So, what y’all watching?

Its premiere week for the Fall TV season and I’m more excited than usual. Arent you tired of watching sub-par game shows (Holey Moley anyone?) hastily thrown together clip shows and sitcoms the network has to contractually burn off? The endless news cycle is full of doom and gloom, so I look to comedians, comedy shows and well written dramas to raise my optimism.

With that in mind, I recently binged Woke, a new series on Hulu. It follows Keef Knight, a black cartoonist on the cusp of national recognition with his Toast and Butter comic strip. Suddenly his entire creative outlook is changed.   As Keef slowly figures things out, every day objects speak to him as a representation of his inner thoughts. Cedric The Entertainer voices a hilarious trash can, while comedians Nicole Byer and Eddie Griffin bring two Malt Liquor bottles to life. Woke is well written, thoughtful and funny. 

Im very excited about Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba’s show “LA’s Finest” on Fox. It’s an offshoot of the movie “Bad Boys” with Union reprising her role as ex DEA agent Sydney Burnett. It’s 13 years later, she’s in LA and has Jessica Alba as her new partner. It’s got the same style of banter as in the movie, the writing could be better but it’s not bad. I’m glad LA’s Finest will get a bigger audience after languishing on Spectrum VOD. Catch it Mondays.

I’ve never seen one episode of FX’s Fargo. Everytime I heard anything about it I dismissed it as “not my kind of show”. This season, Chris Rock stars as the head of a crime syndicate made up of black migrants fleeing the Jim Crow south. The premise is excellent and I’m going to watch but I have doubts about Chris Rock convincingly carrying this role. Let’s face it, Rock is not a good actor. I appreciate him stretching himself as an artist. I hope he shocks us all and turns in an Emmy worthy performance. It’s not impossible. Katt Williams did it.

Kim Cattrall finally stars in her own TV series on FOX. “Filthy Rich” stars Cattrall as the matriarch of a super rich family who runs a successful billion dollar Christian TV network. It’s full of wealth, power, backstabbing and illegitimate children. Executive Producer Tate Taylor (The Help, and Ma) says it’s a workplace family drama poking fun at hypocrisy. The first episode looked good and full of soapy drama. I think Cattrall is great. She was my favorite of the Sex and the City girls and is perfect for this role.

Larry Wilmore is back on Peacock TV. I was a fan of The Nightly Show when it aired on Comedy Central. Wilmore is a tighter, somewhat shorter show very much like his podcast “Black on The Air”. Its just Larry, talking to interesting guests about one topic.

Tituss Burgess is the host of Netflix’s Sing On! a karaoke competition Burgess calls “A competition for the ages”. I like Tituss, and I’ve got some time on my hands so I tuned in. 6 contestants sing a popular hit song. Whomever hits the notes closest to the original song wins the round. Then, each contestant chooses who they want to eliminate. The person with the most votes gets kicked out of the competition but can “Sing On” thru the rest of the show. Oh, and each note is worth money somehow. Confused? Me too. The competition makes no sense. The best thing about Sing On is Tituss and his playful, positive energy. He would be better hosting ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Which begs the question, Who thought Tyra Banks should be the host of “Dancing with The Stars” and can I get some of the drugs that person must abuse? Tyra doesn’t dance, she isn’t a comedian, she’s a mannequin! Paula Abdul wasn’t available? She can dance and has reality show experience. ABC could have done better than this. Seriously.

The Emmy’s and the weirdness of TV now

The pandemic has changed television viewing in our households. I used to enjoy shows like ” The Good Doctor”,”NCIS LA” and “Blue Bloods” but the graphic surgery scenes, elaborate shootouts and beat downs raised my anxiety and led me to seek out as much positive, non violent content on as many platforms as I can.

The Creative Arts Emmy’s were held this week over 4 days. Some winners included Kerry Washington, one of the Executive Producers of ABC’S ” Good Times ;Live in front of a Studio Audience”, Lawrence Fishburne and Jasmine Cephas Jones for Quibi’s #FreeRayshawn, Maya Rudolph for voicing “Connie the Hormone Monster” on Netflix’s “Big Mouth “. I was sad that Robin Thede’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show“on HBO didn’t win Outstanding Variety Series. They were in the same category as SNL. It was a long shot. Hopefully Angela Bassett will win Outstanding Guest Actress for the”Bad Bitch support group” sketch.

