Fifty years ago, “Good Times” became the first sitcom to depict a two-parent Black American family. Now, Netflix is debuting a present-day animated reboot chronicling the Evanses two generations after the original. Set in Chicago’s Cabrini Green projects in the same apartment from the 1970s dramedy, the series follows Reggie (J.B. Smoove), his wife Beverly (Yvette Nicole Brown) and their children, Junior (Jay Pharoah), Grey (Marsai Martin) and Dalvin (Slink Johnson). Black people aren’t a monolith, and respectability politics certainly aren’t the answer to racism, sexism, bigotry and homophobia. Yet it’s puzzling that this mind-numbing series is how creator Ranada Shepard is paying homage to such a classic show while trying to speak to 21st-century Black people. It’s also very clear why Netflix decided against sending out screeners for review.
In the season opener, “Meet the Evans of New,” we learn about the new occupants of apartment 17C.
In the season opener, “Meet the Evans of New,” we learn about the new occupants of apartment 17C.
- 4/12/2024
- by Aramide Tinubu
- Variety Film + TV
The legacy of Good Times continues 50 years on, as Netflix rolls out an animated reboot of the series on April 12.
The original CBS sitcom, created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by Norman Lear, offered a heartfelt focus on a working-class Black family and starred Esther Rolle as Florida Evans and John Amos as husband James, who were raising three kids in a Chicago public housing project. Rolle and Amos originated their characters on Maude, a spinoff of Lear’s seminal comedy All in the Family.
BernNadette Stanis, who was a teen when she landed her first-ever role as middle child Thelma, tells The Hollywood Reporter that Lear let her improvise audition lines with Jimmie Walker, who was already cast as older bro J.J. “I started in on Jimmie just like I would treat my real brothers,” says Stanis, who recalls stunning Walker when she playfully smacked his shoulder.
The original CBS sitcom, created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by Norman Lear, offered a heartfelt focus on a working-class Black family and starred Esther Rolle as Florida Evans and John Amos as husband James, who were raising three kids in a Chicago public housing project. Rolle and Amos originated their characters on Maude, a spinoff of Lear’s seminal comedy All in the Family.
BernNadette Stanis, who was a teen when she landed her first-ever role as middle child Thelma, tells The Hollywood Reporter that Lear let her improvise audition lines with Jimmie Walker, who was already cast as older bro J.J. “I started in on Jimmie just like I would treat my real brothers,” says Stanis, who recalls stunning Walker when she playfully smacked his shoulder.
- 4/11/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stars of the original Good Times are weighing in after the trailer for Netflix’s forthcoming animated reboot led some fans to question whether the new project will indeed be “dynomite.”
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year after premiering in February 1974, Good Times focused on the Chicago-based Evans family, with the Norman Lear-produced series running for six seasons and earning praise for its realistic portrayal of a working-class Black family. After the first promo debuted last week for Netflix’s animated exploration of the Evans family’s current generation, plenty of social media users expressed surprise that the new series — which appears to double down on stereotypes with such elements as a drug-dealing infant — didn’t highlight the positive themes from the initial show.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to original Good Times castmembers John Amos, who portrayed patriarch James Evans on the first three seasons, and BernNadette Stanis — known for playing Thelma,...
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year after premiering in February 1974, Good Times focused on the Chicago-based Evans family, with the Norman Lear-produced series running for six seasons and earning praise for its realistic portrayal of a working-class Black family. After the first promo debuted last week for Netflix’s animated exploration of the Evans family’s current generation, plenty of social media users expressed surprise that the new series — which appears to double down on stereotypes with such elements as a drug-dealing infant — didn’t highlight the positive themes from the initial show.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke to original Good Times castmembers John Amos, who portrayed patriarch James Evans on the first three seasons, and BernNadette Stanis — known for playing Thelma,...
- 4/3/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With the 96th Academy Awards in the history books, it’s time to become obsessed over the 77th Tony Awards. Nominations are April 30th with the awards set to air on CBS on June 16 from Lincoln Center. Among the contenders for Tony nominations are many musicals based on movies including “Back to the Future,’ “The Notebook,” “Water for Elephants” and “The Outsiders”: high profile revivals such as Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” with Jeremy Strong; “Cabaret” with Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne and the Who’s “Tommy”; imports from London and transfers from off-Broadway.
Do you remember the Tony landscape 50 years ago? The 28th annual honors took place April 21, 1974, at the Shubert Theater and aired on ABC. And to say it was a star-studded affair is something of an understatement. Robert Preston, Peter Falk, Cicely Tyson, Florence Henderson hosted; presenters included Al Pacino –-let’s hope he had better...
Do you remember the Tony landscape 50 years ago? The 28th annual honors took place April 21, 1974, at the Shubert Theater and aired on ABC. And to say it was a star-studded affair is something of an understatement. Robert Preston, Peter Falk, Cicely Tyson, Florence Henderson hosted; presenters included Al Pacino –-let’s hope he had better...
- 3/14/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
“Good Times,” which celebrates its 50th anniversary on Feb. 8, suffered from an identity crisis during its six-season run on CBS. So much so, the lead actors — Esther Rolle and John Amos — would leave the popular second spinoff of ‘All in the Family”(Rolle would eventually return) because the sitcom changed focus.
Norman Lear ruled the airwaves in the 1970s. He blew up the conception of a family sitcom in 1971 with the CBS sitcom “All in the Family” which focused on a working class family from Queen lead by the bigoted patriarch Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor). During the first season, Bea Arthur guest starred as Maude, Edith Bunker’s (Jean Stapleton) favorite cousin who was the antithesis of Archie-outspoken, much married, ultra-liberal.
And after a second appearance on “All in the Family,” Arthur got her own series “Maude” in the fall of 1972. The breakout performer on that series was Esther...
Norman Lear ruled the airwaves in the 1970s. He blew up the conception of a family sitcom in 1971 with the CBS sitcom “All in the Family” which focused on a working class family from Queen lead by the bigoted patriarch Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor). During the first season, Bea Arthur guest starred as Maude, Edith Bunker’s (Jean Stapleton) favorite cousin who was the antithesis of Archie-outspoken, much married, ultra-liberal.
And after a second appearance on “All in the Family,” Arthur got her own series “Maude” in the fall of 1972. The breakout performer on that series was Esther...
- 2/8/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Netflix’s animated Good Times update from Seth MacFarlane and the late and great Norman Lear is moving full steam ahead.
The streamer has tapped J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown and Jay Pharoah to lead the voice cast of the animated and adult-leaning series. Additionally, Ranada Shepard (Family Affair, Lizzie McGuire) has signed on to serve as showrunner, replacing Carl Jones (The Boondocks) in the role.
The animated series follows the Evans family in the present day as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. As the original did, the new show will strive to remind viewers that with the love of family, everyone can keep their heads above water.
Smoove and Brown will play the show’s central couple, Reggie and Beverly, with Pharoah taking on the role of one of their sons, Junior.
The original series starred Esther Rolle and John Amos as Florida and James Evans,...
The streamer has tapped J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown and Jay Pharoah to lead the voice cast of the animated and adult-leaning series. Additionally, Ranada Shepard (Family Affair, Lizzie McGuire) has signed on to serve as showrunner, replacing Carl Jones (The Boondocks) in the role.
