Reed-Ing Between the Lines: the Future of the Black Sitcom
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Cedric “The Entertainer”
CEDRIC “THE ENTERTAINER” Charismatic actor/ comedian CEDRIC "THE ENTERTAINER" is best known for his many crowd-pleasing performances in such hit films as BARBERSHOP, BE COOL with John Travolta, MADAGASCAR, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY with George Clooney, JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION (the 2004 box office hit in which Cedric was both star and producer), and THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY (MTV’S phenomenally successful documentary feature directed by Spike Lee), to name a few. Additionally, on the big screen, Cedric has recently been seen co-starring with Marlon Wayans in the box office hit "A HAUNTED HOUSE"; He has also starred opposite Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks in the comedy feature LARRY CROWNE; as well as shared the marquee in CADILLAC RECORDS with Adrien Brody and Beyonce Knowles; STREET KINGS opposite Keanu Reeves; WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS with Martin Lawrence; TALK TO ME starring Don Cheadle; CODENAME: THE CLEANER opposite Lucy Liu; THE HONEYMOONERS (in which he starred as Jackie Gleason’s famed character “Ralph Cramden”; with thumbs up from Roger Ebert); LEMONY SNICKET with Jim Carrey; MAN OF THE HOUSE with Tommy Lee Jones; BARBERSHOP 2; BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE; KINGDOM COME with Whoopi Goldberg; SERVING SARA with Matthew Perry; as well as displaying tremendous vocal talent in the family features MADAGASCAR 2, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, DR. DOLITTLE 2 and ICE AGE. He will next lend his voice to “DISNEY’s PLANES” in theaters on August 9, 2013. Marking yet another career highlight, on March 20, 2013, Cedric was named the new host of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” joining the long- running game show beginning with its 12th season in national syndication. -
Senior Women's Performances of Sexuality
“DUSTY MUFFINS”: SENIOR WOMEN’S PERFORMANCES OF SEXUALITY A Thesis by EVLEEN MICHELLE NASIR Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2012 Major Subject: Performance Studies “Dusty Muffins”: Senior Women’s Performances of Sexuality Copyright 2012 Evleen Michelle Nasir “DUSTY MUFFINS”: SENIOR WOMEN’S PERFORMANCES OF SEXUALITY A Thesis by EVLEEN MICHELLE NASIR Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved by: Chair of Committee, Kirsten Pullen Committee Members, Judith Hamera Harry Berger Alfred Bendixen Head of Department, Judith Hamera August 2012 Major Subject: Performance Studies iii ABSTRACT “Dusty Muffins”: Senior Women’s Performance of Sexuality. (August 2012) Evleen Michelle Nasir, B.A., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Kirsten Pullen There is a discursive formation of incapability that surrounds senior women’s sexuality. Senior women are incapable of reproduction, mastering their bodies, or arousing sexual desire in themselves or others. The senior actresses’ I explore in the case studies below insert their performances of self and their everyday lives into the large and complicated discourse of sex, producing a counter-narrative to sexually inactive senior women. Their performances actively embody their sexuality outside the frame of a character. This thesis examines how senior actresses’ performances of sexuality extend a discourse of sexuality imposed on older woman by mass media. These women are the public face of senior women’s sexual agency. -
Summer Programming
TV LAND BRINGS THE HEAT WITH A SUMMER LINE-UP FULL OF FUNNIEST STARS AND SITCOMS The Home of TV’s Favorite Sitcoms Sizzles With Original Series, A Special Presentation With Shirley MacLaine, And The Launch Of ‘That ‘70s Show” New York, NY – May 24, 2012 – TV Land’s summer programming is hotter than ever! Beginning June 1, the network is introducing a new summer line-up full of laughs with two nights of original sitcoms, including “The Soul Man,” starring Cedric “The Entertainer” and Niecy Nash, returning series “The Exes,” starring Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, David Alan Basche, Kelly Stables and Kristen Johnston and “Retired at 35” starring George Segal, Jessica Walter, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Johnathan McClain and Josh McDermitt. June on TV Land will also feature “TV Land Presents: The AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Shirley MacLaine” and the launch of acquisition “That ‘70s Show.” Below is a detailed look at TV Land’s summer programming: ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING “The Soul Man” SERIES PREMIERE: Wednesday, June 20 at 10pm ET/PT “The Soul Man” stars Cedric “The Entertainer” and Niecy Nash and revolves around R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine (played by Cedric). Though he’s used to living in Las Vegas at the top of the music charts, he gets “the calling” and decides to relocate to St. Louis with his wife, Lolli (Nash) and his daughter, Lyric (Jazz Raycole), to take over the preaching duties in his father’s church. However, his family is not exactly eager to give up the fabulous superstar life for their new humble one. -
