life and graduating high school. Karras and Clark were also weary and so the actual final episode of “Webster” on March 10, 1989.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out the clip:
On this day in comedy on March 9, 1990 House Party was released by New Line Cinema.
Written and directed by Harvard alumni, Reginald Hudlin and based on his award-winning student film, House Party stars rappers, Kid and Play as two buddies out for a good time. That prospect becomes reality when Play announces his parents are leaving for a while and he’s going to throw a party at the house. His friend Bilal (Martin Lawrence) will be the DJ and the only thing that can stop them is Kid’s Pops (Robin Harris), who has banned him from going out and being a parent himself he just might make trouble. The only other thing is a threesome of thugs out to get Kid which is definitely trouble.
Well, Kid gets past his Pops and sneaks out. Then he gets past the thugs, who don’t get past the cops and get arrested several times while trying to get Kid, who is busy avoiding all manners of obstacles to get to the party. When he finally makes it there it’s crackin. After showing off his dance moves with Play, Kid hooks up with Sharane (A. J. Johnson), but really wants to be with Sydney (Tisha Campbell). As in most movies the love situation works itself out so well that Kid and Campbell are about to have sex, but his condom is too old and besides he’s got to get going. Campbell’s parents come home and Kid is back on the streets running to avoid trouble. Too late. The cops catch him and throw him in jail. His friends bail him out and he sneaks into his house just in time for Pops to catch him and whoop his butt with a belt.
House Party is a comedy classic. Besides great music provided by Marcus Miller and Lenny White, the film was a critical and box office success. On a budget of $2.5 million the film grossed $26,385,627. It spawned four sequels (two theatrical, two straight to DVD) and the soundtrack released on Motown Records was also a hit reaching #20 on the Top R&B/ Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Produced by Reginald’s brother, Warrington Hudlin and partner, Gerald T. Olsen, House Party featured th talents of Paul Anthony, Bow-Legged Lou and B-Fine (from Full Force), Darryl “Chill” Mitchell, Kelly Jo Minter, BeBe Drake, George Clinton and John Witherspoon.
House Party was the last film appearance of pivotal and influential standup comedian, Robin Harris, who passed away nine days after its release.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
Fans of their top-notch Key & Peele work – the comic gold that goes viral, not the hit-or-miss deep cuts from the back half of each Comedy Central episode – will be happy to learn that the duo’s sensibility translates well to the feature-film format, where their absurdist instincts are hurried along by a well-oiled action-comedy plot.
The setup is Lebowski-an: Drug lords kidnap Keanu, the adopted kitten of a Hollywood stoner-slacker (Peele), and he and his uptight cousin (Key) must infiltrate the Los Angeles gang world to recover the kitty. The comedy is more Ace Ventura: Pet Detective-broad than Coen clever, but it works. The throughline is an extended fish-out-of-water gag of polite, middle-class black men putting on “street” affectations and living out a fantasy/nightmare of cartoonish American blackness. Method Man, a cornrowed Will Forte, and especially Anna Faris – playing herself – do memorable turns.
How do you review a work in progress? Judging by the welcoming reaction from the well-lubricated midnight SXSW audience, the film doesn’t have far to go. It should play and please widely.
Source: Austin Chronicle
Frequent jail visitor Katt Williams faced a fresh set of charges Friday — as he suggested his spate of recent arrests had to do with the color of his skin.
“If you’re a white celebrity, then they say it’s swatting, and they don’t let it happen,” the troubled comedian told local news station WSB-TV after walking out of Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Ga. “If you’re a black celebrity, they haven’t invented the word yet.”
Williams, whose new charges reportedly include entering an automobile, theft by taking and simple battery, had been transferred to the Fulton County jail from Hall County, where he was booked Tuesday after allegedly ordering an attack on his own bodyguard Feb. 28.
He was charged with aggravated assault, false imprisonment and terroristic threats after allegedly directing 24-year-old Tatiana Smith to choke and beat down bodyguard Corey Dixon with a baseball bat.
A search warrant for the “Norbit” star’s Gainesville, Ga., home later uncovered guns and marijuana, authorities said.
The same day as the alleged February assault at his home, Williams and 15 members of his posse allegedly robbed five women at gunpoint and stole their cell phones, AJC.com reported.
A day later, he was arrested after punching a Gainesville pool store employee he claimed had used the N-word. He was booked on a battery charge, but later bailed out to face charges in Los Angeles stemming from a 2014 dispute near LAX Airport.
Video from last weekend also showed Williams starting a brawl at a Beanie Siegel concert in Philadelphia, TMZ reported at the time.
Williams showed optimism for the legal battle ahead as he left the Fulton County jail Friday.
“I am just like most Christians — under daily attack — but somehow holding up well,” he said. “God’s grace is wonderful … we’ll have our day in court and we will be exonerated.
Source: New York Daily News
Comedian Micah “Katt” Williams, who thought he would be able walk out of a Hall County jail cell Wednesday, was still in custody Thursday morning.
Williams, who was arrested for the second time in recent days Tuesday after being accused of threatening bodyguard Corey Dixon, was granted $60,000 bond during a Wednesday hearing.
