“Abbott Elementary” will finally reveal Janine’s mother on the ABC comedy’s April 12 episode, and even though it’s April Fool’s Day, we’re not (Cookie) Lyon: It’s “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson, who will play Vanetta on the hit comedy series.
The casting of Henson was revealed Saturday at the Paley Center for Media’s annual PaleyFest LA event, where an “Abbott Elementary” panel featured stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James Wiliams, and William Stanford Davis in person, as well as Janelle James and Chris Perfetti via Zoom from New York. Pre-taping a message was star and executive producer Quinta Brunson, who wasn’t able to attend — as she’s hosting tonight’s installment of “Saturday Night Live.”
In the “Abbott Elementary” episode “Mom,” Janine (played by Brunson) is planning a Memorial Day weekend solo trip. But that’s derailed when her mother Vanetta, played by Henson, shows up unannounced and asking for help. (The episode’s B story line involves Gregory, played by Williams, looking to brush up on his people skills.)
“Mom,” which airs at 9 p.m. ET on April 12, is the 21st episode of Season 2; the season finale of “Abbott Elementary” airs the next week.
Henson is the latest guest star to appear as a part of Janine’s family, as the show continues to start sharing more background on its characters. Also this season, Ayo Edibiri appeared as Ayesha, Janine’s sister.
Henson earned three Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics Choice Award and three BET awards for playing Cookie Lyon on the smash hit “Empire.” Her other credits include “Hustle & Flow,” her breakout role that earned her a BET Award for best actress, among other accolades.
Henson has been seen in the films “Hidden Figures,” “Think Like a Man,” “Talk to Me,” “Smokin’ Aces,” “The Family That Preys,” “No Good Dead,” “Hurricane Season,” “Larry Crowne,” “What Men Want,” “The Best of Enemies” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which earned her an Oscar nom for supporting actress.
Henson has also lent her voice to the animated films “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2.” She additionally won an NAACP award for her role as Miss Hannigan in NBC’s “Annie Live!”
Next up, she appears in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical take on “The Color Purple.”
Source: Variety
The Humor Mill recently got a chance to sit down with comedian, content creator, and actor, Kraig Smith to discuss Roast Dominoes League, a brand new live competition series that takes the art form of trash talk to an entirely new level.
In case you are not familiar, Kraig Smith has over 120M views across all social media platforms and has gained a new following through hosting multiple shows across the live-streaming platform known as Caffeine. With the live weekly series, Roast Dominoes League, Kraig has fostered a loyal community centered around rap music and shit-talking where his fans can watch their favorite competitors from the world of music, comedy, and culture throw down against one another.
Fans can watch new episodes of Roast Dominoes League LIVE, every Sunday, and on-demand on Caffeine, via @TheComedyPress
Check out the new trailer of the upcoming season HERE on Caffeine!
Check out the interview below, as our host, Eunice Elliott sits down the Kraig Smith below;
A spinoff of the hit drama series Snowfall is in early stages of development at FX, according to sources. No one would comment but we hear that, if it comes to fruition, the offshoot would potentially star Gail Bean reprising her fan-favorite Snowfall character, Wanda.
The spinoff is a continuation of the original story set in 1990s Los Angeles as South Central transitions out of the crack era into the gangster rap business, with areas heavily infested by gangs led by the Bloods and Crips. Wanda would serve as the connective tissue between the original show and the offshoot, which is expected to introduce other main characters.
It is as yet unknown if any other characters from the original could also appear in the new show.
Malcolm Spellman will serve as executive producer and writer of the pilot. Returning executive producers include Dave Andron (co-creator of the original and showrunner of Snowfall), Trevor Engelson through Underground, Michael London through Groundswell, and Tommy Schlamme through Shoe Money, alongside his executive Julie DeJoie.
Also expected to get credit are the original series’ co-creators John Singleton (posthumously) and Eric Amadio, as well as its producer Evan Silverberg.
Following 6 successful seasons on FX, Snowfall will complete its run on April 19th. The series stars Damson Idris as Franklin Saint, a young drug kingpin in 1980s Los Angeles during the height of the crack epidemic.