The animated series follows the Evans family in the present day as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. As the original did, the new show will strive to remind viewers that with the love of family, everyone can keep their heads above water.
Smoove and Brown will play the show’s central couple, Reggie and Beverly, with Pharoah taking on the role of one of their sons, Junior.
The original series starred Esther Rolle and John Amos as Florida and James Evans,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Norman Lear, a titan of television, died at the age of 101 on December 5 surrounded by family. He leaves behind not only a lasting legacy of on-screen delights, but also a string of upcoming projects, one of them reportedly being a voiceover cameo in the upcoming Netflix animated take on his beloved sitcom Good Times. The original series starred Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker, and Ja’net DuBois. The sitcom followed Rolle’s Florida Evans as she raised her family in a Chicago apartment building. The new animated series was green-lit by Netflix in 2020 with basketball star Steph Curry and Seth MacFarlane‘s respective production companies attached in addition to Lear’s Act III Prods. According to Deadline, the animated Good Times follows a new generation of the Evans family living in one of the last housing projects still standing in Chicago. Lear reportedly recorded a voiceover cameo for the series,...
- 12/6/2023
- TV Insider
Norman Lear was a man of modest physical stature, standing a trim 5’7″ on a good day. In terms of his impact on television — comedy primarily, but the medium as a whole — he was a giant, who belongs on any Mt. Rushmore of showrunners. He dominated an entire decade of TV like no one before or since, with hit after hit that expanded the boundaries of what could be done with the old-fashioned multi-camera sitcom format (shot on a stage in front of a studio audience), and what kinds of stories and characters audiences would accept.
- 12/6/2023
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Richard Roundtree, the ultracool actor who helped open the door to a generation of Black filmmakers and performers with his portrayal of private eye John Shaft, “the cat that won’t cop out when there’s danger all about,” died Tuesday. He was 81.
Roundtree died at his home in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, his manager, Patrick McMinn, told The Hollywood Reporter.
He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and had a double mastectomy. “Breast cancer is not gender specific,” he said four years later. “And men have this cavalier attitude about health issues. I got such positive feedback because I spoke out about it, and it’s been quite a number of years now. I’m a survivor.”
Roundtree also portrayed the title character opposite Peter O’Toole as Robinson Crusoe in Man Friday, was featured as an army sergeant opposite Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Korean...
Roundtree died at his home in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, his manager, Patrick McMinn, told The Hollywood Reporter.
He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and had a double mastectomy. “Breast cancer is not gender specific,” he said four years later. “And men have this cavalier attitude about health issues. I got such positive feedback because I spoke out about it, and it’s been quite a number of years now. I’m a survivor.”
Roundtree also portrayed the title character opposite Peter O’Toole as Robinson Crusoe in Man Friday, was featured as an army sergeant opposite Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Korean...
- 10/25/2023
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
R. Dianne Bartlow, a director, writer, producer and educator who worked on the Kcbs-tv program 2 on the Town and received three regional Emmys during her career, died Sept. 8 in Los Angeles of cancer, her family announced. She was 67.
After spending more than a decade in broadcast journalism, Bartlow worked as a freelance producer and was an active member of the DGA’s African American and Women’s steering committees.
Bartlow contributed to the 1990 documentary Wings Over Jordan, We Remember, which chronicled the World War II-era Black a cappella gospel choir Wings of Jordan and featured comments from Esther Rolle and Lou Rawls. The doc is archived in the Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia.
At the time of her death, Bartlow was a professor at California State University Northridge. She started there in 2002 and chaired the school’s Gender and Women...
R. Dianne Bartlow, a director, writer, producer and educator who worked on the Kcbs-tv program 2 on the Town and received three regional Emmys during her career, died Sept. 8 in Los Angeles of cancer, her family announced. She was 67.
After spending more than a decade in broadcast journalism, Bartlow worked as a freelance producer and was an active member of the DGA’s African American and Women’s steering committees.
Bartlow contributed to the 1990 documentary Wings Over Jordan, We Remember, which chronicled the World War II-era Black a cappella gospel choir Wings of Jordan and featured comments from Esther Rolle and Lou Rawls. The doc is archived in the Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia.
At the time of her death, Bartlow was a professor at California State University Northridge. She started there in 2002 and chaired the school’s Gender and Women...
- 9/22/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Johnny Brown, the actor, comedian and singer best known for his role as superintendent Nathan Bookman on the popular 70s sitcom “Good Times,” died Wednesday. He was 84 years old.
Brown’s death was confirmed by his daughter, Broadway actress Sharon Catherine Brown, through a post shared on her Instagram. No further details on Brown’s death are available at this time.
“He was literally snatched out of our lives. It’s not real for us yet,” Sharon Catherine Brown wrote. “So there will be more to say but not now. Dad was the absolute best. We love him so very much.”
Prior to his sitcom stardom, Brown was a seasoned entertainment veteran, regularly performing in nightclub acts with his future wife, June Russell. Early in his career he dabbled in recording music, releasing the single “Walkin’, Talkin’, Kissin’ Doll” for Columbia Records in 1961 and “You’re Too Much in Love...
Brown’s death was confirmed by his daughter, Broadway actress Sharon Catherine Brown, through a post shared on her Instagram. No further details on Brown’s death are available at this time.
“He was literally snatched out of our lives. It’s not real for us yet,” Sharon Catherine Brown wrote. “So there will be more to say but not now. Dad was the absolute best. We love him so very much.”
Prior to his sitcom stardom, Brown was a seasoned entertainment veteran, regularly performing in nightclub acts with his future wife, June Russell. Early in his career he dabbled in recording music, releasing the single “Walkin’, Talkin’, Kissin’ Doll” for Columbia Records in 1961 and “You’re Too Much in Love...
- 3/5/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Getting fired from Good Times is one of the best things that could have ever happened to John Amos.
After three seasons of fighting with executive producer Norman Lear and the CBS sitcom’s white writers about the stereotypical Black portrayals and dialogue the show perpetuated, particularly when it came to star Jimmie Walker, Amos’ contract to play patriarch James Evans wasn’t renewed at the end of Season 3 in 1976 and his character was killed off.
More from TVLineShades of Funny: A Celebration of TV Comedy's Trailblazers & Rising StarsFresh Off Ted Lasso, Emmy Winner Ashley Nicole Black Is On a...
After three seasons of fighting with executive producer Norman Lear and the CBS sitcom’s white writers about the stereotypical Black portrayals and dialogue the show perpetuated, particularly when it came to star Jimmie Walker, Amos’ contract to play patriarch James Evans wasn’t renewed at the end of Season 3 in 1976 and his character was killed off.
More from TVLineShades of Funny: A Celebration of TV Comedy's Trailblazers & Rising StarsFresh Off Ted Lasso, Emmy Winner Ashley Nicole Black Is On a...
- 2/26/2022
- by Mekeisha Madden Toby
- TVLine.com
Melvin Van Peebles, an actor, writer, director, producer and icon of Black cinema whose films include Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Watermelon Man, died Tuesday night at his Manhattan home. He was 89.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
His death was confirmed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who said in a statement: “Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
Janus Films and Criterion Collection also announced the news on Twitter and said in a statement: “In an unparalleled career, distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the...