I watch John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight on HBO and am sooo happy his team won an Emmy for the hilarious segment “Eat Shit Bob”. Oliver never backs down from a fight but this sketch is an elaborate way to tell someone to go fuck themselves. The production and the hilarity is worth your time. Do yourself a favor and watch it on YouTube.

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards will honor the best in U.S. prime time television from June 1, 2019 until May 31, 2020. It airs Sunday night and it is my Superbowl. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel (again) and Reginald Hudlin as one of the Executive Producers, its going to be a very different award show. “We’re going to have the nominees in their homes, backyards, hotels. There’s going to be cameras across the country, in the U.K., in Berlin, in Tel Aviv. We’re going to be based in the Staples Center because it’s the only place big enough so the crew can keep appropriate distance and we can manage that much data coming in and going out.” Hudlin said in a recent interview. This year I am rooting for Issa Rae’s “Insecure” on HBO, Don Cheadle for Showtime’s Black Monday, Keenan Thompson for all his hilarious characters on SNL, and Wanda Sykes who portrayed Moms Mabley on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”.

I loved the way Jesse Collins produced The BET Awards in June. It was visually engaging and well executed. In my opinion, it set the standard. But the show wasn’t live. I cant wait to see how ABC will pull off this new way of producing a live show.

Nobody cares that the next Bachelor is Black.

So, ABC has decided to pander to everyone and finally cast a black man as the new Bachelor. Sigh. Who’s watching this? Rachel Lindsay, the first Black Bachelorette recently posted about the show’s lack of diversity, not to mention the recent exposure of a senior news executive who made disrespectful comments about on air talent. The Bachelor will have to change its format due to Covid-19, and with the recent uprisings, casting a black Bachelor is a great marketing strategy. It still feels like pandering to me. There are better dating shows out there.

I enjoyed OWN’S  “Ready To Love“. From producer Will Packer and hosted by radio personality Nephew Tommy,  12 women and 8 men meet, socialize and date each other in the hopes of starting a lasting relationship.  The contestants are grown folks in their 30’s and 40’s. I understood them and felt represented. It was nice to see a group of adults getting to know each other without a lot of contrived drama.

Meanwhile, CBS just announced they will simulcast the 20th BET Awards for the first time. Ever. I understand. Networks are scrambling for fresh content.

I dont know if this is scrambling, but “The Floor is Lava” on Netflix is a new game show where teams of 3 have to jump, climb or swing through an obstacle course without falling into a tub of bubbling red water that looks like lava. 😁 Contestants can use anything (rope, pictures, etc) in the room to help.   The team with the most points wins $10,000.  You need strength and intelligence to navigate the course. This show is a bunch of fun.

I love, love LOVE IFC’s “Sherman’s Showcase“. It’s a hilarious parody of Black pop culture from the 1970’s thru today. Sherman hosts a variety show very similar to Soul Train. Creators, writers and Chicago natives Diallo Riddle and Bashir Salahuddin take viewers through 40 years of fake commercials, talk shows and videos. These are the guys who wrote the popular “History of Rap” segments for The Tonight Show. Most notable are Bresha Webb’s impressions of Anita Baker and Mary J. Blige plus a hilarious Prince parody. Do yourself a favor and binge the entire series on demand. It’s a good time.

Goodbye, Good Riddance, and other shows that shouldn’t have seen the light of day.

COPS was finally cancelled after 31 years on the air and I say Good Riddance!  I never found the mistakes and pain of others to be entertaining. That’s all COPS was to me.

Whenever I visit my brother, I always watch stuff I would never voluntarily see while at home.   One of those shows is A&E’s “Live PD“. Host Dan Abrams used to be a reporter for ABC news and currently serves as their Chief Legal Analyst. (A&E is 50% owned by Disney) Somehow he became host of a show that is so exploitative, it makes me physically ill.  After a suspect was murdered on camera, the video “suddenly” missing, it’s ridiculous Abrams tweeted the show will come back. I hope not. Edit: Live PD has been canceled. Yay!