One of Franklin’s closest associates is longtime friend Leon (Isaiah John), with who he hustles on the streets. In early seasons, Wanda was Leon’s girlfriend who becomes addicted to crack and ends up homeless. She struggles to kick the habit and survives, working odd jobs while focusing on staying clean. Wanda and Leon eventually marry in Ghana in the third episode of the sixth and final season, currently airing on Wednesday nights.
Also in Season 6, civil war threatens to destroy the Saint family. Franklin is desperate and forced to rob his Aunt Louie (Angela Lewis) and Uncle Jerome (Amin Joseph) after being wiped out by former CIA officer Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson). Meanwhile, Louie has taken over Franklin’s role as Teddy’s sole buyer, undercutting her nephew and creating a competing empire in the process. Franklin is now faced with losing everyone he loves and everything he’s built, and coming through it all will mean out-maneuvering the KGB, the DEA, and the CIA, as well as avoiding the LAPD’s fully militarized, fully corrupt, C.R.A.S.H units. Sergio Peris-Mencheta also stars.
Snowfall was John Singleton’s final project before his death in 2019, which he created alongside Amadio and Andron. The series is executive produced by Singleton, Andron, Schlamme, Amadio, London, Engelson, Leonard Chang, Walter Mosley, and Julie DeJoie. Idris also serves as Producer. Snowfall is produced by FX Productions.
Source: Deadline
In competition, Amazon Studios is in final talks for the package The Pick Up, with Eddie Murphy eyeing to star and Tim Story attached to direct. John Davis and John Fox will produce through his Davis Entertainment banner. Murphy and Charisse Hewitt-Webster also are in talks to produce through Eddie Murphy Productions, and Story also will be a producer.
The package is based on a spec script written by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider, and the prospect of the elements drove the bidding up to seven figures for the script, sources said. Three others bid for it. The scribes teamed on the 2018 comedy The Package and created the Condé Nast series Gentlemen Lobsters.
Sources called it a heist comedy in the Bad Boys, and Murphy would play a guy who becomes smitten with a woman and finds himself mixed up in a heist attempt. The scribes’ most recent spec Shots! Shots! Shots! was picked up by Universal for Jason Momoa to star in and produce with Dan Lin.
Murphy and Davis have made five films together, the most recent of which is Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, a Critics Choice Award winner for Best Comedy. Murphy recently starred with Jonah Hill in the Netflix comedy You People.
Story’s next up is The Blackening, which Lionsgate acquired after its Toronto premiere and is slotted for release June 16th, which is Juneteenth.
Story is repped by UTA and attorney Matt Johnson, Murphy by WME and Ziffrin Brittenham, and Burrows & Mider are with WME and Silver Lake Entertainment’s Yuli Masinovsky.
Source: Deadline
Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson are joining Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr in the latter pair’s CBS family comedy.
The untitled project, which picked up a pilot order in February, has also set Andy Ackerman as director and exec producer of the pilot.
It centers on a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced “Poppa” (Wayans) who has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son (Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.
Atkins plays Dr. Ivy Reed, an intelligent, savvy and bold, Ivy is the host of the “Ask Doctor Reed” radio show where she gives helpful advice to listeners with a modern approach on life. When the network wants to modernize Poppa’s outdated routine, Ivy joins him as a co-host; she quickly dismantles his old-school arguments, and a new rivalry is instantly born.
Jackson plays Nina, Junior’s loving, real and detail oriented wife. She is his biggest supporter, but his biggest motivator as well. She doesn’t want Junior to give up his dream, but hopes he can focus more on work in the meantime – she’s already raising two kids and can’t have him acting like a third. Even with all the distractions and family drama, Nina and Junior always make a great team.
Atkins is currently recurring on the BET+ series First Wives Club and ABC’s Milo Ventimiglia new series The Company You Keep. She previously starred for two seasons opposite Marlon Wayans in NBC’s Marlon. She is repped by Buchwald and Kathy McComb Management.