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
His death was confirmed by his son, Mario Van Peebles, who said in a statement: “Dad knew that Black images matter. If a picture is worth a thousand words, what was a movie worth? We want to be the success we see, thus we need to see ourselves being free. True liberation did not mean imitating the colonizer’s mentality. It meant appreciating the power, beauty and interconnectivity of all people.”
Janus Films and Criterion Collection also announced the news on Twitter and said in a statement: “In an unparalleled career, distinguished by relentless innovation, boundless curiosity and spiritual empathy, Melvin Van Peebles made an indelible mark on the...
- 9/22/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Michaela Coel, Norman Lear and Steve McQueen were among the special achievement honorees at the third annual Aafca TV Honors on Saturday.
The event, presented by the African American Film Critics Association, was held virtually, with Emmy-nominee Yvette Nicole Brown hosting the award show.
Honorees including Wanda Sykes, Naomi Ackie and Omar Sy beamed in from home to accept their honors. The awards were presented by more than two dozen Aafca members, including Aafca president Gil Robertson, who highlighted what made each project impactful and each artist exceptional.
Breakout Creative Award recipient Coel mentioned the virtual nature of the ceremony in her speech, saying she looked forward to the day when she’s able to attend the ceremony in person and commune with the other Black artists who’ve inspired her.
“I made a story, which was filmed all the way across the pond, on my European continent, could be...
The event, presented by the African American Film Critics Association, was held virtually, with Emmy-nominee Yvette Nicole Brown hosting the award show.
Honorees including Wanda Sykes, Naomi Ackie and Omar Sy beamed in from home to accept their honors. The awards were presented by more than two dozen Aafca members, including Aafca president Gil Robertson, who highlighted what made each project impactful and each artist exceptional.
Breakout Creative Award recipient Coel mentioned the virtual nature of the ceremony in her speech, saying she looked forward to the day when she’s able to attend the ceremony in person and commune with the other Black artists who’ve inspired her.
“I made a story, which was filmed all the way across the pond, on my European continent, could be...
- 8/22/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Douglas Turner Ward, the director, actor and playwright who co-founded the landmark, influential Off Broadway Black theater group the Negro Ensemble Company, died Saturday, Feb. 20, at his home in New York City. He was 90.
His death was announced by his wife Diana Ward.
Ward had already begun a solid New York stage acting career in the 1950s and ’60s – including Off Broadway roles in The Iceman Cometh and on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun – when, according to The New York Times, he wrote a 1966 editorial for that newspaper headlined “American Theater: For Whites Only?” The article called for the establishment of a Black repertory theater company. Turner wrote, “Not in the future…but now!”
A year later the Ford Foundation awarded a $434,000 grant to create the Negro Ensemble Company with Ward as artistic director, along with Robert Hooks and Gerald S. Krone in other leadership roles.
The Company...
His death was announced by his wife Diana Ward.
Ward had already begun a solid New York stage acting career in the 1950s and ’60s – including Off Broadway roles in The Iceman Cometh and on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun – when, according to The New York Times, he wrote a 1966 editorial for that newspaper headlined “American Theater: For Whites Only?” The article called for the establishment of a Black repertory theater company. Turner wrote, “Not in the future…but now!”
A year later the Ford Foundation awarded a $434,000 grant to create the Negro Ensemble Company with Ward as artistic director, along with Robert Hooks and Gerald S. Krone in other leadership roles.
The Company...
- 2/23/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“All in the Family” was notable for many things — including the fact that it spawned seven other TV series. The influential sitcom was controversial when it first aired on 50 years ago on Jan. 12, 1971, and it went on to confront numerous issues that hadn’t previously been portrayed on television. The show’s spin-off series continued to break boundaries with discussions of abortion, alcoholism and racism. The characters and mood set by “All in the Family” left a big mark on television history, including these seven spin-offs:
“Maude” (1972-78)
The title character, played by Bea Arthur, was a tall, ultra-liberal feminist who drove Archie crazy; she was introduced in as Edith’s cousin in two “All in the Family” episodes in the 1971-72 season.
The two-part season opener for “Maude” in 1973 dealt with the alcoholism of her husband Walter (Bill Macy). Variety said it “underscored that sitcoms this year are treading...
“Maude” (1972-78)
The title character, played by Bea Arthur, was a tall, ultra-liberal feminist who drove Archie crazy; she was introduced in as Edith’s cousin in two “All in the Family” episodes in the 1971-72 season.
The two-part season opener for “Maude” in 1973 dealt with the alcoholism of her husband Walter (Bill Macy). Variety said it “underscored that sitcoms this year are treading...
- 1/12/2021
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Despite being down two actors since Esther Rolle and Ja’net Dubois sadly passed away a while back, it does sound as though Good Times is a go at Netflix as an animated reboot that some think is going to inject a bit of positivity in an otherwise difficult and rather trying year. If that’s all it took to break people out of the funk that’s been keeping so many down lately it’d be great, but at the very least, a return by this iconic show might actually be able to lift some peoples’ spirits as the Evans family will be
A Good Times Animated Reboot is Happening at Netflix...
A Good Times Animated Reboot is Happening at Netflix...
- 9/24/2020
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Netflix has given a series order to an animated version of Norman Lear’s groundbreaking TV sitcom Good Times. The project hails from Lear and his Act III Productions, NBA star Steph Curry and his Unanimous Media, Seth MacFarlane and his Fuzzy Door, and Sony Pictures TV.
Based on his iconic ’70s series, Good Times is Lear’s first animated series. It comes on the heels of the recent animated episode of One Day At a Time, Pop TV’s reboot of another Lear classic.
Good Times follows the Evans family as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. Just as the original did years ago, Good Times strives to remind us that with the love of our family, we can keep our heads above water.
Carl Jones serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer. Lear and Brent Miller executive produce for Act III Productions, Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton...
Based on his iconic ’70s series, Good Times is Lear’s first animated series. It comes on the heels of the recent animated episode of One Day At a Time, Pop TV’s reboot of another Lear classic.
Good Times follows the Evans family as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. Just as the original did years ago, Good Times strives to remind us that with the love of our family, we can keep our heads above water.
Carl Jones serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer. Lear and Brent Miller executive produce for Act III Productions, Stephen Curry, Erick Peyton...
- 9/14/2020
- by Denise Petski and Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to a new animated take on Norman Lear’s classic sitcom “Good Times.” Lear and his Act III Prods. shingle is partnering with basketball star Steph Curry and his production company, Unanimous Media, as well as Seth MacFarlane and his shingle Fuzzy Door, to develop the show.
Both Act III and Unanimous are based at Sony Pictures TV, which is behind the animated “Good Times.” Carl Jones, whose credits include animated series “The Boondocks” and “Black Dynamite,” as well as TBS’ Tracy Morgan starrer “The Last O.G.,” will create, showrun and executive produce the project. Per the logline, the new animated series will follow “the Evans family as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. Just as the original did years ago, ‘Good Times’ strives to remind us that with the love of our family, we can keep our heads above water.
Both Act III and Unanimous are based at Sony Pictures TV, which is behind the animated “Good Times.” Carl Jones, whose credits include animated series “The Boondocks” and “Black Dynamite,” as well as TBS’ Tracy Morgan starrer “The Last O.G.,” will create, showrun and executive produce the project. Per the logline, the new animated series will follow “the Evans family as they navigate today’s world and contemporary social issues. Just as the original did years ago, ‘Good Times’ strives to remind us that with the love of our family, we can keep our heads above water.