Tv Land Picks up “The Soul Man” Starring Cedric “The Entertainer” and Niecy Nash for Fifth and Final Season
TV LAND PICKS UP “THE SOUL MAN” STARRING CEDRIC “THE ENTERTAINER” AND NIECY NASH FOR FIFTH AND FINAL SEASON New York, NY – July 28, 2015 – TV Land’s “The Soul Man,” starring Cedric “The Entertainer,” Emmy®-nominated actress, Niecy Nash and Wesley Jonathan, has been renewed for its fifth and final 12-episode season, the network announced today. The sitcom, which follows Cedric as R&B super-star-turned minister Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine, is the network’s highest-rated original series among African Americans P25-54 and African American Women 25-54. Over the course of four seasons, the series averaged a 2.20 AA P25-54 rating and a 2.65 rating among AA W25-54. Last season, “The Soul Man” averaged a 1.07 rating among African American P25-54 viewers, up +365% compared to the TV Land prime average among the demo and among AA W25-54, Season 4 averaged a 1.32 rating, up +340% compared to the TV Land prime average. Since the series launch in 2012, “The Soul Man” has followed Boyce after he relocated with his wife, hairdresser Lolli (the recently Primetime Emmy®-nominated Niecy Nash) from Las Vegas to St. Louis, where they’re constantly caught between the pull of the glam celebrity life and the simple life of a reverend’s family. They’ve always had plenty of obstacles in their way, including Boyce’s brother Stamps (Jonathan), who is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, and their unruly cousin Nikki (recurring guest star Sherri Shepherd), who always finds a way to make trouble. -
Hallelujah! the Soul Man Returns for Season 5
FEBRUARY 2016 Hallelujah! The Soul Man Returns for Season 5 By Taylor Friedman Thursday night, before a taping of TV Land’s The Soul Man gets under way on Stage 19, series star Cedric the Entertainer leads the entire Season Five cast and crew in a prayer circle. As everyone clasps hands, he reminds them how fortunate they are to be part of such a fun loving, hardworking and inclusive production. It’s a fitting scene, since many episodes of The Soul Man begin with his character, world-famous R&B artist- turned-pastor Boyce Ballentine, addressing his congregants — and the audience — straight on. Then, it’s 5:00 p.m. Show time! The cast, Cedric, Niecy Nash, Wesley Jonathan, John Beasley and Missi Pyle, dance between takes, improvise their lines, and crack jokes. The live studio audience feeds off this energy; in fact, a few brave souls show off their own singing and dancing skills. Created by Suzanne Martin and Cedric the Entertainer and produced by Hazy Mills and Bird and A Bear Entertainment, The Soul Man follows Boyce, his loving, glamorous wife Lolli (Nash), carefree younger brother Stamps (Jonathan) and pious father (Beasley) as they adapt to a more modest lifestyle in St. Louis, out of the Las Vegas spotlight. The show has filmed at CBS Radford ever since its pilot episode, and interestingly, the character Boyce Ballentine was first introduced in Martin’s Hot in Cleveland, another series that filmed on the lot through 2015. Cedric the Entertainer and Niecy Nash of THE SOUL MAN Continued on page 3 1 PRODUCTION SCHEDULE CSI: CYBER ADR -
Jaime Pressly Cast in New Tv Land Pilot “Jennifer Falls”
JAIME PRESSLY CAST IN NEW TV LAND PILOT “JENNIFER FALLS” New York, NY – August 5, 2013 – Emmy® Award-winning actress Jaime Pressly has been cast in the lead role for TV Land’s new pilot “Jennifer Falls,” it was announced today by Keith Cox, Executive Vice President of Development and Original Programming for the network. Pressly, best known for her work on the NBC series “My Name is Earl,” will play the lead character, Jennifer Doyle, in this multi-camera pilot. “Jennifer Falls" revolves around a career woman and mother (Pressly) who must move back in with her own mom after being let go from her high-powered, six-figure salary job. With her teenage daughter in tow, Jennifer has to face her new life, trying to reconnect with old friends in her hometown and making ends meet as a waitress in her brother’s bar. “It’s amazing to have someone like Jaime Pressly on board for ‘Jennifer Falls,'” said Cox. “We loved this script from the moment we read it, and Jaime just brings the role to life perfectly.” The pilot is written, created and executive produced by Matthew Carlson (“The Wonder Years,” “Malcolm in the Middle”), with Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis (“Reba,” “The Exes”) also serving as executive producers. TV Land's current line-up of original sitcoms airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT and includes the hit series "Hot in Cleveland," "The Exes" and "The Soul Man." The series have received several awards and accolades including two 2013 Creative Arts Emmy® nominations: one for "Hot in Cleveland" and the other for "The Exes." All of these series star pop culture icons and fan favorites including Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, Kristen Johnston, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, David Alan Basche, Kelly Stables, Cedric "The Entertainer," Niecy Nash and Wesley Jonathan. -