“Stan Lee’s Super Human” is a a one hour version of stupid and dangerous human stunts.  Watching a man swallow a huge marble and then x-raying the man to see where the ball went?  Why?  Just why?  Another man took a meat hook, stuck it in his nose and pulled a side of frozen meat with it.  WHY????

A&E’s “60 Days In” is where chief jailers, in an attempt to eliminate rival gangs, drugs and corruption, recruit law-abiding citizens to live among the facility’s general population for 60 days. This, they say helps expose the root of the jail’s many problems. Why? It’s just another example of a network exploiting the suffering of people for ratings instead of helping.

Is it possible that CBS’S “Big Brother” will finally go away? I mean, how much social distancing can you maintain with a bunch of strangers living in a house doing silly things? This also could be a way to finally show Julie Chen the door and close that Les Moonves debacle. I hope so.

I hope CBS’s Survivor goes away too. After all the world has been through these past 3 months, survival is a very real thing. No one wants to see a bunch of folks running around on an island playing a fantasy game when they have families to feed.

Can we throw away Bravo’s ENTIRE “Real Housewives” franchise? There’s no need to see a bunch of vapid, selfish women blather about things that just dont matter anymore. It’s not even good escapism at this point.

I doubt we’ll see any dating shows with folks soaking in hot tubs exchanging bodily fluids and rolling around on the beach anymore so bye bye “Love Island ” and “The Bachelor“?

Make it all go away please.

What’s Cookin?

Since we’ve been quarantined during this pandemic, I’m not over here baking bread. But the folks over at The Food Network are here to help just in case.

“The Kitchen” is a knockoff of ABC’s now defunct “The Chew“. The premise is practically the same. Five hosts including Sunny Anderson introduce a theme for the episode. Each chef prepares a dish that fits the theme for that day’s show. Sometimes, they fail miserably. (See The Kitchen’s 2017’s “Ultimate Mac and Cheese where guest Valerie Bertinelli topped it with a cornbread crust) It’s a fun way to spend an hour if you need meal ideas tho.

“Questlove’s Potluck“, a special featuring several of the musicians friends including Patti LaBelle, Kenan Thompson, Gabrielle Union and Roy Wood Jr as they cook some of their favorite dishes, mixed drinks and desserts. Usually he holds these food salons at his apartment in Manhattan. Oh, the food! The conversations! This special doesn’t give you any of that. It was cool to see George Lopez prepare Chicken Mole. The best segments featured comedians Tiffany Haddish frying Chicken and Roy Wood Jr, explaining why Oreo thins just dont cut it.

If you’re on Instagram, and follow “The Today Show’s” Al Roker you’ve likely seen what he cooks for dinner. That has turned into a nightly series called “What we’re Cooking “with his son Nick. Nick handles the camera and commentary while Al demonstrates simple recipes like pan seared scallops with zucchini and salad. The food looks healthy and delicious. Definitely inspiring. Best 10 minutes of my day.

I miss Patti LaBelle’s show on The Cooking Channel. She’d invite her celebrity friends over and they would chat while helping her cook. She’d gently guide them and it felt like you were in your favorite aunties kitchen. She does occasional videos on Instagram now. Roger Mooking is still out there visiting Pit Masters and folks who like to cook with fire on Man, Fire, Food, however I would appreciate a show that can walk me through making Tuna Macaroni Salad. Kinda like Auntie Fee without the yelling. 😁 I also miss Sunny Anderson’s “Cooking for Real” and “Big Daddy’s House” with Aaron McCargo on The Food Network. Where are the black Chef’s on TV? Even annoying Carla Hall doesn’t have a show! ABC could have saved The Chew had they replaced Mario Batali and Daphne Oz with two charismatic diverse hosts.