- 9/14/2020
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
(Updated with Norman Lear remarks) Just over two months after she wowed the crowd at ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family & Good Times, Ja’net DuBois died suddenly today. She was 74.
As confirmed by her family and those close to the two-time Emmy winner, the seemingly healthy DuBois died early Tuesday in her sleep at her home in Glendale, CA.
She was known for making some of the greatest entrances in sitcom history week after week as neighbor Willona Woods on Good Times, the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom starring Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker and Janet Jackson. Back in December of last year, DuBois joined Walker and co-star Bern Nadette Stanis for an appearance on the latest live retelling of one of Norman Lear’s classic TV shows – and she stole the star-studded show with pure pizzazz.
Good Times wasn’t DuBois’ only connection to Learland.
As confirmed by her family and those close to the two-time Emmy winner, the seemingly healthy DuBois died early Tuesday in her sleep at her home in Glendale, CA.
She was known for making some of the greatest entrances in sitcom history week after week as neighbor Willona Woods on Good Times, the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom starring Esther Rolle, John Amos, Jimmie Walker and Janet Jackson. Back in December of last year, DuBois joined Walker and co-star Bern Nadette Stanis for an appearance on the latest live retelling of one of Norman Lear’s classic TV shows – and she stole the star-studded show with pure pizzazz.
Good Times wasn’t DuBois’ only connection to Learland.
- 2/19/2020
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
“YouTube at 15” is our package of stories to celebrate the streaming site’s anniversary. It’s hard to imagine, but there really was a time before makeup tutorials, conspiracy explainers, on-demand music videos — really, viral videos at large. Since it’s become such a ubiquitous part of culture, we set out to look at how it’s changed our world. To kick things off, contributing editor Rob Sheffield investigated its surprising origins.
Everybody knows the story of Nipplegate. Janet Jackson. Justin Timberlake. The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A wardrobe malfunction.
Everybody knows the story of Nipplegate. Janet Jackson. Justin Timberlake. The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. A wardrobe malfunction.
- 2/11/2020
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
THR to look back at her career highlights. "I would say my career began with high points." She speaks fondly of the months after her sophomore year at Howard University when she spent the summer with the Negro Ensemble Company in New York. "This was during its heyday. The actors in that company were Moses Gunn, Hattie Winston, Rosalind Cash, Frances Foster, Esther Rolle," she says. "Robert Hooks was one of the directors of the theater. Douglas Turner Ward ...
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Cleopatra Jones
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1973 / 2:35:1 / 89 Min. / Street Date – March 19, 2019
Starring Tamara Dobson, Bernie Casey
Written by Max Julien, Sheldon Keller
Cinematography by David M. Walsh
Directed by Jack Starrett
A good-natured if rickety assemblage of action movie cliches, Cleopatra Jones is dominated by two bigger than life actresses, Tamara Dobson and Shelley Winters. The movie’s trailer promoted Dobson as the “soul sister’s answer” to James Bond but you can count Bruce Lee, Emma Peel, Shaft and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. among Cleo’s many relevant role models.
Winters plays “Mommy”, a foulmouthed mob boss who depends on the thriving Poppy fields of Turkey for her cash flow and Dobson is Cleopatra, an Amazonian fashion plate whose special agent skills range from karate to high speed car chases – her plan to wipe out Mommy’s syndicate leads to a high octane race through ‘70’s era L.
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1973 / 2:35:1 / 89 Min. / Street Date – March 19, 2019
Starring Tamara Dobson, Bernie Casey
Written by Max Julien, Sheldon Keller
Cinematography by David M. Walsh
Directed by Jack Starrett
A good-natured if rickety assemblage of action movie cliches, Cleopatra Jones is dominated by two bigger than life actresses, Tamara Dobson and Shelley Winters. The movie’s trailer promoted Dobson as the “soul sister’s answer” to James Bond but you can count Bruce Lee, Emma Peel, Shaft and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. among Cleo’s many relevant role models.
Winters plays “Mommy”, a foulmouthed mob boss who depends on the thriving Poppy fields of Turkey for her cash flow and Dobson is Cleopatra, an Amazonian fashion plate whose special agent skills range from karate to high speed car chases – her plan to wipe out Mommy’s syndicate leads to a high octane race through ‘70’s era L.
- 3/19/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
1981: Luke and Laura were married on General Hospital."The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1971: On The Doctors, Dr. Althea Davis (Elizabeth Hubbard) warned Dr. Maggie Powers (Lydia Bruce) to keep her eyes wide open when it came to Dr. Karen Werner.
1979: On The Edge of Night, Steve Guthrie (Denny Albee) confessed to Deborah Saxon (Frances Fisher) he still loved her.
1981: On Another World, an argument ensued when Larry Ewing (Rick Porter) accused his wife, Clarice (Gail Brown), of leading Jerry Grove (Paul Tinder) on before her rape. Later, they made peace and comforted each other.
― Lord Byron
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1971: On The Doctors, Dr. Althea Davis (Elizabeth Hubbard) warned Dr. Maggie Powers (Lydia Bruce) to keep her eyes wide open when it came to Dr. Karen Werner.
1979: On The Edge of Night, Steve Guthrie (Denny Albee) confessed to Deborah Saxon (Frances Fisher) he still loved her.
1981: On Another World, an argument ensued when Larry Ewing (Rick Porter) accused his wife, Clarice (Gail Brown), of leading Jerry Grove (Paul Tinder) on before her rape. Later, they made peace and comforted each other.
- 11/17/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
The universe has quickly become the place to be. Such companies as Marvel have taken over the film world with their intricately plotted universes, in which individual projects are tied together by sharing characters, settings and plot points. DC Entertainment has films including “Justice League,” with plenty of other examples either already released or on the way.
The trend has also carried over into television. Marvel has five series on Netflix alone, four of which played into “The Defenders” crossover event series in 2017. The fifth, “The Punisher,” was launched off the title character’s appearance in “Daredevil” season two. Then there’s the “Arrow”-verse on the CW, which features such DC heroes as Green Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl.
The shared universe phenomenon is not limited to superheroes, however. AMC launched the “Walking Dead” sister series “Fear the Walking Dead” in 2015, with original series character Morgan Jones (Lennie James...
The trend has also carried over into television. Marvel has five series on Netflix alone, four of which played into “The Defenders” crossover event series in 2017. The fifth, “The Punisher,” was launched off the title character’s appearance in “Daredevil” season two. Then there’s the “Arrow”-verse on the CW, which features such DC heroes as Green Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl.
The shared universe phenomenon is not limited to superheroes, however. AMC launched the “Walking Dead” sister series “Fear the Walking Dead” in 2015, with original series character Morgan Jones (Lennie James...
- 6/4/2018
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best show currently on TV?” can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: When was the first time you saw a TV character that you felt represented you or your experience? Who was it? How did you feel? (This is jumping on the #FirstTimeISawMe hashtag about representation.)
Eric Deggans (@deggans), NPR
This is a tough question, because I don’t think I’ve seen a character like me yet on television (black comics nerd who loves playing drums, has a thirst for pop culture, spent his teens grooving to Frank Zappa and Parliament/Funkadelic and has a passion for racial issues and opposing stereotypes in media. Nope, haven’t seen that character yet). But the first time I saw...
