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Posts published in “TV”

Mo'ne Davis Makes Deal for Disney Channel Biopic

By goodblacknews on March 21, 2015

mone_davis_si_coverShe is still at it.  Just 13-years-old, Mo’Ne Davis has not only made history as the first female to pitch a shutout in the Little League World Series and the first Little League player to make the cover of Sports Illustrated, she also has  a book deal and a new sneaker line.  Davis is now opening up about her journey to achieving it all in a biographical movie set to premiere on Disney Channel.
“Mo’Ne is not only a top-notch athlete in three different sports — baseball, basketball and soccer — but she is an exemplary student and someone who will remind our audiences that they can do anything with hard work, dedication and belief in themselves,” said Naketha Mattocks, Vice President, Original Movies, Disney Channel.
Emmy-nominated producer Debra Martin Chase will executive produce the project, while Sheldon Candis and Justin Wilson will serve as writers for the film. Both Davis and espnW will consult on the movie.
“There are so many great things happening to me right now and it’s a very exciting time in my life,” said Davis. “A year ago, I never would have thought that Disney Channel would make a movie about me. I can’t wait to get started and I hope it will encourage other viewers to believe that dreams really do come true.”
article by Courtney Connley via blackenterprise.com

Snoop Dogg & Allen Hughes Team for 1980s Family Drama At HBO

By goodblacknews on March 20, 2015

Snoop Dogg Allen Hughes 2 HBO is developing a drama series from rapper-actor Snoop Dogg and director-producer Allen Hughes (Broken City, Gang Related). Written by Rodney Barnes (The Boondocks, Everybody Hates Chris) and directed by Hughes, the untitled drama is set in early 1980s Los Angeles and centers on a family whose seemingly idyllic life is turned upside down by the collision of their community and American politics. Snoop Dogg (real name Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr.) was born in Long Beach and grew up in the port city just south of Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s. He executive produces the potential series with his longtime manager, Ted Chung of Stampede Management, Hughes and Barnes. Snoop Dogg and Barnes previously worked together on the animated family comedy The Boondocks, which Barnes executive produced and on which Snoop Dogg voiced a recurring character.

article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

"Empire" Caps 1st Season With More Than 17 Million Viewers

By goodblacknews on March 20, 2015
empire
Fox drama “Empire” capped its stunning first-year ratings performance Wednesday night with viewership gains for a tenth straight week and a demo delivery not seen by any broadcast series in nearly six years.
Nielsen estimates that the two-hour finale of “Empire” averaged a 6.4 rating/20 share in adults 18-49 and 16.5 million viewers overall — up about 10% in both categories from last week’s hourlong episode (5.8/17 and 14.92 million); these numbers are expected to rise in the nationals. It opened at 8 p.m. where it left off last week (5.8 demo rating) and did a 6.8/21 and 17.5 million in its regular 9 p.m. hour.
This means that “Empire” managed to grow its audience with each of the 11 hours following its Jan. 7 premiere, which averaged 9.90 million. Wednesday’s audience for the 9 o’clock hour was up a whopping 77% (or 7.6 million viewers) from the show’s debut.
The soap starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson also grew each week in its core women 18-34 demo, with Wednesday’s 7.6 rating/27 share more than double the show’s premiere-night average (3.7 rating/12).
The 6.8 rating for its second hour makes it far and away the top score for any regularly scheduled broadcast program this season, nearly 25% higher than the 5.5 rating achieved by the season premiere of CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory.” The only entertainment series to fare better since the start of the television season in September has been AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” which did a whopping 8.7 for its fifth-season premiere last October and has averaged at least a 7 rating with 10 of its 14 episodes so far this season.
“Empire” was a social-media dynamo as well Wednesday, garnering 2.4 million tweets during the broadcast, according to Nielsen Social Guide. And on Facebook, roughly 2 million people generated 15.8 million likes/comments/shares related to the finale.
article by Rick Kissell via Variety.com

