On This Day In Comedy… In 1977 Comedian, Actor Freddie James Prinze, Sr. Passed Away!
On this day in comedy on January 29, 1977 Comedian, Actor, Freddie James Prinze, Sr. died.
Born Frederick Karl Pruetzel on June 22, 1954 in New York City, the Puerto Rican / German was raised in a mixed neighborhood and took those diverse experiences to the stage as a comic. Prinze dropped out of school in his senior year, altered his Germany heritage to Hungarian and introduced himself to audiences as a “Hungarican” in New York comedy clubs like Catch A Rising Star and The Improv. He adopted the stage name of “Prinze” as a compromise to his original wish moniker of being the “King of Comedy”. Since that title was already taken (by Alan King) he settled for being known as the prince.
1973 was the year of Freddie Prinze. He made a memorable appearance on Jack Paar’s Tonite as the show was making its swan song and at the end of that year Prinze made history on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. After his rousing stand-up set he was bestowed with every young comedian’s dream – he was invited to sit down on the couch and chat it up with Johnny. Wow!!! This was on his very first appearance. He knocked it out of the park on The Midnight Special right after that and the industry took notice.
Freddie Prinze was cast by NBC to star in their new sitcom, Chico and the Man. His co-star was veteran entertainer, Jack Albertson. The show was another NBC hit and Prinze was another NBC star; that carried perks. Prinze was hired numerous times for The Dean Martin Roasts (Muhammad Ali, Sammy Davis, Jr.), starred in the TV movie, The Million Dollar Rip-Off and since they liked him NBC signed Prinze to a five year deal worth $6 million. He also dropped his comedy album, Looking Good, during this time.
The career side of Freddie Prinze’s life was outwardly ideal and it was assumed his personal life was as well. He was rich, had a new bride and a healthy baby son (future actor Freddie Prinze, Jr.). What wasn’t known outwardly was that Prinze suffered from depression and was addicted to drugs. This put a strain on his erstwhile perceived storybook existence and the marriage ended abruptly following an arrest (Prinze was driving under the influence of Quaaludes). So with his wife and child out of his life Prinze sunk further into a depressed funk and on January 28, 1977 he put a revolver to his head and committed suicide; dying 33 hours after the fatal wound. He left a note behind blaming no one but himself. He also left an unfulfilled promise and a legacy of brief comedy brilliance.
The life and times of Freddie Prinze have been explored in a book (The Freddie Prinze Story) and film (Can You Hear the Laughter? – the Story of Freddie Prinze). In 2004, the Hollywood Walk of Fame recognized his contributions with a star for Prinze on Hollywood Boulevard.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1942 John Witherspoon Was Born!
On this day in comedy on January 27, 1942 Comedian, Actor, John Witherspoon was born in Detroit, Michigan.
Born John “Weatherspoon”, he changed his name because of course “Witherspoon” is an obvious improvement. He had other moniker alterations as well. For instance he also went by the name of “Mexico” John Witherspoon and Johnny Witherspoon. Then again he broke into show business as a male model (he was a “Duke Man” in Jet magazine) where aliases’ were a necessity, but in the late 60s he drifted into stand-up comedy.
John Witherspoon’s onstage persona was accessible and animated. In other words it was a perfect combination for film and television. His first role was as a youth counselor on an episode of the CBS detective show, Barnaby Jones. He went on to guest star in such 70s hits as Good Times, The Incredible Hulk and What’s Happening!! Comedian / Writer, Paul Mooney pegged Witherspoon to be part of the ensemble for The Richard Pryor Show in 1977. The show only lasted 4 episodes, but Witherspoon made an impression. He also made a string of guest starring roles: WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues, L. A. Law, You Again? Frank’s Place, 227, What’s happening Now!!, Amen, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and as a regular on Townsend Television.
Film work has been a constant thread throughout Witherspoon’s career. He started out in 1980’s The Jazz Singer as the M C and 1986s Ratboy, but in 1987 things went into overdrive. Hollywood began making black films again and Witherspoon was in practically all of them beginning with the Robert Townsend / Keenen Ivory Wayans parody, Hollywood Shuffle. After that they just kept coming: I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Bird, House Party, Talkin Dirty After Dark, The Five heartbeats, Boomerang, Meteor Man, Fatal Instinct, Murder Was the Case and Friday.