This week’s question: When was the first time you saw a TV character that you felt represented you or your experience? Who was it? How did you feel? (This is jumping on the #FirstTimeISawMe hashtag about representation.)
Eric Deggans (@deggans), NPR
This is a tough question, because I don’t think I’ve seen a character like me yet on television (black comics nerd who loves playing drums, has a thirst for pop culture, spent his teens grooving to Frank Zappa and Parliament/Funkadelic and has a passion for racial issues and opposing stereotypes in media. Nope, haven’t seen that character yet). But the first time I saw...
- 8/15/2017
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Cue the dream sequence! During the first season of black-ish, the ABC sitcom traded modern day Southern California for the 1920s Harlem. But for the end of season 2, the Johnsons are getting groovy in the '70s - and People has an exclusive sneak peek at the time warp.Patriarch Dre (Anthony Anderson) is left exhausted after wrestling with a lot of stress at work. While at home, he drifts to sleep watching a TV marathon of Good Times, which starred Esther Rolle and a young Janet Jackson. In Dre's dream, his family are transformed into the classic sitcom characters...
- 5/18/2016
- by Patrick Gomez, @PatrickGomezLA
- PEOPLE.com
Cue the dream sequence!
During the first season of black-ish, the ABC sitcom traded modern day Southern California for the 1920s Harlem. But for the end of season 2, the Johnsons are getting groovy in the '70s – and People has an exclusive sneak peek at the time warp.
Patriarch Dre (Anthony Anderson) is left exhausted after wrestling with a lot of stress at work. While at home, he drifts to sleep watching a TV marathon of Good Times, which starred Esther Rolle and a young Janet Jackson.
In Dre's dream, his family are transformed into the classic sitcom characters of...
During the first season of black-ish, the ABC sitcom traded modern day Southern California for the 1920s Harlem. But for the end of season 2, the Johnsons are getting groovy in the '70s – and People has an exclusive sneak peek at the time warp.
Patriarch Dre (Anthony Anderson) is left exhausted after wrestling with a lot of stress at work. While at home, he drifts to sleep watching a TV marathon of Good Times, which starred Esther Rolle and a young Janet Jackson.
In Dre's dream, his family are transformed into the classic sitcom characters of...
- 5/18/2016
- by Patrick Gomez, @PatrickGomezLA
- People.com - TV Watch
[caption id="attachment_48521" align="aligncenter" width="590"] (ABC/Ron Tom.)/caption]
Ain't we lucky we got 'em? Check out these photos of the second season finale of the Black-ish TV show on ABC. In "Good-ish Times," Dre falls asleep watching a Good Times TV show marathon. In his dream, the Johnson family goes back to the 1970s and are transformed into the characters of this classic TV show. The episode airs May 18th.
Black-ish stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laurence Fishburne, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Marsai Martin, and Jenifer Lewis. Guest starring are Peter Mackenzie, Jeff Meacham, Deon Cole, and Catherine Reitman. The cast of the original Good Times TV series includes: BernNadette Stanis, Ralph Carter, Jimmie Walker, Ja'net DuBois, Esther Rolle, John Amos, and Janet Jackson (Miss Jackson, if you're nasty).
Read More…...
Ain't we lucky we got 'em? Check out these photos of the second season finale of the Black-ish TV show on ABC. In "Good-ish Times," Dre falls asleep watching a Good Times TV show marathon. In his dream, the Johnson family goes back to the 1970s and are transformed into the characters of this classic TV show. The episode airs May 18th.
Black-ish stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laurence Fishburne, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Marsai Martin, and Jenifer Lewis. Guest starring are Peter Mackenzie, Jeff Meacham, Deon Cole, and Catherine Reitman. The cast of the original Good Times TV series includes: BernNadette Stanis, Ralph Carter, Jimmie Walker, Ja'net DuBois, Esther Rolle, John Amos, and Janet Jackson (Miss Jackson, if you're nasty).
Read More…...
- 5/6/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
While Netflix has been in the habit of reviving old TV icons, Hollywood is no stranger to getting in on the nostalgia. And if you’re going to be digging up any old property, the socially relevant and racially poignant comedy of Norman Lear’s Good Times is a strong place to start.
A Good Times movie is currently in development from the creator of ABC’s African American spin on Modern Family, Black-ish, Kenya Barris. Deadline reports that the feature adaptation of the show, which ran on CBS between 1974 to 1979, is being set up at Sony and will be a period piece set in the ’60s.
Good Times was a spin-off of Maude, itself a spin-off of All in the Family, and was the story of a family of African Americans living in a poor, black neighborhood and housing project and how they still managed to have “good times...
A Good Times movie is currently in development from the creator of ABC’s African American spin on Modern Family, Black-ish, Kenya Barris. Deadline reports that the feature adaptation of the show, which ran on CBS between 1974 to 1979, is being set up at Sony and will be a period piece set in the ’60s.
Good Times was a spin-off of Maude, itself a spin-off of All in the Family, and was the story of a family of African Americans living in a poor, black neighborhood and housing project and how they still managed to have “good times...
- 4/27/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Juanita Moore, a groundbreaking actress and an Academy Award nominee for her role as Lana Turner’s black friend in the classic weeper Imitation of Life, has died.
Actor Kirk Kelleykahn, her grandson, said that Moore collapsed and died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99, according to Kelleykahn. Accounts of her age have differed over the years.
Moore was only the fifth black performer to be nominated for an Oscar, receiving the nod for the glossy Douglas Sirk film that became a big hit and later gained a cult following. The 1959 tearjerker, based on a Fannie Hurst...
Actor Kirk Kelleykahn, her grandson, said that Moore collapsed and died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99, according to Kelleykahn. Accounts of her age have differed over the years.
Moore was only the fifth black performer to be nominated for an Oscar, receiving the nod for the glossy Douglas Sirk film that became a big hit and later gained a cult following. The 1959 tearjerker, based on a Fannie Hurst...
- 1/1/2014
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside Movies
1970s Us sitcom Good Times is to be remade as a feature film.
The CBS family comedy originally aired six seasons between 1974 and 1979.
Good Times focused on working-class couple James (John Amos) and Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) as they raised three children in a Chicago housing project.
The show is perhaps best remembered for breakout character Jj (Jimmie Walker), who became notorious for his use of the catchphrase, "Dy-no-mite!"
Sony Pictures is developing the new big-screen adaptation with producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network), Deadline reports.
Wreck-It Ralph scribe Phil Johnston has been hired to pen the film, which will be a period piece set in the 1960s.
> Scott Rudin and HBO 'end television deal'
> Little House on the Prairie movie to be directed by David Gordon Green
Watch a classic Good Times clip below:...
The CBS family comedy originally aired six seasons between 1974 and 1979.
Good Times focused on working-class couple James (John Amos) and Florida Evans (Esther Rolle) as they raised three children in a Chicago housing project.
The show is perhaps best remembered for breakout character Jj (Jimmie Walker), who became notorious for his use of the catchphrase, "Dy-no-mite!"
Sony Pictures is developing the new big-screen adaptation with producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network), Deadline reports.
Wreck-It Ralph scribe Phil Johnston has been hired to pen the film, which will be a period piece set in the 1960s.