Steve McQueen’s HBO Drama "Codes Of Conduct" Picked Up As Limited Series

By goodblacknews on March 20, 2015
12 Years A Slave Town Hall Portraits, September 25, 2014
HBO is moving forward with Steve McQueen‘s drama pilot Codes Of Conduct, giving the project a six-episode limited series order. The 12 Years A Slave helmer will direct all six episodes of Codes Of Conduct, on which he had teamed with World War Z co-writer Matthew Michael Carnahan; hip-hop mogul/producer Russell Simmons, who has a deal at HBO; Oscar-winning producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech); and HBO veteran Alan Poul (The Newsroom, Six Feet Under). All six will executive produce.
devonterrellCo-written by McQueen and Carnahan, Codes Of Conduct is carrying McQueen’s signature style of provocative filmmaking and is described as an exploration of a young African-American man’s experience entering New York high society, with a past that might not be what it seems. It centers on Beverly Snow (newcomer Devon Terrell), a young man from Queens as talented as he is ambiguous. His self-confidence will enable him to break into the social circles of Manhattan’s elite, testing the boundaries of access and social mobility. Paul Dano, Helena Bonham Carter and Rebecca Hall co-star.
CodHBO blue logoes Of Conduct follows the model employed by HBO’s buzzy drama True Detective, which also started as a limited series. The cable network also has upcoming miniseries True Justice. HBO’s 2015 drama series slate includes new entries Westworld, from JJ Abrams, Jonah Nolan and Jerry Weintraub; Untitled Rock ‘n’ Roll project, from Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger and Terence Winter; and Ballers, from Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg and Steve Levinson.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

OPINION: Shonda Rhimes Offers a New Word for "Diversity" — Let's Start Using It

By goodblacknews on March 19, 2015
Shonda Rhimes (Source: Jordan Strauss/AP)

Once a term to describe the laudable aim of ensuring equal representation, “diversity” has devolved into a trite talking point.

It’s an issue that Shonda Rhimes, the mastermind behind television hits such as Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and How To Get Away With Murder, touched on while accepting an award at the Human Rights Campaign’s gala event in Los Angeles last weekend. In her speech, Rhimes said she’s tired of the way “diversity” is understood by most people.

“I get asked a lot by reporters and tweeters why I am so invested in ‘diversity’ on television,”  Rhimes said, according to Medium‘s text of her speech. “‘Why is it so important to have diversity on TV?’ they say. I really hate the word ‘diversity.’ It suggests something other. … As if there is something unusual about telling stories involving women and people of color and LGBTQ characters on TV.”

Rhimes offered an alternative to the term “diversity,” saying she’d rather describe what she’s doing as “normalizing.”

“I am making TV look like the world looks. Women, people of color, LGBTQ people equal way more than 50% of the population. Which means it ain’t out of the ordinary. I am making the world of television look normal,” she said.

Rhimes makes a great point.

“Diversity” in itself has limits. In the past few decades, the word has become wildly popular, appearing everywhere from corporate websites to college recruitment brochures. In many cases, however, the concept is reduced to simply ensuring that a collection of people who look different from each other occupy the same space. That’s why many diversity fliers for companies and schools paint a picture of wide representation, but the actual demographics of those same institutions remain monochromatic.

Record Breaker: "Empire" Soundtrack Scores Rare No. 1 For TV Series on Billboard Albums Chart

By goodblacknews on March 18, 2015
Empire_The-Soundtrack_FINAL

According to Deadline.com, not only is Empire the most successful debuting drama in the past 25 years of television history, now its soundtrack is the No. 1 album in the country, debuting in the top spot on the Billboard 200 this week. This is a rare feat — especially for a network drama series.  The last time any TV soundtrack reached No. 1 on the charts was in 2010, when three Glee collections hit the top spot (also a Fox show).  The main distinction, however is that Glee‘s soundtracks were covers of already-popular tunes; Empire’s soundtrack are mostly new songs produced by Timbaland and performed by the original artists/cast members.

Billboard’s official stats come out Wednesday morning, but leaked numbers suggest Original Soundtrack From Season 1 Of Empire will keep Madonna from having a No. 1 debut for the first time since 1998 with her new release “Rebel Heart.”  Empire‘s ratings grew in each of its first nine weeks on the air and last week hit a high of 14.9 million. This number is sure to be even higher tomorrow night after its two-hour season finale.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

Actor Justin Hires Cast in Chris Tucker Role for CBS' "Rush Hour" Series Pilot

By goodblacknews on March 14, 2015
CBS' Rush Hour: Justin Hires Cast
Justin Hires (FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES)

