Music TV network Fuse is making its first foray into scripted programming with The Hustle, which will premiere June 19 at 11PM. The six episode, half-hour dramedy is in the vein of Entourage set in the hip hop world and centers on aspiring artists trying to break into the business. It is produced by Alloy Digital-owned Generate. The Hustle will be joined by a companion after-show, The Hustle After Party, which will be taped in front of a studio audience in Fuse’s street-front studio on 7th Avenue in New York City. Hosted by Esteban Serrano (host of Fuse’s Top 20 Countdown), The Hustle After Party will feature interviews and performances with hip hop stars, along with discussions with industry experts and appearances by the cast.
Posts tagged as “television”
Bill Duke’s thought-provoking film, “Dark Girls” is headed to Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network this June.
The documentary first emerged in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival and had great promise of becoming something bigger and better. But it never turned up as a national theater release and continued to tour across the country.
Duke announced in 2012 at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, that he was in the middle of developing two feature documentaries as follow ups to “Dark Girls.”
“Yellow Brick Road” will look at the ‘colorism’ issue from the perspective of light-skinned Black women. The other documentary, “What Is A Man?” will explore masculinity and manhood as it has transformed from the beginning of time to present day. Filming for the project has already begun and it turns out Duke has been interviewing people from all around the world.
Watch the trailer for “Dark Girls” below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXG38QxXY-s&w=560&h=315]
article by Brittney M. Walker via eurweb.com
According to Huff Post Black Voices, Tyra Banks is expanding “Top Model” empire by producing “Africa’s Next Top Model” this fall. Africa is now the fourth continent to adopt ANTM’s highly successful model search-meets-reality show concept. Banks has tapped Nigerian model Oluchi Onweagba Orlandi (pictured above) to serve as the series’ host and co-producer.
“The African version of the franchise is long overdue and I expect the show to be a smashing success across the continent,” Oluchi said in a release. Twelve young women will be chosen from eight countries throughout Africa, and, like the U.S. version, the model hopefuls will compete in a number of photo shoots and challenges over the course of ten episodes to see who makes it to the top. No judges have been announced yet, but production will begin in August in Cape Town, South Africa.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin
Ryan Murphy, American Horror Story co-creator, took to his Twitter account to announce that Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe will be joining the cast of season 3. “Thrilled to announce Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe is joining the cast of “American Horror Story: Coven,” Murphy tweeted. The Precious actress will join a cast that already includes: Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe. The FX hit’s third season is set to premiere this fall.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
AMC’s Emmy Award-winning drama series Mad Men, about advertising executives in the 1960s, though critically-acclaimed, has often taken flak in its six seasons for not acknowledging or dealing with the racial tensions of the times. This season, which takes place during the tumultuous year of 1968, has already devoted more airtime to its most prominent African-American character, Dawn, the lead character Don Draper’s secretary. And last night, in an episode titled “The Flood,” the show recreated perhaps the most historic moment in the civil rights struggle — the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The show’s characters learn of King’s death over the radio and in an advertising awards show crowd. Meanwhile, panic spreads as rioting takes hold in major cities across the country. Vintage Walter Cronkite reports play as police and ambulance sirens blare. In one scene, a character is upbraided for lamenting the loss of TV advertising profits in the wake of MLK’s death. In another, a black character calls out rioters for not living up to King’s example. Additionally, the African-American secretaries are all suddenly treated with kid gloves by their white supervisors — aware that the civil right’s leader’s death is perceived as a blow to the fight against racial prejudice.