> Scott Rudin and HBO 'end television deal'
> Little House on the Prairie movie to be directed by David Gordon Green
Watch a classic Good Times clip below:...
- 3/13/2013
- Digital Spy
Drew Barrymore: Adam Sandler will reteam with Drew Barrymore for an upcoming “blended family” comedy. Sandler and Barrymore were previously paired in the romantic comedies The Wedding Singer (pictured above) and 50 First Dates. In the upcoming, still untitled movie, they will play single parents who share a disastrous first date at a theme park and then must spend the day together with their children in tow. Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer, Here Comes the Boom) will direct. [Variety] Good Times: The hit '70s television sitcom Good Times is being refashioned into a movie. The original series ran for six seasons, and featured John Amos and Esther Rolle as parents of a rambunctious African-American family that included their son Jimmie Walker, whose catchphrase...
Read More...
Read More...
- 3/13/2013
- by Peter Martin
- Movies.com
Drew Barrymore: Adam Sandler will reteam with Drew Barrymore for an upcoming “blended family” comedy. Sandler and Barrymore were previously paired in the romantic comedies The Wedding Singer (pictured above) and 50 First Dates. In the upcoming, still untitled movie, they will play single parents who share a disastrous first date at a theme park and then must spend the day together with their children in tow. Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer, Here Comes the Boom) will direct. [Variety] Good Times: The hit 70s television sitcom Good Times is being refashioned into a movie. The original series ran for six seasons, and featured John Amos and Esther Rolle as parents of a rambunctious African-American family that included their son Jimmie Walker, whose catchphrase...
Read More...
Read More...
- 3/13/2013
- by Peter Martin
- Movies.com
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony is currently developing a film based on ”Good Times”, the popular Sitcom that ran on CBS from 1974-1979. Sony has enlisted Scott Rudin and Eli Bush as producers. Phil Johnston (Wreck-It-Ralph, Cedar Rapids) will write.
The original show starred Ja’net DuBois, John Amos, Ralph Carter, Jimmie Walker, BernNadette Stanis and Esther Rolle.
Good Times synopsis from Tvland:
Good Times follows the challenges and joys of the close-knit Evans family — patriarch James, mother Florida, eldest son and accomplished amateur painter J.J. (James Evans, Jr.), brainy and beautiful daughter Thelma, and youngest son Michael, a political and social activist — who live together in a high-rise housing project on the South Side of Chicago.
The show took an honest look at the reality of life in the urban Projects, and tackled social and political issues around race, poverty, unemployment, inflation, crime and addiction — hot button...
The original show starred Ja’net DuBois, John Amos, Ralph Carter, Jimmie Walker, BernNadette Stanis and Esther Rolle.
Good Times synopsis from Tvland:
Good Times follows the challenges and joys of the close-knit Evans family — patriarch James, mother Florida, eldest son and accomplished amateur painter J.J. (James Evans, Jr.), brainy and beautiful daughter Thelma, and youngest son Michael, a political and social activist — who live together in a high-rise housing project on the South Side of Chicago.
The show took an honest look at the reality of life in the urban Projects, and tackled social and political issues around race, poverty, unemployment, inflation, crime and addiction — hot button...
- 3/12/2013
- by Alex Corey
- LRMonline.com
A "Good Times" movie is in the works. According to Deadline.com, Scott Rudin and Sony Pictures will revive the classic 1970s CBS sitcom as a feature film.
Phil Johnston, who recently penned "Wreck-It Ralph," has been tapped to write the "Good Times" movie.
The series, which aired from 1974-79 on CBS, was a spinoff from "Maude." "Good Times" followed the Evans family in the Chicago projects and starred Esther Rolle as Florida Evans, John Amos as James Evans, Sr. and Jimmie Walker as James 'J.J.' Evans, Jr.
"Good Times" is far from the first classic TV series to get the big screen remake treatment. Nicole Kidman starred in a "Bewitched" movie, Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway starred in a "Get Smart" film and Jonah Hill's "21 Jump Street" movie was a success.
On the small screen, there have also been plenty of reboots: Vince Vaughn was working...
Phil Johnston, who recently penned "Wreck-It Ralph," has been tapped to write the "Good Times" movie.
The series, which aired from 1974-79 on CBS, was a spinoff from "Maude." "Good Times" followed the Evans family in the Chicago projects and starred Esther Rolle as Florida Evans, John Amos as James Evans, Sr. and Jimmie Walker as James 'J.J.' Evans, Jr.
"Good Times" is far from the first classic TV series to get the big screen remake treatment. Nicole Kidman starred in a "Bewitched" movie, Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway starred in a "Get Smart" film and Jonah Hill's "21 Jump Street" movie was a success.
On the small screen, there have also been plenty of reboots: Vince Vaughn was working...
- 3/12/2013
- by Chris Harnick
- Huffington Post
Dy-no-mite! Columbia Pictures is looking to bring a version of 1970s TV hit Good Times to the big screen, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The CBS series ran from 1974-79 and starred Jimmie Walker, Esther Rolle and a young Janet Jackson. Walker was known for a number of catchphrases including his trademark "Dy-no-mite!" Scott Rudin and Eli Bush are producing the Good Times film, while Phil Johnston is on board to write. The studio, which scored with a film remake of 1970s hit TV series Charlie's Angels, has been trying to mount big-screen versions of other titles
read more...
read more...
- 3/12/2013
- by Tatiana Siegel
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Holiday break is officially over, but hopefully some of this week’s Blu-Ray releases can take away some of the pain you’re feeling from your inflated credit card bill. This week’s featured Blu-Ray, Dredd, is making a solid showing on the Blu-Ray sales charts, followed closely by last week’s featured Blu-Ray Looper. If you’re hesitant about adding the latter to your Blu-Ray collection, you can check out our Looper Blu-Ray review.
This week, Karl Urban takes over for Sylvester Stallone as Dredd, Tim Burton’s latest venture Frankenweenie gets a home release, and a classic Academy Award-winning-film finally arrives on Blu-Ray.
Ready for this week’s picks? Then read on.
Dredd
Release Date: January 8th, 2013
Starring: Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris, and Warrick Grier.
Director: Pete Travis
A British-South African science fiction action film based on the British comic 2000 Ad and its strip Judge Dredd.
This week, Karl Urban takes over for Sylvester Stallone as Dredd, Tim Burton’s latest venture Frankenweenie gets a home release, and a classic Academy Award-winning-film finally arrives on Blu-Ray.
Ready for this week’s picks? Then read on.
Dredd
Release Date: January 8th, 2013
Starring: Karl Urban, Lena Headey, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris, and Warrick Grier.
Director: Pete Travis
A British-South African science fiction action film based on the British comic 2000 Ad and its strip Judge Dredd.
- 1/8/2013
- by C.P. Howells
- We Got This Covered
Octavia Spencer hit the press room at the Critics' Choice Awards tonight fresh off her best supporting actress and best ensemble cast wins. The actress has been receiving lots of accolades for her role in The Help this award season, but when she stopped by to chat with reporters after accepting her latest honors, she said she's "still the same, old, ordinary girl from Mississippi" that she was before becoming a household name. She also promised we won't be seeing any pies come out of her own kitchen anytime soon during her chat with reporters. On how much life has changed since The Help came out: "The biggest change is, three days a week I work out with a trainer, because otherwise I would half ass it. Honestly, my life hasn't changed that much. I am grateful that I had this opportunity and I am getting to bigger rooms and more substantive roles,...