The Ice Cube / Chris Tucker blockbuster, Friday spawned a franchise and gave Witherspoon his largest role to showcase his talents. In Boomerang he popularized in catchphrase “Bang, bang, bang, bang”, but in the Friday films he was able to utilize all his antics. He played Ice Cube’s father; the kind of dad that would call you into the toilet for a family conference / chastising session while he took a dump. Those same hilarious ticks and verbal assaults got a long term workout back on television on the WB sitcom, The Wayans Bros. Witherspoon played father to Shawn and Marlon Wayans (Williams on the show). He ran a café by day and the attention to him in every scene he stole.
Witherspoon loved stealing scenes. He did it in 2003 on The Tracy Morgan Show for all 18 episodes. He did on Living Single, Black Jesus and Black-ish. He stole them in even more films: Vampire in Brooklyn, Sprung, Bulworth, I Got the Hook Up, Fakin Da Funk, Little Nicky, Soul Plane, Little Man, and A Thousand Words. He did it when he did voice-overs for animated series, Wayneshead, The Proud Family, Kim Possible and The Boondocks. He’s done it in music videos for Goodie Mob, L L Cool J, Field Mob, Hitman Sammy Sam and Jay-Z and John Witherspoon always steals the show whenever he tours as a stand-up comedian.
On This Day In Comedy…. In 1892 Zara Cully Was Born!
On this day in comedy on January 26, 1892 Actress, Zara Frances Cully was born in Worchester, Massachusetts.
Once known as the oldest performer on television, Zara Cully received fame late in her career mainly because she was militant. She was recognized as the world’s greatest elocutionist following a 1940 stage appearance in New York for Cully had put her formal training (the Worchester School of Speech and Music) to good use. She wrote, produced, directed and starred in many plays in Jacksonville, Florida and opened her own studio where she taught for over 15 years. Cully’s irreconcilable obstacle became her intolerance for the ways of the old South and she packed her bags and headed west to Hollywood.
In California Cully found the respect she craved. She was a regular member at the Ebony Showcase Theatre and appeared in numerous films including, The Learning Tree, Sugar Hill, The Liberation of L. B. Jones and The Great White Hope. On the small screen Cully was seen Playhouse 90, Run For Your Life, Cowboy in Africa, Name of the Game, Mod Squad, Night Gallery and All In The Family. It was on that latter program that Cully landed the role of her lifetime.
The Jeffersons was a spin-off of the Norman Lear hit, All in the Family. At the age of 82, Cully was introduced on an episode featuring her son, George (Sherman Hemsley), his wife Louise (Isabel Sanford) , who Cully’s character, “Mother Jefferson”, did not approve of and her grandson, Lionel (Mike Evans). From there the dynamics was set. Mother Jefferson would make visits to her successful son’s high rise apartment in Manhattan, argue with Louise, praise George and Lionel and generally pout about how she’s neglected. Cully pulled it off masterfully until the third season. The venerable performer had contracted pneumonia and had a collapsed lung. Regardless, that didn’t stop her from returning to the show after a 17 episode absence where she was embraced by cast and audience alike. However, that hug tragically ended on November 12, 1977 when Mother Jefferson made her last appearance on The Jeffersons. Three months later the woman who brought the adorable character to life passed away on February 28, 1978 in Los Angeles, California of lung cancer. She was 86 years old.
The NAACP awarded Zara Cully a posthumous special Image Award on June 9, 1978.
See The New Poster Mike Epps, Paul Mooney, Charlie Murphy Comedy-Thriller ‘Meet the Blacks’!
Mike Epps, Zulay Henao, Bresha Webb, George Lopez, Gary Owen, Lil Duval, Mike Tyson, Tiny Cottle, Perez Hilton, Paul Mooney, and Charlie Murphy all star in director Deon Taylor’s comedy-thriller, “Meet the Blacks.”
The project hails from Hidden Empire Film Group and is produced by Roxanne Avent, Shannon McIntosh and Taylor.
Original music for the film is written, produced and performed by RZA.
Freestyle Releasing has set an April 1st theatrical release for the movie which is described as a spoof of “The Purge” franchise of films.
Said Taylor, “’Meet the Blacks’ takes spoofing to a new level and is pure cinematic fun for audiences who just want to laugh. This movie assembles a very diverse comedy all-star team that delivers on this promise – in a big way. We truly feel it has all the ingredients for a breakout hit.”