Attorneys for Williams, 44, said he would surrender his passport while out on bond. As a condition of the bond, a Hall judge said Williams could not possess weapons, drugs or alcohol of any kind.
But the bond allowance didn’t stick.
Hall sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Bailes said Williams had already violated the condition of his previous bond. Law enforcement officials seized seven weapons and drugs while executing a search warrant Tuesday.
The added charge delayed Williams’ release.
“Williams will have to see a judge before being released,” Bailes said Thursday. “That date is not known at this time.”
The incident that led to the comedian’s most recent arrest happened Feb. 28.
Hall prosecutors accused Williams of not only threatening to kill his bodyguard but also ordering an acquaintance to shave the victim and hit him with a bat. Defense and prosecuting attorneys gave accounts of what they said happened that day during the Wednesday hearing.
Dixon said when he refused to commit crimes under Williams’ orders in Atlanta, he was taken back to the comedian’s home in the Harbor Point subdivision in Gainesville and assaulted.
One acquaintance, Tatiana Smith, 24, allegedly choked Dixon and assaulted him with a baseball bat on Williams’ order.
Dixon was hospitalized for a day with internal and external injuries, a prosecutor said.
Deputies executed a search of Williams’ home Tuesday in the 3500 block of Lake Breeze Lane. During the search, investigators found large quantities of marijuana and several firearms, Bailes said.
Williams was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, false imprisonment and felony possession of marijuana.
Tatiana Smith was arrested on multiple charges that included aggravated assault, misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of the drug Alprazolam. She was not granted bond.
A second acquaintance, Lena Smith, 40, was arrested on a charge of felony possession of marijuana. She was granted $5,000 bond.
During the hearing, Williams’ attorney asked why his client was allowed to walk free from Feb. 28 to his arrest Tuesday if he was such a threat.
Deputies had an answer for the attorney.
“Obviously, Mr. Williams has been in the news quite a bit, and we wanted to preserve the integrity of our investigation,” Bailes told Channel 2 Action News. “When we initially received this, we wanted to follow up with this. A lot of our witnesses live out of state.”
The alleged assault is believed to have happened the day before Williams was arrested on a separate misdemeanor battery charge in Hall. Williams was arrested Feb. 29 after a store employee at Leslie’s Pool Supplies on Dawsonville Highway told police the comedian punched him during an argument. Williams, who told TMZ he did what he had to do after the employee made a racist remark, was released on $5,000 bond in that incident.
That same week, Williams and about 15 members of his entourage and security team were accused of physically attacking and stealing cellphones from five women visiting Atlanta for the weekend.
He was also recently accused of fighting agitators in Los Angeles — which he told TMZ was self-defense — and bum-rushing a stage and punching a man at a rap show in Philadelphia.
Cedric “The Entertainer,” Niecy Nash, Wesley Jonathan, and John Beasley will return for a 5th and final season of TV Land’s comedy series “The Soul Man,” the network announced today.
The series follows Boyce (Cedric “The Entertainer”) after he relocated with his wife, hairdresser Lolli (Niecy Nash) from Las Vegas to St. Louis, where they’re constantly caught between their celebrity life and the simple life of a reverend’s family.
This season, Boyce sets out on a campaign trail to run for Mayor with his supportive wife by his side, while his brother Stamps (Wesley Jonathan), who is still trying to figure out life, attempts to help him campaign the best way he knows how. Boyce’s father, Barton (John Beasley) is still holding the reigns to the church, and rounding out the cast, Missi Pyle has joined as Boyce’s overly-aggressive but “not quite all there” campaign manager, Alicia.
“The Soul Man” returns for its 5th and final season on March 30th at 10:30 PM ET/PT on TV Land.
Source: Shadow & Act
Jerrod Carmichael joined Charlamagne, Angela Yee and DJ Envy on The Breakfast Club this morning. The NBC star discussed his highly anticipated season 2 of ‘The Carmichael Show.’ Viewers can expect episodes that touch on everything from guns to race to the downfall of Bill Cosby.
“For me, it’s like if I can somehow expand consciousness by saying ‘Hey you can think like this. You can think removed from the parameters of how you’re supposed to think.’ Like if humor can do that and in some sense try and expand consciousness on any level.”
One year after working out with the LSU football team, comedian Kevin Hart was in Baton Rouge again for more athletic competition.
Thursday, the star of Ride Along and Get Hard went from signing autographs to racing against one of the south’s best athletes, LSU sprinter Jada Martin.
Several cameras recorded video evidence of the encounter. Check it out below:
How does @Jada_MAC warm up for practice? A street race with @KevinHart4real of course! #GeauxFasterJada #QuickWit pic.twitter.com/1lFt0eHeQC
— LSUTrackField (@LSUTrackField) March 10, 2016
Hart spent time with Les Miles and the Tigers last July, during which time he went through 1-on-1 receiving drills against his friend Harry Ratchford, according to NOLA.com‘s Jerit Roser.
Martin, who specializes in the 200-yard dash, is an All-American junior for the Tigers.