Jackson is currently recurring on Freeform’s Good Trouble and for the past two seasons she had been recurring on ABC’s Home Economics. She is represented by BRS-Gage and The Priluck Company.
Wayans, Kevin Hench and Wayans Jr. executive produce. CBS Studios, where Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment has been based since its launch, is the studio. Kameron Tarlow, VP Productions, will be overseeing the project for Two Shakes.
Source: Deadline
The Humor Mill catches up with cast members Grasie Mercedes and Aaron Jennings of NBC’s Grand Crew to learn more about season 2; what they enjoy doing when they’re not sipping wine on TV, and whether we’ll see sparks fly among the friends this season.
Watch the interview with our host Eunice Elliott below;
The “Queen of Hip Hop Soul,” will be the queen of this summer with two new original movies inspired by Mary J. Blige’s biggest hits — Mary J. Blige’s Real Love and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, set to premiere on back-to-back Saturdays, beginning June 10 at 8p/7c. The two-pack of movies are headlined by Ajiona Alexus (Empire,13 Reasons Why) and Da’Vinchi (BMF, All American) with Princess Davis, Austin Anozie, Millan Tesfazgi, Shiraine Haas, Garfield Wilson, and Hamza Fouad rounding out the cast and portrays the highs and lows of young Black love.
Mary J. Blige’s Real Love follows 18-year-old Kendra (Alexus) as she sets off on her own for the first time at an HBCU in North Carolina. Attending on a scholarship, Kendra is determined to focus on school while balancing work study and keeping things professional with Ben (Da’Vinchi), her photo class partner. Despite disapproving parents, financial hardship, and even an unexpected pregnancy, Kendra and Ben find themselves falling hard for each other and ultimately learning the meaning of “Real Love.” Even when Kendra realizes that in order to pursue her dreams, she must leave Ben behind, it’s certain that their story isn’t over…
The story of Kendra and Ben continues in Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman, jumping ahead more than 15 years. Now a successful photographer, Kendra finds herself in a failing marriage and must reckon with the decisions she made for the life she thought she wanted. When Ben unexpectedly comes back into her life, she is forced to a crisis point and must dig deep to find the strength to take control of her life and accept the love Ben may be offering again.
In support of the content, Lifetime has partnered with Take Back The Night Foundation(R), an international event and non-profit organization with the mission ending all forms of sexual violence, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, trafficking, stalking, gender harassment, and relationship violence, and to support survivors in their healing journeys.
Helming both movies as executive producers are John Davis and Jordan Davis of Davis Entertainment Jordan recently produced Lifetime’s highly rated film, Love You to Death, inspired by the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Jordan is also a producer on Netflix’s upcoming science-fiction/fantasy film The Uglies, starring Joey King and Laverne Cox. Set to be released this year, development on the project dates back to 2006 as it was a favorite novel of Jordan and her daughter’s. Veteran film, television and award-winning producer John Davis is known for more than 115 top grossing feature films including Jungle Cruise, Predator, Grumpy Old Men, Waterworld and most recently Prey, to name a few.
Mary J. Blige also serves as an executive producer on both original films through her own production banner, Blue Butterfly with Ashaunna K. Ayars and Q. Nicole Jackson as co-producers. Blige has a proven track record of resonating with Lifetime’s audiences, having previously executive produced Lifetime’s top-rated original movie of 2020, The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel alongside fellow EPs Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott. In 2020, The Clark Sisters reached more than 13.9 million Total Viewers1 and was 2020’s #1 original movie on cable.2 Blige also starred as Dr. Betty Shabazz in her first movie role in the Lifetime civil rights biopic Betty & Coretta, with Angela Bassett.
In addition, Mary J. Blige’s Real Love and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman are also produced by Front Street Pictures and are being distributed by Sony Pictures Television. Camrus Johnson directs Real Love from a script written by Sonja Warfield and Rachel Ingram, and Shari Lynette Carpenter directs Strength of a Woman from a script written by Ingram.
Netflix dropped the official trailer for Mo’Nique’s newest stand-up special, My Name is Mo’Nique.
Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique is back with a new stand-up special, My Name is Mo’Nique, premiering globally on Netflix on April 4th.