“Butter+Brown“, the TV version of a very successful web series recently completed its third season on The Aspire Network. Hosted by close friends Seth Brundle and Leslie Antonoff, they take 30 minutes to show you how to take ordinary ingredients and make extraordinary meals. They aren’t professional chefs but they made me feel like I CAN make Shrimp and Grits. I hope Butter+Brown is renewed for fall 2020.

Its Game Show Mania!

TV’s summer season kicked off Sunday with ABC’s Summer Fun and Games.  Starting with Steve Harvey’s “Celebrity Family Feud“, “Press your Luck”  and my favorite, “Match Game” with Alec Baldwin.  Thursday nights has “Who Wants to be a Millionaire “, “Holey Moley” and “To Tell the Truth with Anthony Anderson and his mama.  Game shows are perfect distractions.

I also like Ellen DeGeneres’s “Game of Games”.  The games featuring audience participants are silly, hilarious and when you lose a game, you get slimed, a pie to the face, or dropped through the floor.😁  “America’s Got Talent” is my guilty pleasure.  Not a fan of host Terry Crews or any of the judges, but I love a competition where the audition process reminds you of Chuck Barris‘  “The Gong Show“.  Remember last years horrible re-boot with Mike Myers masquerading as some weird English host?  No?  You missed nothing.  Maybe next re-boot they will feature someone who can combine natural zaniness with hosting. 

Where are new episodes of “American Ninja Warrior“? Those contestants are so inspiring.  If a woman can swing from a rope onto a ladder and climb thru some kind of apparatus, I can make it through my daily stationary bike ride. 🚴‍♀️ I like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson  but why do we need “The Titan Games?” Did it replace American Ninja Warrior?  The Titan Games is a very intense athletic competition where contestants push themselves as they complete various challenges.  The winner is crowned Titian.  Again, I ask… why?  Keegan Michael Key hosts and executive produces”Game On” where two teams, led by Venus Williams and Rob Gronkowski complete challenges like kicking a field goal or dancing with the Laker Girls. Celebrity guests like J.R. Smith and comedian Gabriel Iglesias participate in the fun. 

What exactly is NBC’s “The Wall“? Executive Produced by LeBron James, contestants answer trivia questions as digital balls drop down a wall into slots worth cash.   I watched one episode and felt confused.  How has this been on three seasons?

Are you watching “Ultimate Tag” on Fox?   The game of Tag got a fun upgrade. Hosted by football player J.J. Watt and his two brothers, 3 contestants must run through a maze for as many minutes as possible to avoid being “tagged”.  The taggers are athletes like body builders, who jump and flip over blocks within the maze as they chase the contestants. I was so into it,  I found myself screaming at the TV, RUN!  This show is good family fun.

I saw the preview for ABC’s new game show called “Don’t” and I was like… wha?  “DON’T” is a game show where families team up and complete stunts. It’s sort of like Ellen’s Game of Games, except contestants are instructed to “Don’t”.  For example your task could be to don’t look back while you’re being chased or don’t blink while something is in your face. Don’t premieres June 11th.

SNL alum Leslie Jones is the new host of “Supermarket Sweep” a game where three teams of two are asked to  identify grocery items, as described by Leslie, to earn minutes for a grand shopping spree.  This is gonna be fun.  I see Leslie being more enthusiastic than the contestants.  Supermarket Sweep was supposed to go into production this spring but now?   I hope we see it soon.

The Soaps, Daytime Emmys and shows that got cancelled….

“The History of Soaps” on ABC was a fun look at the genre, its beginnings and impact on today’s TV shows. Former head writers and actors from mostly ABC soaps shared their thoughts and experiences. It felt unfinished to me. If you’re gonna talk about the history and how soaps mirrored the culture, why wouldn’t you have actors Vanessa Bell Calloway who acted on “General Hospital” in the late 1970’s or Debbie Morgan, Antonio Fargas or Tichina Arnold commenting? All were on All My Children in the early 80’s. Before them, the only black characters you saw was Phoebe Tyler’s maid Mrs. Valentine and Dr. Frank Grant who was a Vietnam vet. This special glossed over and omitted a lot. They used old clips instead of talking to any of the soap actors from other networks. It was lazy and sloppy. Vivica Fox and Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson are not true representations of all those black soap actors from the early years.