DGA's 2014-2015 Episodic Television Diversity Report Reveals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lily Bedrossian August 25, 2015 (310) 289-5334 DGA’s 2014-2015 Episodic Television Diversity Report Reveals: Employer Hiring of Women Directors Shows Modest Improvement; Women and Minorities Continue to be Excluded In First-Time Hiring LOS ANGELES – The Directors Guild of America today released its annual report analyzing the ethnicity and gender of directors hired to direct primetime episodic television across broadcast, basic cable, premium cable, and high budget original content series made for the Internet. More than 3,900 episodes produced in the 2014- 2015 network television season and the 2014 cable television season from more than 270 scripted series were analyzed. The breakdown of those episodes by the gender and ethnicity of directors is as follows: Women directed 16% of all episodes, an increase from 14% the prior year. Minorities (male and female) directed 18% of all episodes, representing a 1% decrease over the prior year. Positive Trends The pie is getting bigger: There were 3,910 episodes in the 2014-2015 season -- a 10% increase in total episodes over the prior season’s 3,562 episodes. With that expansion came more directing jobs for women, who directed 620 total episodes representing a 22% year-over-year growth rate (women directed 509 episodes in the prior season), more than twice the 10% growth rate of total episodes. Additionally, the total number of individual women directors employed in episodic television grew 16% to 150 (up from 129 in the 2013-14 season). The DGA’s “Best Of” list – shows that hired women and minorities to direct at least 40% of episodes – increased 16% to 57 series (from 49 series in the 2013-14 season period). -
Contentious Comedy
1 Contentious Comedy: Negotiating Issues of Form, Content, and Representation in American Sitcoms of the Post-Network Era Thesis by Lisa E. Williamson Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Glasgow Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies 2008 (Submitted May 2008) © Lisa E. Williamson 2008 2 Abstract Contentious Comedy: Negotiating Issues of Form, Content, and Representation in American Sitcoms of the Post-Network Era This thesis explores the way in which the institutional changes that have occurred within the post-network era of American television have impacted on the situation comedy in terms of form, content, and representation. This thesis argues that as one of television’s most durable genres, the sitcom must be understood as a dynamic form that develops over time in response to changing social, cultural, and institutional circumstances. By providing detailed case studies of the sitcom output of competing broadcast, pay-cable, and niche networks, this research provides an examination of the form that takes into account both the historical context in which it is situated as well as the processes and practices that are unique to television. In addition to drawing on existing academic theory, the primary sources utilised within this thesis include journalistic articles, interviews, and critical reviews, as well as supplementary materials such as DVD commentaries and programme websites. This is presented in conjunction with a comprehensive analysis of the textual features of a number of individual programmes. By providing an examination of the various production and scheduling strategies that have been implemented within the post-network era, this research considers how differentiation has become key within the multichannel marketplace. -
Cowgirl Oct-Nov16 046-051 Wendie
WENDIE MALICK all and elegant, with a Meeting for the first time in Mexico great sense of style, while helping build houses for the poor, Wendie Malick Erickson has always had a sense of adventure appears right at home and he and Malick’s first trip together almost in a bustling and twenty five-years ago was on motorcycle urban world. From through parts of Africa. When they first starring roles on the moved to California, ”he brought me up HBO series Dream On and the NBC sitcom to the Santa Monica Mountains, an area TJust Shoot Me, to her recent five year run on that I had never really explored before and the surprise hit, Hot in Cleveland, big cities we rented a cabin on the property of some have been her celluloid home for more than friends before buying our own land. Most twenty five years. of the property is unbuildable, but our living However there is a much different side spaces, which are all cedar with rusted steel to this very busy actress, who with her roofs, look like a series of prairie buildings husband Richard Erickson, lives on a 50 with sliding barn doors to keep out the acre ranch in the Santa Monica mountains afternoon sun. We’ve also managed to build in Southern California caring for four a big barn, wonderful paddock and horses, a miniature donkey, two dogs and a workshop as well.” cat. Erickson, a master builder, has created For most of Malick’s life, even the a remarkable series of spaces, built out of seventeen years she spent living and working wooden shingles and distressed wood and in New York City, she had a yen for, and the porches surrounding the main house love of, a more country-like life; and every look over acres of scrub oak and other chance she got would leave the city to Southern California indigenous foliage. -
