Keke Palmer & SZA R-Rated Comedy Set For Winter Release

Sony will be releasing the untitled Keke Palmer and SZA R-rated comedy on Jan. 24, 2025.

The TriStar Pictures title is directed by Lawrence Lamont from a screenplay by Syreeta Singleton. 

The project came together from the CoCre lab at Sony Pictures. The lab was a previous pact between ColorCreative and Sony Pictures to source and incubate emerging, diverse screenwriters to develop and write their first studio feature based on original ideas.

Producing is Hoorae’s Issa Rae and Sara Diya Rastogi, ColorCreative’s Deniese Davis and Macro Film Studios’ Charles D. King, James Lopez, and Poppy Hanks. Singleton is co-producing. Big Boss’ Palmer and Sharon Palmer are executive producing. Macro Film Studios is also co-financing.

The supporting cast includes Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Maude Apatow, Katt Williams, Joshua Neal, Aziza Scott, Patrick Cage, and Amin Joseph.

The comedy will share marquees on its opening weekend with the Lionsgate Mel Gibson-directed Flight Risk starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Dockery, Angel Studios’ Brave the Dark, and IFC’s Neil Burger-directed Inheritance starring Phoebe Dynevor.

Source: Deadline

Kecia Lewis Joins ‘The Neighborhood’ Spinoff Series For Paramount+ Titled ‘Crutch’

Tony winner Kecia Lewis (Hell’s Kitchen) has joined the Tracy Morgan-led cast of Paramount+ new multi-camera comedy series Crutch, an offshoot from CBS’ long-running sitcom The Neighborhood, which has started filming in New York.

Developed by Owen Smith, who will serve as showrunner, Crutch centers on Francois “Frank” Crutchfield (Morgan), who goes by “Crutch,” is a brash, yet beloved Harlem shop owner whose world is turned upside down when his highbrow son (Jermaine Fowler) and free-spirited daughter (Adrianna Mitchell) move back into the family home.

Lewis will play Antoinette, Crutch’s (Morgan) meddling sister-in-law who, much to his chagrin, has inserted herself as the de facto matriarch of the Crutchfield clan. Elegant, worldly, and self-righteous Antoinette is a long-time divorcee whose life revolves around her weekly hair appointments and her job as a correctional officer at Rikers Island. However, when her sister’s children come back to Harlem with their lives in disarray, she’s happy to step in to help – even if she has to deal with Crutch in the process.

The Neighborhood star Cedric the Entertainer and Eric C. Rhone executive produce Crutch via A Bird and a Bear along with Smith, Aaron Kaplan for Kapital Entertainment; Wendi Trilling for TrillTV; and Morgan. The series is produced by CBS Studios and distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Broadway veteran Lewis won a Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel awards for her role as Miss Liza Jane in the 2024 musical Hell’s Kitchen. Her TV credits include a major recurring role on NBC’s The Blacklist. She is repped by The Rosenzweig Group, Paradigm and imPRint.

George Lopez Inks Deal For New Stand-Up Special

Comedian George Lopez is preparing a new hour-long comedy special to premiere on Prime Video we learned.

Amazon MGM Studios and Travieso Productions are producing Lopez’s new hour, which is his first since We’ll Do It for Half for Netflix in 2020. Taping at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on September 27 and 28, as part of Lopez’s “ALLLRIIIIGHHTTT! Comedy” tour, its premiere date will be announced down the road.

Breaking ground for Latino comics in a decades-long career spanning television, film, stand-up, and late-night, Lopez has previously put out four comedy specials with HBO — The Wall (2017), It’s Not Me, It’s You (2012), Tall, Dark and Chicano (2009), and America’s Mexican (2007) — earning Grammy nominations for the latter two. His stand-up output also includes Why You Crying?, an acclaimed comedy concert for Showtime, and a number of other comedy albums.

Coming to the attention of many with the groundbreaking hit sitcom George Lopez, which he co-created, wrote, produced and starred on for ABC, he’s most recently exec-produced and starred opposite his daughter Mayan Lopez on NBC’s sitcom Lopez vs Lopez, a fictionalized look at their real-life relationship, which returns for its third season on October 18. He also exec-produced and starred in TV Land’s semi-autobiographical sitcom Lopez, which ran for two seasons, and co-created and starred on FX’s Saint George.

At one point hosting his own TBS late-night talker, Lopez Tonight, Lopez last summer joined the DC Extended Universe with Angel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle. Other recent feature projects include Snoop Dogg’s Amazon MGM sports comedy, The Underdoggs, as well as the indie holiday comedy How the Gringo Stole Christmas.

Lopez is repped by UTA, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Schreck Rose Dapello.

Source: Deadline

Melvin Gregg Of ‘Snowfall’ Fame Joins Chelsea Frei, Ramona Young In Peacock’s ‘Office’ Comedy Follow-Up

The staff of the fictional newspaper in Peacock‘s follow-up to The Office is growing.