Mo’Nique delivers a career-defining, powerhouse stand-up performance in her unprecedented return to the stage. Filled with laugh-till-you-cry stories as well as soul-baring emotion, Mo’Nique promises that by the end of the show you will understand why she is the way she is, and true to form, she delivers. From the mean streets of Baltimore and remembering her Grandma Mimi’s warnings about men, to why she “ACCEPTS” the sometimes-harsh realities that come with life, Mo’Nique with her unique brand of candor, fearlessness, and humor reveals all of herself, and leaves nothing on the table.
Directed by L. Frazier
Executive Producers: Sidney Hicks & Monique Hicks.
As previously announced, Mo’Nique is also set to star in the Netflix film The Deliverance from Lee Daniels.
NEW YORK, NY – Lifetime reteams with Meagan Good (Harlem, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) to executive produce and star in the Ripped from the Headlines feature, Buying Back My Daughter (working title), inspired by actual events of mothers who fight back when their teenage daughters go missing and are sex trafficked online. Good continues her relationship with Lifetime after having starred in and produced the films Death Saved My Life and Love By the 10th Date. Buying Back My Daughter will continue to bring to light important issues and continue to drive messaging for network’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
On the heels of the network’s recent successful features, Black Girl Missing, Girl in the Closet, and The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story, Buying Back My Daughter is the latest movie for the network’s Ripped from the Headlines slate. Currently filming now, the movie also stars Ariana Madix (Vanderpump Rules), Roger Cross (Arrow), and Faith Wright (Riverdale).
When Dana (Meagan Good) and Curtis’ (Roger Cross) 16-year-old daughter, Alicia (Faith Wright), sneaks out of the house to attend a party, a bout with teenage rebellion quickly escalates into a widespread search party spearheaded by Dana and the police. After almost a year of searching for her missing daughter, mother’s intuition leads Dana to the salacious world of online escort ads where, to her horror, she finds her Alicia listed for sale. Dana and Curtis spring into action and attempt to “buy their daughter back” in order to rescue her from the trafficker who abducted Alicia and subjected her to unspeakable harm. Ariana Madix stars as Karen, a police officer who helps investigate the case and has a personal connection to the story.
Buying Back My Daughter is produced by Front Street Pictures for distribution by Lifetime. Produced by Charles Cooper. Executive producers are Orly Adelson, Allen Lewis, and Meagan Good with James Jope as co-executive producer. Troy Scott directs from a script written by Barbara Marshall.
Good is repped by The Gersh Agency, Atlas Artists, The Initiative Group, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman, Rubenstein, Kohner, Endlich & Gellman.
Back in January 2022, South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced that they’d signed on to produce an untitled live-action comedy for Paramount alongside Kendrick Lamar and his creative partner Dave Free. Emmy-winning South Park scribe Vernon Chatman wrote the script, but the report specifically said that there was no director attached to the project.
Sources now tell Above the Line that Parker will direct the film himself, though it remains unclear when production will start. The project was initially scheduled to start shooting last spring before Parker’s South Park commitments got in the way.
Chatman’s script finds the past and present coming to a head when a young Black man who is interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.
Parker and Stone are producing under their Park County banner, while Free and Grammy-winning rapper Lamar will produce via their company pgLang, which launched in 2020 and serves as a record label, as well as a production and publishing house. The untitled Paramount feature will be the pgLang’s first.
Paramount Pictures CEO/President Brian Robbins called the producing team “creative visionaries” in a statement last year and boasted that the project would be “a powerful storytelling experience.” The studio will handle theatrical distribution, home entertainment, and television licensing rights, with the film also slated to stream on Paramount+.
In addition to South Park, which will return to Comedy Central for its 26th season, and the Oscar-nominated movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Parker and Stone are the creators of Team America: World Police and BASEketball, as well as the co-creators of Tony-winning Broadway musical Book of Mormon along with Robert Lopez. Parker is represented by WME.
A representative for Paramount had no comment. The studio has Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves set for release on March 31, while Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will hit theaters on July 14th.
Source: Above The Line