The List: All Primetime Series on Television Calendar Year 2015
The List: All Primetime Series on Television Calendar Year 2015 Source: Nielsen, Live+7 data provided by FX Networks Research. 12/29/14-12/27/15. Original telecasts only. Excludes repeats, specials, movies, news, sports, programs with only one telecast, and Spanish language nets. Cable: Mon-Sun, 8-11P. Broadcast: Mon-Sat, 8-11P; Sun 7-11P. "<<" denotes below Nielsen minimum reporting standards based on P2+ Total U.S. Rating to the tenth (0.0). Important to Note: This list utilizes the TV Guide listing service to denote original telecasts (and exclude repeats and specials), and also line-items original series by the internal coding/titling provided to Nielsen by each network. Thus, if a network creates different "line items" to denote different seasons or different day/time periods of the same series within the calendar year, both entries are listed separately. The following provides examples of separate line items that we counted as one show: %(7 V%HLQJ0DU\-DQH%(,1*0$5<-$1(6DQG%(,1*0$5<-$1(6 1%& V7KH9RLFH92,&(DQG92,&(78( 1%& V7KH&DUPLFKDHO6KRZ&$50,&+$(/6+2:3DQG&$50,&+$(/6+2: Again, this is a function of how each network chooses to manage their schedule. Hence, we reference this as a list as opposed to a ranker. Based on our estimated manual count, the number of unique series are: 2015³1,415 primetime series (1,524 line items listed in the file). 2014³1,517 primetime series (1,729 line items). The List: All Primetime Series on Television Calendar Year 2015 Source: Nielsen, Live+7 data provided by FX Networks Research. -
Miriam Miranda Chitiga BLACK SITCOMS a BLACK PERSPECTIVE
Chitiga, Miriam Miranda. « Black Sitcoms : a Black Perspective », Cercles 8 (2003) : 46-58 <www.cercles.com>. ©Cercles 2003. Toute reproduction, même partielle, par quelque procédé que ce soit, est interdite sans autorisa- tion préalable (loi du 11 mars 1957, al. 1 de l’art. 40). ISSN : 1292-8968. Miriam Miranda Chitiga Claflin University, Orangeburg BLACK SITCOMS A BLACK PERSPECTIVE Introduction A lot has been written about the portrayal of blacks in the American media, especially the negative stereotypical portrayals that have come out of Hollywood. Black situation comedies, the majority of which are produced and aired by “mainstream” white American media, have born the brunt of the anger and criticism of many black activists and civil rights groups. Dating back to the days of CBS’s Amos and Andy, black sitcoms on the whole have not represented African Americans positively. But most of the articles on black sit- coms have been based on “mainstream” views and critiques, principally see- king to show that the majority of black sitcoms are distasteful to whites because they are loaded with “black in-jokes” and other racial references. Litt- le commentary about the actual effects of black sitcoms on their major (intend- ed) black audiences in America has made it to print. Little systematic or empirical research has been undertaken to find out more about the way ave- rage black Americans perceive black sitcoms. This observation has been the impetus for the much-needed analytical overview provided in this essay, which means to give a voice to the often neglected ordinary African American audiences of black sitcoms. -
Report by % of Episodes Directed by Women
2013 DGA Episodic Director Diversity Report (by % of EPISODES DIRECTED BY WOMEN) Title Total # of # Episodes Female # Episodes Male # Episodes Male # Episodes Female # Episodes Female Signatory Company Network Episodes Directed by % Directed by Caucasian Directed by Minority Directed by Caucasian Directed by Minority Females Male % Male % Female % Female % Caucasian Minority Caucasian Minority A.N.T. Farm 39 0 0% 30 77% 9 23% 0 0% 0 0% It's a Laugh Productions, Inc. Disney Channel After Lately 8 0 0% 8 100% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% CP Entertainment Services, LLC E! American Horror Story 13 0 0% 10 77% 3 23% 0 0% 0 0% Twentieth Century Fox Television FX Anger Management 54 0 0% 53 98% 1 2% 0 0% 0 0% Anger Productions, Inc. FX Californication 12 0 0% 11 92% 1 8% 0 0% 0 0% Showtime Pictures Development Showtime Company Crash and Bernstein 26 0 0% 24 92% 2 8% 0 0% 0 0% It's a Laugh Productions, Inc. Disney XD Defiance 11 0 0% 9 82% 2 18% 0 0% 0 0% Open 4 Business Productions LLC Syfy Dog with a Blog 21 0 0% 20 95% 1 5% 0 0% 0 0% It's a Laugh Productions, Inc. Disney Channel Exes, The 12 0 0% 12 100% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% King Street Productions Inc. TV Land Falling Skies 10 0 0% 10 100% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% Turner North Center Productions, Inc. TNT Fringe 13 0 0% 12 92% 1 8% 0 0% 0 0% Warner Bros.