- 1/13/2012
- by Lindsay Miller
- Popsugar.com
In honor of Mother's Day, we've compiled a list of our top 10 favorite fictional TV moms. When we watched them, we knew they were fictional ... yet that didn't stop us from wishing they were our own moms -- or vowing to follow in their mom-footsteps someday.
Did your favorite TV mom make the list?
Most Memorable TV MomsJune Cleaver in "Leave It to Beaver" (1957 - 1963)
Barbara Billingsley's role as a loving wife and mother in the feel-good sitcom wasn't full of risk or realism. June Cleaver, however, always looked polished and amazing, and certainly loved her husband and children. You may be surprised to learn that ...
Barbara Billingsley
... June's trademark strand of pearls was Billingsley's idea (they covered a scar on her neck).
Carol Brady in "The Brady Bunch" (1969 - 1974)
Florence Henderson was America's first (rarely mentioned) stepmom! We watched her hip hairstyles and hemlines change with the times,...
Did your favorite TV mom make the list?
Most Memorable TV MomsJune Cleaver in "Leave It to Beaver" (1957 - 1963)
Barbara Billingsley's role as a loving wife and mother in the feel-good sitcom wasn't full of risk or realism. June Cleaver, however, always looked polished and amazing, and certainly loved her husband and children. You may be surprised to learn that ...
Barbara Billingsley
... June's trademark strand of pearls was Billingsley's idea (they covered a scar on her neck).
Carol Brady in "The Brady Bunch" (1969 - 1974)
Florence Henderson was America's first (rarely mentioned) stepmom! We watched her hip hairstyles and hemlines change with the times,...
- 5/7/2011
- Momlogic
The Hallmark Channel is launching an unscripted lifestyle series with author and icon Maya Angelou.
The new 13-episode series is called The Spirit Table and will feature the host and well-known guests sharing life stories and cooking. The show is slated for prime-time airing and is expected to be launched in early 2012.
Ms. Angelou is no novice to television having made appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show as well as acted in several films and TV shows including Touched By An Angel, Roots, Poetic Justice and Madea’s Family Reunion.
She also made her debut as a director with Down In The Delta. The 1998 film stars Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman Jr., Esther Rolle, Loretta Devine and Wesley Snipes.
The new 13-episode series is called The Spirit Table and will feature the host and well-known guests sharing life stories and cooking. The show is slated for prime-time airing and is expected to be launched in early 2012.
Ms. Angelou is no novice to television having made appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show as well as acted in several films and TV shows including Touched By An Angel, Roots, Poetic Justice and Madea’s Family Reunion.
She also made her debut as a director with Down In The Delta. The 1998 film stars Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman Jr., Esther Rolle, Loretta Devine and Wesley Snipes.
- 3/23/2011
- by Cynthia
- ShadowAndAct
In honor of Mother's Day, we've compiled a list of our top 10 favorite fictional TV moms. When we watched them, we knew they were fictional ... yet that didn't stop us from wishing they were our own moms -- or vowing to follow in their mom-footsteps someday.
Did your favorite TV mom make the list?
Most Memorable TV MomsJune Cleaver in "Leave It to Beaver" (1957 - 1963)
Barbara Billingsley’s role as a loving wife and mother in the feel-good sitcom wasn’t full of risk or realism. June Cleaver, however, always looked polished and amazing, and certainly loved her husband and children. You may be surprised to learn that …
Barbara Billingsley
… June’s trademark strand of pearls was Billingsley’s idea (they covered a scar on her neck).
Carol Brady in "The Brady Bunch" (1969 - 1974)
Florence Henderson was America’s first (rarely mentioned) stepmom! We watched her hip hairstyles and hemlines change with the times,...
Did your favorite TV mom make the list?
Most Memorable TV MomsJune Cleaver in "Leave It to Beaver" (1957 - 1963)
Barbara Billingsley’s role as a loving wife and mother in the feel-good sitcom wasn’t full of risk or realism. June Cleaver, however, always looked polished and amazing, and certainly loved her husband and children. You may be surprised to learn that …
Barbara Billingsley
… June’s trademark strand of pearls was Billingsley’s idea (they covered a scar on her neck).
Carol Brady in "The Brady Bunch" (1969 - 1974)
Florence Henderson was America’s first (rarely mentioned) stepmom! We watched her hip hairstyles and hemlines change with the times,...
- 5/6/2010
- Momlogic
Award-winning screenwriter and playwright Judi Ann Mason has died after suffering a ruptured aorta. She was 54.
Mason, who became one of the first female African-American sitcom writers, died on 8 July in Los Angeles.
She was just 19 when she penned her first successful script, Livin' Fat, produced off Broadway in 1976 by the Negro Ensemble Company and the winner of a comedy award sponsored by the Kennedy Center and television producer Norman Lear.
As a playwright, her works were seen on the New York stage in several off-Broadway productions, including The Daughters of the Mock, Jonah & the Wonder Dog, and A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven - the first winner of the Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry Award for plays about the African-American experience.
More success followed after Lear hired Mason as a writer for hit U.S. TV series Good Times, starring Esther Rolle, John Amos and Jimmie Walker. She also wrote for popular TV series including Sanford, A Different World, the Cosby Show, Beverly Hills 90210, and I’ll Fly Away. Mason's film credits include Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Emmy Award nominated Sophie And The Moonhanger.
She is survived by her daughter Mason Synclaire Williams and a son, Austin Barrett Williams.
Mason, who became one of the first female African-American sitcom writers, died on 8 July in Los Angeles.
She was just 19 when she penned her first successful script, Livin' Fat, produced off Broadway in 1976 by the Negro Ensemble Company and the winner of a comedy award sponsored by the Kennedy Center and television producer Norman Lear.
As a playwright, her works were seen on the New York stage in several off-Broadway productions, including The Daughters of the Mock, Jonah & the Wonder Dog, and A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven - the first winner of the Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry Award for plays about the African-American experience.
More success followed after Lear hired Mason as a writer for hit U.S. TV series Good Times, starring Esther Rolle, John Amos and Jimmie Walker. She also wrote for popular TV series including Sanford, A Different World, the Cosby Show, Beverly Hills 90210, and I’ll Fly Away. Mason's film credits include Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Emmy Award nominated Sophie And The Moonhanger.
She is survived by her daughter Mason Synclaire Williams and a son, Austin Barrett Williams.
- 7/20/2009
- WENN
"With all due respect to his excellence," says Douglas Turner Ward, "audiences think that black theatre is August Wilson. That irks me when people feel there is only one black view, one black style, one black spokesman. There is a breadth of black writing." Indeed, from the time Ward co-founded the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967, his mission has been to demonstrate how wide and varied that vision is. In its first 15 years, NEC produced such diverse playwrights as Lonnie Elder, Charles Fuller, and Leslie Lee; the company and its productions have won two Tony Awards and several Obies. To honor the company's contribution to American theatre, Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company is devoting its 2008-09 season to several of NEC's best-known works, including Lee's The First Breeze of Summer, Fuller's Zooman and the Sign, and Samm-Art Williams' Home. There will also be a staged reading of Ward's Day of Absence...