Taylor added, “Freestyle is a great partner for this film. They are a dynamic team who are astute at reaching audiences in unique ways resulting in great connectivity with viewers. Together with Freestyle, we think audiences will definitely make an appointment to ‘Meet the Blacks’ this April!”
A first release poster for the upcoming film is out, and embedded at the top of this post. Full trailer below:
Source; Shadow & Act
Byron Allen Now Files A $10B Lawsuit Again The FCC And Charter!
You might feel like you’ve read this one before – and you have, kind of. Less than a month after Byron Allen got AT&T and DirecTV carriage deals after charging them with racial discrimination in a $10 billion lawsuit, he’s got some new targets. Today, both the Federal Communications Commission and Charter Communications were sued for $10 billion in federal court by Allen’s Entertainment Studios and the National Association of African-American Owned Media for “racial discrimination in contracting for television channel carriage.”
“President Obama and the Democratic Party have completely excluded the African-American community when it comes to economic inclusion,” Allen said in a statement Wednesday. “Everyone talks about diversity, but diversity in Hollywood and the media starts with ownership. African-Americans don’t need handouts and donations; we can hire ourselves if white corporate America does business with us in a fair and equitable way.”
And that includes the FCC, according to today’s lawsuit.
“A driving purpose of the Federal Communications Act and the First Amendment is to ensure the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse sources,” the jury seeking complaint (read it here) says of the Obama administration body. “Yet the FCC has done nothing to protect the voices of African-American-owned media companies in the face of increased media consolidation,” it adds, noting the proposed $55 billion merger of Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable. “Instead, the FCC works hand-in-hand with these merging television distribution companies to enable and facilitate their Civil Rights violations. The FCC’s apparent standard operating procedure is to obtain and accept sham diversity commitments from merger applicants, in excess of its statutory duties.”
And if the FCC got hit hard by Allen and NAAAOM, Charter and its execs really took a blow.
“At the direction of its President and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Rutledge, Defendant Charter Communications has intentionally excluded African-American-owned media companies, including Plaintiff Entertainment Studios, from contracting for carriage on its television distribution platform,” the complaint adds. “Rutledge did this himself and by and through his subordinates, including Allan Singer, Senior Vice President of Programming at Charter,” the 27-page filing notes, calling Rutledge, “a blatant racist.”
Today’s filing is the second such suit that Allen and NAAAOM have in the courts against the telecommunications giants right now. A $20 billion lawsuit against Comcast and Time Warner Cable was originally filed February 23, then dismissed by U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. on August 7, and then revived by him on August 19. On September 21, Allen and NAAAOM filed an amended complaint, which Comcast asked to be dismissed on October 21. While the matter is still before the courts, TWC was dismissed as a defendant from the case last fall with its merger with Comcast stopped short. Called a “token” and mentioned repeatedly in today’s suit, Al Sharpton and his National Action Network exited from the Comcast case in September. The NAACP and the Urban League also were dropped from the ongoing Comcast suit late last year.
As they did in the AT&T and DirecTV suit and are in the Comcast case, Louis “Skip” Miller’s Miller Barondess LLP is representing Allen’s ESN and NAAAOM in this matter.
Source: Deadline
Martin Lawrence To Film New Comedy Stand Up Special ‘Doin’ Time’ In LA!
We just discovered the news that comedian Martin Lawrence is about to film another comedy special!
We are sure that you are all aware that Martin has been touring the country with his new stand up comedy tour and as we reported last summer, it seems that Martin did eventually plan to film his new special named after his current tour, Doin Time.
As of this writing the new tour will be filmed at The Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on Feb 20th, and it seems that Martin is planning to produce the special himself.
More details are coming soon!
Marlon Wayans Talk ’50 Shades Of Black’ And Other Upcoming Projects On The Black Carpet!
Here is a red carpet interview we conducted with Marlon Wayans on the black carpet for his new film 50 Shades Of Black (which opens this Friday and also stars Kali Hawk and Mike Epps), and Marlon talks to our host Sharick LaMay about the new film, his career and his upcoming projects.
Watch the interview below;
Adele, Kendrick Lamar & The Weeknd To Perform At The Grammys!
Adele, Kendrick Lamar, the Weeknd and Little Big Town will all perform at the 58th Grammy Awards, according to an official announcement last week.
The artists make up the first wave of artists announced to perform at the music awards. Lamar is leading the pack in nominations this year with 11 nods, one of which being album of the year. The Weeknd also has his album “Beauty Behind the Madness” up for album of the year. Little Big town is up for two Grammys including best country album.
