Just a few months after the premier of her BET.com web-series, “Buppies,” Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum Tatyana Ali is trying to recreate her 90’s sitcom magic with “Love That Girl” on TV One. Produced by Martin Lawrence and created by Bentley Kyle Evans (who produced “The Jamie Foxx Show”), the series features Ali as a divorcee ready to celebrate her freedom by wielding her newly earned real estate license around L.A. in her knock-off designer suits, as her friends so eagerly point out.

With reality shows in heavy rotation on almost every network from Discovery Health to the Food Channel, scripted sitcoms are refreshing and gladly welcomed – especially Black sitcoms. It would seem, however, that the combination of veterans from “Martin”, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “The Jamie Foxx Show” could come up with a better product than “Love That Girl.” From her flamboyant neighbors who prance around in fluffy pink robes, “man purses” and announce “heeeyy!” in unison when they enter a room; to the over-the-top Shaneyney wanna-be who wears neon catsuits to her job at a real estate office and said “oh uh uh!” one too many times for a half-hour show. The corny one-liners and the extreme character personalities left me cringing more than laughing.

If there was any hope of a return to quality scripted television, it won’t come with “Love That Girl.”

-- JADA F. SMITH

Larry Platt, obviously too old to really be considered as a contestant on American Idol, had a few choice words for all the young men out there wearing their pants too low. He's a 62-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War and has set himself up to be one of the most memorable performers on the show's history. Watch here.

Platt has quickly become a star. He'll appear on The View on Monday to perform his song once again. And of course, he's already staked his claim on Twitter. Follow the trending topic "Pants on the Ground" here.

RT @RyanSeacrest "Pants on the ground" fever hits youtube! haha watch these covers http://bit.ly/7EOtjz‬

Soar_09: oh man idk why i watched this Pants on the ground video but its now stuck in my head... this is gonna be a hit!

Platt's definitely on to something here. And I'm glad the Idol producers let him on the show--even if just to get a laugh and better ratings--to send out a little message to all the baggin', saggin' guys--and girls, yes I've seen it--out there. So what do you think about Larry Platt and his Idol hit?

--ERIN EVANS

It's week one of the new year, but ye olde stereotyping won't drop as quickly as that ball did on midnight. It's a shame that my first TEWW post in 2010 has to be about ANOTHER ignorant ad. Apparently, KFC's execs didn't get my 2009 memo to text service company KGB: Minority consumers won't turn a blind eye to racist commercials!

I guess, racial sensitivity wasn't on KFC's resolution list. Check out a recent ad they released in Australia as a part of "KFC's Cricket Survival Guide:"

Why, oh why, did the fast-food giant feel compelled to go for the overdone -- and offensive -- connection between black folks and their bird. Oh, that's right, there's no racism in Australia. Responding to backlash that resulted from online reproductions of the ad in the United States, KFC has released a public statement emphasizing that the "culturally-based stereotype" of chicken-loving darkies is specific to the U.S. and that their "light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team" was misintepreted by American viewers.

Fair enough. But how much longer will the "I didn't know I couldn't do that" defense be used before we start conquering some stubborn social mores? A similarly offensive commercial floating around YouTube illustrates just how far the chicken-loving Negro has made it around the world.

So, unless Dave Chappelle was right about our predisposition for poultry, KFC should pull the commercial. Contact them here to tell them so. Corporations need to be conscious of their global consumers. Cultural ignorance is so 2009. And stereotyping? We off that.

-- SAARET E. YOSEPH

Every few years, people in the fashion industry rediscover Africa. Like mini-skirts and ripped jeans, African textiles reappear on the runways of New York and Europe and their revival is duly noted. Fashion is cyclical like that and I have no problems with the media taking note. That's what I do for a living after all; musing about trends is what keeps the kibble in my doggie's dish. But what distresses me about stories, such as the one that recently turned up in the New York Times, is the way that African aesthetics are consistenly viewed through the dual lenses of race and politics. It always has to mean something when people--black or white or brown or yellow--decide to incorporate African textiles into their wardrobe, for instance. Today those decisions now serve as evidence of how far we have come in our race relations or how everyone feels connected to Africa or how Africa is romantic or non-commercial or some such.

I long for the day when the explanation for embracing African aesthetics is simple and wholly mundane: They're pretty.

It will be a fine day when the decision to mix Nigerian fabrics with gray flannel is no longer treated like fashion's equivalent of a United Nations treaty.

That kind of nonchalant reaction won't lesson the rich history of African style and it won't diminish its beauty. But it will mean that at long last African aesthetics won't be treated as a curious "other" whose emergence in the mainstream not only has to be acknowledged but dissected. The implication of that parsing? There has to be some complicated reason why African textiles are popular; it can't be merely because they are attractive, because that would mean our definition of beauty has been limited, misguided or just plain wrong.

The best designers who are inspired by Africa take advantage of the continent's textiles with the same ease other designers have with Swiss lace, Irish wool or Chinese silk. Africa's beauty can be embraced by anyone. And that shouldn't come as a surprise.

--ROBIN GIVHAN