Actor Justin Hires has been cast in the Chris Tucker role in CBS’ drama pilot adaptation of the “Rush Hour” film franchise.
Hires had a small part in 2012’s “21 Jump Street” and more recently has made appearances on Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele.” In the Warner Bros. TV pilot he’ll play a cocky, maverick LAPD detective who is assigned to work on a case with a stoic detective from Hong Kong. Jon Foo has already been cast in the role played by Jackie Chan opposite comedian Tucker in three “Rush Hour” features.
RELATED: Networks Casting More Actors of Color This Pilot Season
Comedy scribes Bill Lawrence and Blake McCormick wrote the script for the TV redo and are executive producing with the director and producer of New Line Cinema’s “Rush Hour” pics — Brett Ratner and Arthur Sarkissian — and Jeff Ingold of Lawrence’s Doozier Prods. Jon Turteltaub is directing the pilot and also executive producing.
Hires got his start out of college as an on-air personality for the MTVU cable channel. He’s also produced sketch comedy videos for various YouTube outlets.
article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com

Kerry Washington to Star as Anita Hill in HBO Movie "Confirmation"

By goodblacknews on March 13, 2015

Kerry Washington
(Source: Jon Kopaloff / Getty)

Kerry Washington, the star of Shonda Rhimes’ wildly popular Thursday-night show Scandal, is about to get even bigger with a new project on HBO.
Washington has been announced as the star of an upcoming TV movie about Anita Hill, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The telepic, which is being developed by HBO Films and has a tentative title of Confirmation, will chronicle the nomination hearings held for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas in 1991.
Thomas’ nomination that year by the first President Bush shook up the country after Hill accused the judge of sexual harassment in a leaked FBI interview. Hill was grilled by Senators about the allegations at Thomas’ confirmation hearing and lambasted by the judge himself.
Washington will play the part of Anita Hill and writer Susannah Grant will be responsible for the script and executive producing the project. Washington herself will also work as an executive producer alongside the CEO of Groundswell Productions, Michael London, and the company’s production president, Janice Williams.
Hollywood Reporter claims that the HBO project could take precedence over Washington’s role in a feature film called Unforgettable while she’s currently away from the Scandal set.
The news comes as HBO readies the rollout of its internet-streaming service HBO Go and plans for the next season of the sprawling fantasy show Game of Thrones.
article by Jay Balfour via theurbandaily.com

"Empire" Breaks Ratings Record for 9th Straight Week, Grows Viewership to 14.7 Million

By goodblacknews on March 12, 2015
empire fox ratings
(IMAGE COURTESY OF FOX)

Daylight Saving Time may have sapped the ratings strength of mere mortal television shows over the past week, but it had little effect on Fox phenomenon “Empire,” which on Wednesday grew its audience for a ninth consecutive airing heading into next week’s two-hour finale.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “Empire” averaged a 5.6 rating/17 share in adults 18-49 (down a tick from last week’s prelim score) to more than double the rating of any other program on the night.
In total viewers, it gained about 400,000 to set yet another milestone with 14.7 million.  Last night’s episode of “Empire” also drew a series-high 750,258 tweets during the live broadcast, according to Nielsen Social Guide/Twitter. As a result, its average for the season (451,270) is now ahead of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” (444,029) and ABC’s “Scandal” (354,085).
“Empire” again more than doubled its “American Idol” lead-in (2.3/8 in 18-49, 9.3 million viewers overall) though the music reality competition was up a couple of ticks from last week to edge out CBS’ “Survivor” (2.2/8 in 18-49, 9.4 million viewers overall) both head-to-head and as the night’s No. 2 program in 18-49.
article by Rick Kissell via Variety.com

Joy Bryant to Co-Star in ABC Pilot "The Advocate"

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2015
Joy Bryant
(PHOTO CREDIT: ANDREW WALKER)

Joy Bryant is the co-lead of new ABC pilot The Advocate.

According to Deadline, the Parenthood actress will star alongside Coby Bell of The Game and Kim Raver.
The Advocate is inspired by the true story of former talent agent, Byrdie Lifson-Pompan, who teamed up with medical doctor and health education specialist, Valerie Ulene to launch a healthcare consulting company.
Bryant will play Dr. Ryan Clarke, a brilliant doctor who partners with Raver’s character Francis “Frankie” Reese to open a patient advocacy firm.
RELATED: Networks Casting More Actors of Color This Pilot Season
Coby Bell will take on the role of Chris, who is trying to keep the medical firm afloat.
The drama was written by Sheldon Turner, directed by Michael M. Robin and will be executive produced by Turner and Jennifer Klein. Byrdie Lifson-Pompan and Valerie Ulene will serve as consulting producers.
article by Dominique Hobdy via essence.com