Since both her album “25” and single “Hello” were released after the nomination eligibility date, Adele isn’t nominated for any awards this year. She is, however, a near guarantee for strong ratings.
“This lineup of talented artists is just the beginning of what will, once again, prove to be music’s biggest night. We look forward to celebrating what’s been a wonderful year in music, honoring the best of the best and featuring never-before-seen performances,” Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.
Lionel Richie will also receive a special tribute as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year.
For the first time, the award show will broadcast live in both eastern and pacific time zones to help alleviate social media spoilers. The 58th Grammy Awards airs Feb. 15th.
On This Day In Comedy… In 1980 Black Entertainment Television (BET) Was Launched!
On this day in comedy on January 25, 1980 Black Entertainment Television (BET) was launched.
Following the model of urban radio and print media, Bob Johnson, a former DC cable lobbyist, founded BET using his connections in the fledgling cable and satellite television industry. After consulting with an investor looking to target the elderly for a niche station, Johnson (with permission) altered and used that pitch to begin the first black targeted network. He secured funding ($500,000) from entrepreneur friendly media executive, John Malone and that, along with a $15,000 loan got Johnson’s dream off the ground. It was headquartered in Washington, DC.
The initial programming for BET consisted of music videos, direct-to-video movies, reruns of old sitcoms and a smattering of theatrical films. It was only on for two hours per week as part of Nickelodeon and wouldn’t be its own fully operational station until July 1, 1983, but it made inroads right away and built its target audience. By 1988 there was BET News with anchorman, Ed Gordon and BET Tonight, a talk show hosted by Tavis Smiley (and later by Gordon) in 1996. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991 (the first black-owned company to ever do so) and in its heyday BET was known for Comic View (the stand-up comedy showcase hosted alternately by D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Sommore, Don DC Curry, Rickey Smiley, J. Anthony Brown, Sherryl Underwood and others), Video Soul with Donnie Simpson, Video Vibrations, Teen Summit, Screen Scene, Lead Story, Softones, Unreal/Planet Groove/Caribbean Rhythms and Jam Zone/Cita’s World.
In the late ‘90s BET went digital and expanded its brand with BET Jazz (targeting that specific market) and later partnering with John Malone to launch BET / Starz (later known as Black Starz and Starz in Black). The station added hit show 106 & Park in 2000.
In 2001 Johnson sold off his holdings to Viacom for $3 billion. It instantly lost its status as a black-owned company even though Johnson stayed on as president and CEO until 2005 when he stepped down and turned over his duties and titles to his long standing vice-president, Debra Lee. In 2007 the network launched BET Hip Hop, BET Gospel and slated a slew of reality shows. Reginald Hudlin, who had been the president in charge of entertainment left in 2008 and was replaced by Stephen Hill; the executive VP of music programming and talent.
BETs official slogan “We Got You” took on a negative connotation to some. Over its run, BET has experienced its share (if not more) of criticism for its programming. Celebrities and black organizations came out against the way women were portrayed in rap videos and black stereotypes in general. This prompted the station to launch BET Uncut from 2001 to 2006 so they could display this suggestive themes with a warning to the target audience of young adults over the age of 17 (without any way to monitor such a requirement). Most of these videos came from lesser known artists with poor production quality. However, they never did come up with an off-shot to combat the stereotypes.
Despite its bumpy history, BET became more than just a basic cable station for black people. It became an institution and brand for African-Americans (regardless of who owned it at the time). In 1993 it started broadcasting in the United Kingdom. In 1995 the BET Walk of Fame Awards was established. In 1997 BET became available in Canada. The BET Awards began in 2001 to celebrate black accomplishments in the acting, music, sports and other forms of entertainment. In 2004 proceeds were shared between the United Negro College Fund and the BET Foundation and in 2008 The BET Honors was established to pay tribute to the achievements of black luminaries and soon afterwards the station was licensed to be broadcast in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and is an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.
Sketch Spotlight: WATCH The Parody Of ‘Creed’ Titled ‘Apollo Speed’!
For the new episode of the sketch spotlight we want to showcase the new parody of the hit film Creed with the sketch titled Apollo Speed.
The new sketch stars Tpindell (427), Shelah Marie (Black Jesus), and Richard Ruskin (Days of Our Lives) and is Directed by Jon Lesane, while it was written byLucien Christian and Lesane.