To read more about this Mad Men episode, check out the links below:
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2316401/Its-somber-day-Mad-Men-tackles-assassination-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.html#ixzz2RtmdqyNY
- http://thegrio.com/2013/04/28/mad-men-recreates-day-martin-luther-king-died/
- http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/04/why-mad-men-got-the-martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-so-very-right-and-why-the-newsroom-would-have-failed
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson; additional reporting by Lesa Lakin
Actress Xosha Roquemore has been added to the cast of Fox’s The Mindy Project as a new regular next season after doing a three-episode arc on the comedy’s current freshman season. Roquemore recently landed a major recurring role on TV Land’s new Kirstie Alley comedy series after guest starring in the pilot, but in light of the Mindy Project opportunity, the cable network let the actress out and will recast her role. Roquemore also co-stars in G.B.F., which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
CBS has greenlighted Money Pump, a game show pilot based on an Israeli format. Hosted by omg! Insider’s Kevin Frazier, Money Pump is described as a high-pressure game in which contestants compete against an enormous money pump for a million dollars. ITV Studios America and Israeli company Reshet TV are producing, with Andrew Golder executive producing. The original series was created by Gili Golan, Adi Golan and Harel Joseffson for Tanin Prods & TV and Reshet TV. Israeli formats already are increasingly popular in the States, with such shows as Showtime’s Homeland. Unscripted Israeli shows have started to follow, withWho’s Still Standing going to series on NBC.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
April marks Austism Awareness Month, and in support of the cause, Centric will premiere, Colored My Mind: The Diagnosis, a short documentary that tackles the impact of the disorder on families. Spearheaded by Attorney Shannon Nash and LaDonna Hughley, wife of comedian D.L. Hughley, the 30-minute documentary was inspired by the mission of their Los Angeles-based non-profit of the same name.
Nash and Hughley, alongside actress Tisha Campbell-Martin; Tammy McCrary, sister and manager of Chaka Khan, and administrator Donna Hunter, share their stories of raising children with the disorder. Each woman’s candid story is paired with dramatizations featuring noted actors Blair Underwood and Nicole Ari Parker.
One in 70 boys has autism, with African-Americans and Latinos being diagnosed later than Caucasians. Boys are also four times more likely to have autism than girls.
Director Nia T. Hill provides a captivating and emotional look into the often overlooked world of autism. The documentary addresses and uncovers the truths about why some Black and Brown children are not receiving the same medical diagnoses or are misdiagnosed. The narratives explore “sadness, strength, joy, and the ultimate hope that binds us all to fight for a better tomorrow.”
Colored My Mind: The Diagnosis premieres April 28, at 11A/10C only on Centric.
article by Justin D. Joseph via blogs.centrictv.com
ASPiRE, the new television network from Magic Johnson Enterprises that promised, at the time of its launch, an “entertaining and inspiring mix of original and groundbreaking programming,” with the likes of Laurence Fishburne, Omari Hardwick, Esperanza Spalding and Jonathan Slocumb set to host prime-time series blocks focused on movies, comedy, original series, and music, has greenlit it first talk show, according to Variety.
Titled Exhale, the new network’s entry into the talkshow space is said to be similar to The View, and will be hosted by five African-American women in media: journalist Angela Burt-Murray, actress and comedian Erin Jackson, Issa Rae (“The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”), author and TV anchor Rene Syler, and actress Malinda Williams.
Content will include conversation on the usual topics – family, relationships, career, money and faith. Exhale, which is ASPiRE’s 3rd original series, will be produced by Lynne Robinson and Black Robin Media. Shooting has already begun for what will be an 8-episode first run set to debut in June.
“We are thrilled to add ‘Exhale’ to our lineup of original programming,” said the ASPiRE GM Paul Butler. “This fresh, hip and candid new series will enlighten audiences with its broad range of topics relevant to the community.”
ASPiRE, launched in June 2012, was selected by Comcast from among over 100 candidates as one of four new minority-owned independent networks, and expectations are that the new network will be available in 20 to 30 million homes by the end of this year.
article by Tambay A. Obenon via indiewire.com
NEW YORK, NY – Ed Gordon Media announced today the syndication of “Conversations with Ed Gordon,” a quarterly, one-hour special with award-winning journalist and renowned interviewer, Ed Gordon, serving as host and executive producer. The specials will be aired nationally, including on all ten NBC owned and operated affiliates. The first special begins airing April 28, 2013. Airdates, times and markets can be found on www.edgordon.net/conversations.htm.
Gordon, known for in-depth and exclusive interviews, will do it again with a stellar line-up of guests for the first special. Comedian Kevin Hart, one of today’s hottest entertainers, talks with Gordon on location in Los Angeles about his record-breaking concert tour and hit television show. Hart also confronts recent criticism surrounding a controversial “color” joke.
Kevin Hart on why he doesn’t address media/social network criticism:
“They want to make something out of nothing. So if you give ammunition, which is a reply, an excuse or a constant apology, you’re setting yourself up for more comments.”
On wanting to be on the list of the greatest comedians of all-time:
“As long as my name is in there, I don’t care if it’s dead last, as long as I am in there. That means people understood my work ethic and understood that I love to do what I am doing now…making people laugh and that’s it.”