“The Daytime Emmys were announced and I’m happy Tamron Hall was nominated for Outstanding, Informative Talk show Host. Animated series “Craig of the Creek” featuring the voice of fellow Chicagoan Lil Rel Howery, was nominated for Outstanding Children’s Animated series, while Laila Ali and OWN’s “Home made Simple” got a nom for Outstanding Lifestyle Series. If you ever wondered what happened to the curly haired kid who played Ritchie on “Family Matters”, 33 year old Bryton James is a Best Supporting actor nominee for his work on CBS’s “The Young and the Restless”. Alfonso Ribeiro is a first time nominee as Outstanding Game Show Host for “Catch 21” on Game Show Network. So nice to see him recognized. Keke Palmer, also a first time nominee for ABC’s Strahan, Sara and Keke is nominated for Outstanding Entertainment Talk show host.

Spring is the time of year when networks announce shows not coming back in the fall. I was sad to learn CBS’s “Broke” was cancelled. Based on the novella “Pobres Rico“, it starred Jamie Camil (formerly of “Jane the Virgin”) as a spoiled rich man who loses his trust fund and has to move in with his sister-in-law, played by Pauley Perette, (formerly Abby on NCIS). CBS only aired 4 episodes before they yanked it. Bye, bye “God Friended Me” starring Brandon Michael Hall and veteran actor, Joe Morton. The premise of helping people God sent as a friend request was interesting and I loved seeing “Fame” alum Erica Gimpel as a co-star, But it wasn’t enough to save the show. Netflix canceled the quirky “Tuca and Bertie” animated series starring comedians Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong as best friends who happen to be birds. The good news is Adult Swim will air 10 new episodes in 2021. The show follows the two birds as they navigate their adult lives, relationships and career. ABC axed “Bless This Mess“, about a yuppie couple who gave up city life and moved to Nebraska after inheriting a farm. I know, zzzzzzzz. But Pam Grier was in it and it aired before Mixed-ish. 🤷‍♀️ I don’t know why ABC thought we needed a “Goldbergs” spinoff but “Schooled”, starring SNL alum Tim Meadows and Haneefa Wood as science teacher Wilma Howell got kicked to the curb as well. ABC’s “Single Parents” wasn’t a great show but I enjoyed the relationship between Brad Garrett (Douglas), Kimrie Lewis (Poppy) and her TV son Devin Trey Campbell (Rory). The show was like a rice cake. You ate it, knowing it has no real substance.

RuPaul’s series “AJ and the Queen” on Netflix didn’t make it past one season. I enjoyed the story of a Drag Queen with a young stowaway on the run . But where was the story going? We’ll never know. The Re-boot of “Party of Five” on the CW was a good idea, it focused on five kids who are forced to fend for themselves after their parents were arrested and deported back to Mexico. The CW cancelled it after 10 episodes. I guess the subject matter didn’t fit the superhero show block the CW is known for.

Summer shows are on the way…see ya soon.

So, What is entertaining me now???

The other day, a friend sent me a YouTube link so I could hear a DJ set. Friend got mad when I said the DJ bored me. Look, one of the reasons why DJ DNice is so good is because he engages with the audience. He’s greeting celebs who stop in, plays their music, reads comments and looks good while playing classic dance music. He radiates positive energy while changing his hat every hour. You can’t be on YouTube looking scruffy, sitting in front of your turntables not engaging with your virtual audience . 🤷‍♀️

Which brings me to why I’m really loving The Roots YouTube page. Particularly, Questlove ‘s almost nightly DJ set. 🎧 It’s a fun 3 plus hours of a music lesson combined with stories on how songs were made, plus music from artists you’ve never heard and many tales of antics and creative processes from Questlove’s music savant/nerd mind. Musicians like Jimmy Jam and Jeff Lorber are regularly in attendance and often add to the discussions. Also notable is Black Thought’s “Streams of Thought”, a series of conversations with people who inspire him. I especially enjoyed the work of visual artist🎨 Titus Kaphar’s “From A Tropical Space”. The Roots are a true representation of “Art Matters”.

