Jamie Foxx is back at the mic after his recent health scare.
“It was an excruciating time to be able to open those wounds every single day for three nights,” Foxx told CBS Mornings’ Gayle King in a backstage video posted by King and the Oprah Daily account to Instagram on Monday. Foxx and his team were celebrating the final night in a three-date run of his new comedy special, “What Had Happened Was,” which was taped in Atlanta for Netflix.
“It was excruciating because the worry is what gets you,” Foxx continued. “We’ve got a great show in the room, but we don’t know what they may laugh or what they may not laugh at. Any comedian will tell you that’s the thing, the worry is the thing. Usually, when you do a stand-up special, you go out for a year and a half and work every nook and cranny, then you tape it. You don’t just show up in Atlanta and turn the camera on.”
Foxx was admitted to the hospital in April 2023 after experiencing what his daughter Corinne described as a “medical complication.” He remained out of the public eye for a month, finally breaking his silence in May with an Instagram post in which he simply stated he was “feeling blessed” by “all the love” from fans.
Various celebrity friends of Foxx like Martin Lawrence (“I hear he’s doing better”) and Kevin Hart (“a lot of progression”) shared updates on his condition over the ensuing months, but Foxx himself remained elusive. He described this special in Sept. 2024 as a way to “share his journey through a serious health scare, and after attending, King told Foxx that she’d “never seen a show where were laughing and crying at the same time.”
Reps for Foxx did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly‘s request for comment.
“It’s a personal journey,” Foxx told King, vowing, “I am never going to go through this again. My next jokes will start out, ‘knock, knock. I’ll do an hour and a half of ‘knock, knock’ jokes.” He closed out the video with a toast to this message: “Let’s sit back, watch it, and build toward a newer, brighter and healthier future.”
Foxx began opening up about his health scare in July 2023, saying he “went to hell and back,” and chose to remain private during the experience because he “didn’t want [fans] to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.”
In Dec., Foxx shared that “six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk,” joking that he “saw the tunnel; I didn’t see the light. It was hot in that tunnel too, I don’t know where I was going. ‘S—, am I going to the right place?'” Finally, in June he shared that just before the incident, he “had a bad headache” and “asked my boy for an Advil.” Next thing Foxx knew, “I was gone for 20 days. I don’t remember anything.”
Foxx will return to the big screen on Jan. 17, 2024, with Netflix’s Back in Action. He will share that return with Cameron Diaz, who retired from acting in 2018. Details about Foxx’s Netflix comedy special have not yet been released.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans, Jr. will get a chance to pay tribute to their old gigs on In Living Color and New Girl by featuring special appearances by Tommy Davidson and Lamorne Morris on their new CBS comedy Poppa’s House.
In an episode planned for February, Morris — who starred opposite Wayans, Jr. on New Girl — will play Todd, a buddy from film school who tries to cajole Wayans, Jr’s character into coming back to the magical world of filmmaking.
In the same episode, Davidson — who worked with the senior Wayans on In Living Color — will play Jarnold, Poppa’s (Wayans) work acquaintance who he’s ridden within the elevator for years. They don’t know much about each other, except that they have a great rapport in the elevator, teasing other office workers.
Poppa’s House, which premieres Oct 21, features Wayans as a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced “poppa” who finds himself still parenting his adult son (Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.
Morris, who recently won an Emmy for starring in Fargo, plays Garrett Morris in Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night. He’s also set to star in Amazon’s Marvel series Spider-Noir opposite Nicolas Cage and Brendan Gleeson as the iconic Robbie Robertson. He’s represented by CAA, Entertainment 360, and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light.
Davidson, who’s also appeared in The Ms. Pat Show, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and The Neighborhood, is repped by Innovative Artists.
CBS Studios produces Poppa’s House. Dean Lorey is exec producer alongside Wayans and Wayans Jr. Andy Ackerman directed and exec produced the pilot, while Kameron Tarlow is the producer at Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment overseeing the project. Michael Petok also serves as EP. Kevin Hench exec produced and co-wrote the pilot.
Source: Deadline
It’s official: “Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” are indeed plotting a crossover episode, as has been hinted at in recent, cryptic social media posts by “Abbott” star/creator Quinta Brunson and “Sunny” star/co-creator Rob McElhenney.