- 8/18/2008
- by Simi Horwitz
- backstage.com
One of the least-considered aspects of massacres is that you might not hear about them, if for only the obvious fact that the victims aren't around to tell their story.
So it is with the Rosewood massacre of 1923, the murderous burning of a prosperous black community in rural Florida by rampaging whites under the impression that one of their women had been raped by a black.
Not recounted until a reporter brought it to the attention of CBS' "60 Minutes" in 1982, "Rosewood" is a powerful and heartbreaking dramatization of that awful saga. Eloquently directed by John Singleton, this Warner Bros. release is a stirring and sobering human tale, one that will surely touch hearts of all demographics.
Commercially, it seems a win-win for Warner Bros.: Singleton will entice the young, action-oriented black audience, while the film's subject matter and sophisticated rendering will win mature viewers in all demographics through positive word-of-mouth.
Head-and-shoulders above the usual, well-meaning, self-congratulatory folderol that makes it to the screen about racial injustice, "Rosewood" is a graceful evocation of a dignified community and a sobering insight into the madness of mob psychology. Gregory Poirier's insightful screenplay is a sobering reminder of what such learned social historians as Gustave LeBon have written about mob psychology, that the mob is an "idiot," galvanized by the lowest common denominator. In this scary scenario, we're led into an easy acquaintanceship with the film's chief character, namely the homey burg of Rosewood, a quiet black town of farmers and craftsmen -- churchgoing folk. Contiguous with Rosewood is Sumner, a less cohesive aggregation of whites and, as a group, decidedly less prosperous than their Rosewood brethren.
In style and personality, Poirier's story has the welcoming grace of a friendly host as we're initially led into an easy acquaintanceship with Rosewood, getting to know its people, its rhythms, its personality. At that same time, we catch snatches of things to come: In essence, we're clued to the pervasive racism of the day, not only from the trashier types but, most hauntingly, from the more enlightened whites of the area. Despite the surface calm, we see the festering combustible nature of the situation and, quite rightly, fear that it will take only one spark to set things off.
It's the deliberate, unforced patience of Singleton that gives "Rosewood" its heartbreaking power. His restraint in letting the story unfold, without overpunctuating or belaboring its narrative, allows the film to reach its full organic power. That carefulness and confidence, indeed, is what gives "Rosewood" its searing grace, and that's seen in the work of the film's superb technical team. Johnny E. Jensen's incandescent cinematography, John Williams' tender music and Bruce Cannon's supple edits kindle "Rosewood" to both its most warm and most incendiary moments.
The players bring textures and shadings to their roles that are, well, more than skin deep. Jon Voight's performance as a storekeeper who struggles to do the right thing, despite his own racist underpinnings, is perhaps his best work since "Midnight Cowboy". As a mysterious soldier who rides into town, Ving Rhames is mesmeric as a man of dignity and honor, while Don Cheadle also stands out as a man who refuses to, shuffle. It's Sarah Carrier though, as Rosewood's elderly matriarch, who absolutely melts your heart with her staunch decency.
ROSEWOOD
Warner Bros.
A Peters Entertainment production
in association with New Deal Prods.
A John Singleton Film
Producer Jon Peters
Director John Singleton
Screenwriter Gregory Poirier
Executive producer Tracy Barone
Co-producer Penelope L. Foster
Director of photography Johnny E. Jensen
Production designer Paul Sylbert
Editor Bruce Cannon
Costume designer Ruth Carter
Music John Williams
Color/stereo
Cast:
John Wright Jon Voight
Mann :Ving Rhames
Sylvester Carrier Don Cheadle
Duke Bruce McGill
James Taylor Loren Dean
Sarah Carrier Esther Rolle
Scrappie Elise Neal
Fannie Taylor Catherine Kellner
Sheriff Walker Michael Rooker
Running time -- 140 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
So it is with the Rosewood massacre of 1923, the murderous burning of a prosperous black community in rural Florida by rampaging whites under the impression that one of their women had been raped by a black.
Not recounted until a reporter brought it to the attention of CBS' "60 Minutes" in 1982, "Rosewood" is a powerful and heartbreaking dramatization of that awful saga. Eloquently directed by John Singleton, this Warner Bros. release is a stirring and sobering human tale, one that will surely touch hearts of all demographics.
Commercially, it seems a win-win for Warner Bros.: Singleton will entice the young, action-oriented black audience, while the film's subject matter and sophisticated rendering will win mature viewers in all demographics through positive word-of-mouth.
Head-and-shoulders above the usual, well-meaning, self-congratulatory folderol that makes it to the screen about racial injustice, "Rosewood" is a graceful evocation of a dignified community and a sobering insight into the madness of mob psychology. Gregory Poirier's insightful screenplay is a sobering reminder of what such learned social historians as Gustave LeBon have written about mob psychology, that the mob is an "idiot," galvanized by the lowest common denominator. In this scary scenario, we're led into an easy acquaintanceship with the film's chief character, namely the homey burg of Rosewood, a quiet black town of farmers and craftsmen -- churchgoing folk. Contiguous with Rosewood is Sumner, a less cohesive aggregation of whites and, as a group, decidedly less prosperous than their Rosewood brethren.
In style and personality, Poirier's story has the welcoming grace of a friendly host as we're initially led into an easy acquaintanceship with Rosewood, getting to know its people, its rhythms, its personality. At that same time, we catch snatches of things to come: In essence, we're clued to the pervasive racism of the day, not only from the trashier types but, most hauntingly, from the more enlightened whites of the area. Despite the surface calm, we see the festering combustible nature of the situation and, quite rightly, fear that it will take only one spark to set things off.
It's the deliberate, unforced patience of Singleton that gives "Rosewood" its heartbreaking power. His restraint in letting the story unfold, without overpunctuating or belaboring its narrative, allows the film to reach its full organic power. That carefulness and confidence, indeed, is what gives "Rosewood" its searing grace, and that's seen in the work of the film's superb technical team. Johnny E. Jensen's incandescent cinematography, John Williams' tender music and Bruce Cannon's supple edits kindle "Rosewood" to both its most warm and most incendiary moments.
The players bring textures and shadings to their roles that are, well, more than skin deep. Jon Voight's performance as a storekeeper who struggles to do the right thing, despite his own racist underpinnings, is perhaps his best work since "Midnight Cowboy". As a mysterious soldier who rides into town, Ving Rhames is mesmeric as a man of dignity and honor, while Don Cheadle also stands out as a man who refuses to, shuffle. It's Sarah Carrier though, as Rosewood's elderly matriarch, who absolutely melts your heart with her staunch decency.
ROSEWOOD
Warner Bros.
A Peters Entertainment production
in association with New Deal Prods.
A John Singleton Film
Producer Jon Peters
Director John Singleton
Screenwriter Gregory Poirier
Executive producer Tracy Barone
Co-producer Penelope L. Foster
Director of photography Johnny E. Jensen
Production designer Paul Sylbert
Editor Bruce Cannon
Costume designer Ruth Carter
Music John Williams
Color/stereo
Cast:
John Wright Jon Voight
Mann :Ving Rhames
Sylvester Carrier Don Cheadle
Duke Bruce McGill
James Taylor Loren Dean
Sarah Carrier Esther Rolle
Scrappie Elise Neal
Fannie Taylor Catherine Kellner
Sheriff Walker Michael Rooker
Running time -- 140 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 2/10/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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