The as yet untitled series from U.S. Office creator Greg Daniels and Michael Koman (Nathan for You) has added Melvin Gregg, Chelsea Frei, and Ramona Young to its cast. They join Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore in the ensemble.

The series, which Peacock greenlit in May, is set in the same world as The Office and, like that show, will be a mockumentary. The show’s description reads, “The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch is in search of a new subject when they discover a dying historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it with volunteer reporters.”

News of the three additions to the cast was broken not in one of the industry trades but in the Palisadian-Post, a community newspaper serving L.A.’s Pacific Palisades where Gregg, Frei and Young recently shadowed staff members.

Gregg can currently be seen in another Peacock series, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist. His credits also include Snowfall and season two of American Vandal. Frei is konwn for Fox’s The Cleaning Lady and The Moodys and guest-starred in an episode of Peacock’s Poker Face. Young was a regular on Netflix’s Never Have I Ever and recurred on Legends of Tomorrow at The CW.

Daniels and Koman are executive producing the mockumentary with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant — creators of the U.K. Office on which the NBC series was based — and Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas. 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Adrianna Mitchell Cast In New Tracy Morgan Paramount+ Comedy Series Titled ‘Crutch’

Adrianna Mitchell has been cast in the upcoming Tracy Morgan comedy series “Crutch” at Paramount+.

Mitchell is the latest addition to the series’ cast, joining the recently announced Jermaine Fowler. The show was originally announced back in May with Morgan in the lead role and is said to be set in the same world as the CBS comedy “The Neighborhood.” Production is set to begin this month in New York.

The official logline for the series states, “Francois ‘Frank’ Crutchfield (Morgan), who goes by ‘Crutch,’ is a brash, yet beloved Harlem shop owner whose world is turned upside down when his highbrow son (Fowler) and free-spirited daughter (Mitchell) move back into the family home.”

Mitchell’s character is named Jamilah. She is described as “a free-spirited, naturalista with a dry wit and sharp tongue. Notoriously fickle, the most consistent part of her life was her 10-year marriage and the cozy suburban life she built for her husband and two kids in the Minneapolis suburbs. But when that starts to fall apart, she finds herself and her children Lisa, 12, and Mase, 9 back in Harlem at Crutch’s doorstep.”

Mitchell’s best known television role to date is playing Tanosse on the hit FX drama “Snowfall.” She has also appeared in shows like “Evil,” “The Good Fight,” “Little America,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” She recently made her Broadway debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fat Ham,” in which Mitchell played Opal.

She is repped by Artists & Representatives and Wright Entertainment, Inc.

“Crutch” is developed by Owen Smith, who serves as executive producer and showrunner. “The Neighborhood” star Cedric the Entertainer executive produces along with Eric C. Rhone under their A Bird and a Bear Entertainment banner. Morgan will executive produce in addition to starring. Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment and Wendi Trilling of TrillTV also executive produce. CBS Studios produces.

Paramount Global Content Distribution will distribute the series.

Source: Variety

Jay Pharoah Announces Sophomore Comedy Special Titled ‘Jared’

SNL alum Jay Pharoah on Thursday announced Jared, a new comedy special to premiere on YouTube on September 22, also unveiling a trailer, which you can view above.

In his new hour, Pharoah delivers a fully charged performance, ripping the lid off pop culture, his suburban upbringing, and run-in with the law, all while sharing his unique perspective on self-discovery and resilience in a world that never stops laughing.

Taped at The Den Theatre in Chicago, IL, the special is his second on the heels of Showtime’s Jay Pharoah: Can I Be Me? (2015), which saw him perform his spot-on impressions of everyone from Barack Obama to Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.

Produced by 800 Pound Gorilla and Premature Miracle Productions, Jared is directed by Pharaoh’s sister and manager, Shaina Farrow. Pharoah and Farrow exec produced alongside Adam Ginivisian and Jordan Levy.

A comedian, actor and master impressionist who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for six seasons, Pharaoh after his run on that sketch series toplined White Famous, a Showtime comedy exec produced by Jamie Foxx. Also previously seen in ABC’s Emmy-winning Live in Front of a Studio Audience versions of All in the Family and Good Times, his film credits include Lionsgate’s horror comedy The Blackening, Justin Simien’s Hulu/Neon horror comedy Bad Hair, Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane, Comedy Central’s Out of Office (which he also exec produced), Universal’s hit buddy cop comedy Ride Along, and more.

Formerly the host and exec producer of Nickelodeon’s game show Unfiltered, Pharoah was over the summer seen hosting Fox’s The Quiz With Balls, a game show bringing the network its biggest summer debut in over two years. The comedic multi-hyphenate is represented by CAA, Shaina Farrow, Levity Talent, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

Source: Deadline