Comedian and writer David A. Arnold posts hilarious videos featuring his family. Don’t know who he is? Well, he is a former writer of Netflix’s Fuller House and BET’s The Real Husbands of Hollywood. I was introduced in September 2017, when their back to school music video (Brand new day from “The Wiz”) went viral. Tune in and laugh as Arnold tries to assert himself as “King of the Castle” while his wife and daughters steal the show. Their realness is what keeps me watching.

The multi-talented Wayne Brady has created a show to help kids develop their comedic skills. Comedy IQ premiered April 6th on BYU TV. Calling it “An academy of funny”, 6 young people are chosen and taught how to use their acting, singing, or dancing skills to make them funny. Comedy mentors Sinbad, Colin Mochrie of “Whose Line is it Anyway” and Jonathan Mangrum help the kids through improv, stand up comedy and audition challenges to win a spot at Brady’s comedy boot camp. “We didn’t want all of the salacious nature of reality competition,” Brady says. “We just wanted a safe space where teenagers can learn and not be frightened with gimmicks and negative drama”. You can find the show on DirecTV or BYUTV.org.

EDIT: The 24th Webby awards were announced Tuesday May 19th and honestly, before this pandemic, I never cared one bit about them though they have been around since 1996.  2020 winners include DNice, Artist of the year for Club Quarantine, Fenty Beauty, Lil Nas X and The Black Fairy Godmother, Simone Gordon for using social media to help women severely impacted by Covid-19. Are YouTube videos eligible? Some of these hair tutorials out here are doing God’s work. This pandemic is birthing a lot of compelling and creative content. I’d like to see Roland Martin’s Unfiltered news program and The People’s Party with Talib Kweli get nominated next year.

Mother’s Day recap…N’ stuff

Mother’s Day 2020 was definitely different. No incessant Macy’s sale ads and nobody went to Jared.

The Feeding America telethon on Sunday was pretty entertaining. Produced by Byron Allen’s Entertainment studios, and website Funny or Die it got my attention last week on social media with an instagram post hyping Eddie Murphy as the headliner. That was quickly corrected. Featuring at home comedy bits from many comedians including Whoopi Goldberg, Kenan Thompson and that much hyped performance from Eddie Murphy, Allen explained “I knew there was a lot of creative energy with all these comedians sitting at home.” Tiffany Haddish sparkled as she not only demonstrated how to make a stuffed artichoke, she brilliantly improvised taking herself on a date and offering herself a bite of the finished artichoke. Eddie Murphy’s sketch as an old R&B singer felt like an SNL sketch that didn’t make the cut. Meh.

I didn’t see all of ABC’s Disney Sing-a-long on Sunday. But what a treat it was watching Anika Noni Rose sing “Almost There” with Grownish’s Chloe x Halle. Those harmonies were sublime!!! Jennifer Hudson and John Legend beautifully sang “Beauty and The Beast”.

It was nice to see the OWN network air a marathon of “Raising Whitley” starring Kim Whitley and her adopted son Joshua. The show originally aired from 2013 to 2016 and was very popular but abruptly canceled. It chronicled Kim learning how to be a mom with help from her friends dubbed (The Village). Viewers were upset at the cancellation. I suspect we will see more of Kim on the OWN network because she is now a Weight Watchers spokesperson and Oprah is a shareholder.

Elmo is getting a talk-show on HBO. That’s right Elmo from Sesame Street. Starting May 24th “The Not too Late Show” will stream on HBO Max. Cookie Monster is the sidekick, there is a band and no, Animal is not the drummer. Elmo welcomes guests like Ciara, Jimmy Fallon and Miles Johnson (Jack) from “Blackish“. Based on the trailer, we’ll see stuff “happening” behind the scenes just like The Muppet Show from back in the day. I think I saw Bert working in the control room! This show is gonna be a bunch of fun.

