Television
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O-T Fagbenle Will Be the Barack to Viola Davis' Michelle in Showtime Anthology Series, The First Lady
In 2019, we first heard that Viola Davis would be portraying former (and forever) first lady Michelle Obama in an upcoming Showtime anthology series aptly titled, The First Lady. After quite a wait, we finally know who will be portraying Barack Obama in the series. Variety has confirmed that O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) will…
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Nostalgia-palooza: Paramount+ Is Rebooting Behind the Music, Yo! MTV Raps and Unplugged
Remember when music videos used to play on television? Of course you do, because nostalgic internet users talk about it all the time, often with wistful sighs. Recently, a graphic floated around on Twitter showing the programming slate for MTV’s current television shows. Which show dominated damn near every damn broadcast time slot? Ridiculousness, a TV…
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'I Wants Us to Feel Seen So Bad': Amber Ruffin to Air on NBC, Making Her the Only Black Woman With a Network Late-Night Show
Since the very start of late night television talk/variety shows (Broadway Open House was the first to air in a late night slot in 1950 on NBC), we’ve all become accustomed to watching a succession of white men sitting at a desk and interviewing famous folks—after warming us up with a relevant monologue, of course.…
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Q Is Smart, Q Is Kind, Q Is Important: A Response to Tucker Carlson's Allegation That QAnon Doesn't Exist
Dear Mr. Carlson, Between my morning briefing on the status of the Democratic Party’s sex trafficking and my afternoon insurrection workout (mostly just police-beating exercises with a flagpole), I was informed by one of my most loyal parishioners (who may or may not represent Georgia’s 14th Congressional District) that you have been spreading lies and…
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The Devil Has a New Blue Dress to Wear—Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins Books Are Being Adapted for TV
The leading character of the 1995 neo-noir mystery Devil in a Blue Dress, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins is getting his own TV series. Originally portrayed in the feature film by Denzel Washington, Rawlins is a character created by author Walter Mosley and is featured in his bestselling books. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amblin Television is…
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Showtime Sets Premiere Date for New Sketch Comedy Series From Comedian Ziwe Fumudoh
Former Desus & Mero writer and comedian Ziwe Fumudoh will be making her small screen debut soon, thanks to Showtime. Deadline announced that the network has signed on to launch Ziwe, a six-part sketch comedy series that will consist of interviews, musical numbers, guest stars, sketches, fake commercials and field pieces. Originally securing a straight-to-series…
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Clean Slate: Laverne Cox, George Wallace to Star in New Comedy From Norman Lear and Sony Pictures TV
Norman Lear, the TV legend behind The Jeffersons, Good Times, and Sanford & Son, is back with a new project named Clean Slate starring Laverne Cox and comedian George Wallace. Variety reports that the half-hour comedy follows “car wash owner ‘Henry,’ whose estranged child comes home to Alabama after 17 years. But he must do some…
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That Warm Dr. Hibbert Chuckle We All Know From The Simpsons Will Finally Be a Black Man's Voice
If you’re a fan of The Simpsons, you know the laugh. It’s the laugh of Springfield’s local medical professional, Dr. Hibbert, who always has the propensity to make a warm-hearted pun in the midst of chaos. For over 30 years, that chuckle has come from the voice of actor Harry Shearer. Just in case you…
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Birth of Cool Series From Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad and Macro Finds a Home at BET+
A new series from Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions and Macro will be headed to BET+ soon, The Root has learned. According to Deadline, the show, titled Birth of Cool, will be centered around “Crispus Attucks High, a predominantly Black high school in Compton [Calif.]. The half-hour dramedy follows the adventures and misadventures of both…
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From Scratch: Director Nzingha Stewart Tapped for New Limited Series From Netflix
Nzingha Stewart, one of the directors of Hulu’s Emmy Award-winning Little Fire’s Everywhere, will be flexing her directorial skills once again for an upcoming limited series starring and executive produced by Zoe Saldana. Per Deadline, the series titled From Scratch, will be based on the 2019 bestselling memoir from Tembi Locke and is being described…