Speaking of fun, if you want to laugh your face off, go to YouTube and watch Desus and Mero discuss Elmo’s dad, who recently did a video encouraging stressed out parents. A serious subject, but Desus and Mero put a hilarious spin on what they think Elmo’s dad has been up to.

I tried to watch “Family Reunion” on Netflix. Starring Loretta Devine and Richard Roundtree as retirees who welcome their son (Anthony Alabi) a former football player and his family from Seattle to live with them. Tia Mowry-Hardict, plays his wife. Teenagers adjusting to a new school, wife bumping heads with husband’s mother, I just KNEW this was gonna be good. It’s not. I won’t say the writing is bad. However, aside from the veteran actors mentioned above, the acting is amateurish and stilted. And where did the costume department find those horrible cornrow wigs???!!!! Family Reunion is like generic/off brand food. You know there is good stuff in there, but it still tastes fake.

The Price is Right aired a nighttime episode Monday night. Normally, this would be exciting. But I’m home all damn day! There’s nothing special about a night-time episode anymore. Sigh.

With Little Richard‘s passing this weekend, I’m glad I recently saw director Robert Townsend’s 2000 biography on Richard’s life starring Leon Robinson. As a teenager I didn’t understand who he was or why he’s important. The movie doesn’t explain everything but I’m hoping someone goes deeper and provides insight and details in a documentary that hasn’t been made yet. In the meantime, catch the movie on Hulu.

Let’s Talk TV…

I’ve been home for the past 6 weeks like everybody else, and been watching a lot of TV. So I’m back with observations, musings, and reviews of some shows and commercials out there. After all, I am a TV Head.

So, the Old Spice Guy has a son, And he’s going around embarrassing him on the basketball court in front of his friends. I think the next commercial needs to be Old Spice Guy explaining to a therapist why he insists on crashing various events on a horse. I’m surprised he hasn’t been arrested.

It feels weird to watch Late Night TV now. No in studio audience, no applause. Now we can see the comedic skills of each host. In terms of originality and just plain silliness, I vote for Conan o’Brien. Yeah, he’s still on TBS and just as crazy. The show has lost ratings and was reduced to 30 minutes last year, but Conan has added a certain IDGAF to his sketches. Watch the Wheel of Fortune sketch featuring Andy Richter or Conan catching his employees eating secret cake on YouTube. It’s hilarious.

Why isn’t anyone talking about TBS’s “The Last OG”? Produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele, it stars SNL alum Tracy Morgan, Tiffany Haddish and a bunch of comedians you’ve seen but whose names you may not know. Morgan plays Tre’, an ex-con who returns to his Brooklyn neighborhood to find it gentrified. Haddish plays his ex raising his two kids while married to a white man. Cedric the Entertainer runs the halfway house Tre’ lives in. The show is straight ‘hood and funny. Don’t bother watching it on TBS, they edited the show so badly, the stories felt disjointed and rushed. Netflix has all of the episodes uncut. It is worth the watch.

Those new Meow Mix commercials with DJ Kitty Kat doing the remix to the old Meow Mix jingle and partying with his kitty friends makes me laugh so hard! I tell my cats they need to get with this crew and make some Meow Mix money😁

Now that we have endured the reboot of Will and Grace and Modern Family has finally gone away…can we get a reboot of Girlfriends? Last year, New York Undercover was going to come back with Malik Yoba starring and Lauren Velez too. I don’t know what happened but it would be a welcome sight on the TV landscape.

Why doesn’t actress Sherri Shepherd have a daytime talk show? She’d be a perfect distraction. We’ve seen her on The View and we know she is funny, silly and relatable. She is the friend you want to hang and get into shenanigans with. Sherri was an excellent 3 day fill-in for Wendy Williams last year when Wendy was ill. I don’t understand what the TV executives are waiting on. Everyone is not a fan of Kelly Clarkson.

Lastly, CBS’s “All Rise” starring Simone Missick is a really great show. It’s about Lola Carmichael, a newly appointed judge who pushes boundaries and often finds herself wrangling the system and the legal professionals she works with. The cast is diverse and the stories are topical. The show was renewed for a second season too. Since we’re still on lockdown, this show is a good escape.