McElhenney revealed the news in a social media post, including a photo of him, “Sunny’s” Charlie Day and Brunson outside the Warner Bros. lot studio for “Abbott”:
On socials, McElhenney had teased that a “Abbott”/”Sunny” crossover would make sense, given that both shows are set in Philadelphia. And although “Abbott” is produced by Warner Bros. TV, the show airs on Disney’s ABC, while “Sunny” airs on Disney’s FX network, so such a crossover seemed in the realm of possibility.
Brunson had been coy about it at first, but earlier this summer, Brunson hinted to Variety’s “Awards Circuit Podcast that something was indeed in the works. Without specifying it, she had said a big crossover was happening — and when Variety suggested “Sunny,” she didn’t say no. “Deals are made. I want you guys to know that. I’ll say I’m really excited for it,” she said. “You want to find fun ways to shake things up without abandoning what you what you built. And I’m excited for this crossover of which I will not name with the other project.
“I’m excited to just shake things up in this way,” she added. “I love TV, everyone knows that, but I love TV moments, and I miss those big TV moments. I remember how exciting they were. Anything I can do with ‘Abbott’ to help keep that culture alive of fun TV, I will do. So I think this is going to be fun TV.”
The idea first hatched in February, when McElhenney referenced the famed “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” disaster of an event in Glasgow. “A lot of you are saying this feels like an episode of Sunny, but to me it feels more like an @alwayssunnt @AbbotElemABC crossover episode,” he wrote on X. Later, on Instagram, Brunson took a screenshot of McElhenney’s post and added, “Just say the word @robmcelhenney. I love you guys.”
Source: Variety
The TV network ALLBLK has announced its original feature film Operation: Aunties, starring Tisha Campbell, Melissa De Sousa, and Amayah Scott.
Directed by Wendy Raquel Robinson, the dramedy tells the story of a “longtime friendship that is tested when a risk-averse cryptocurrency expert and her retired detective best friend become vigilantes after discovering a cyber-crime syndicate in their city.”
The official synopsis reads: “After an attempted trafficking incident impacts her family, professor and blockchain expert Dr. Carol Cleavers (De Sousa) stumbles upon a dark web operation using new-age technology to assault and traffic women through a rideshare app. Knowing the feds won’t act fast enough, Carol teams up with her best friend, retired detective Sharon O’Hara (Campbell), and her niece Aminah James (Scott), computer hacker extraordinaire.”
Together, the three women embark on a mission that brings them face-to-face with danger.
Brett Dismuke, Head of Content ALLBLK & We TV, spoke about bringing the three seasoned actresses together for the “edgy action and laugh-out-loud comedy,” that tackles “real issues affecting our society today.”
“Melissa, Tisha, and Amiyah expertly bring these strong, Black female characters to life, showcasing resilience, empowerment, and tremendous heroism – keeping the laughs coming along the way, all of which resonate deeply with ALLBLK subscribers,” he said.
TJ Ali, writer and executive producer, added, “Black women are always saving the day. Our culture thrives because of the everyday change agent — those who consistently rise up and uplift our society. For me, those agents of change have always been women from across the diaspora.”
Dubbed Ali’s debut film on the network, she continued, “I’m incredibly proud to partner with ALLBLK, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Big Little Sis Media, and our incredible cast to bring this vision to life — a story for us, by us. The culture deserves to see our aunties as the vigilantes they already are — our heroes.”
Operation: Aunties has yet to receive a premiere date but will be available sometime in 2025 exclusively on ALLBLK.
Source: By Amber Corrine/VIBE
*VICE TV has announced “Black Comedy in America,” a new docuseries that explores the impact of Black comedy on American culture over the past century. The series will feature prominent figures such as Will Smith, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Anthony Anderson, Marlon Wayans, Tiffany Haddish, and more.
The series premieres Tuesday, October 15 at 10:00 PM ET/PT on VICE TV. Per the news release, it explores the lore and legends of Black comedy and offers a definitive look at the history and impact of America’s most prolific Black comedians. Haddish will host with fellow comedians Chris Spencer and Ryan Davis.
Here’s the official synopsis: Black Comedy In America explores the comedic pioneers of film, television, and the standup scene, along with the humble beginnings and meteoric rises of the most powerful voices to ever enter Black comedy. The premiere begins with a rare sit-down reunion with The Original Kings of Comedy: Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley. The series also delves into the cultural impact of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Best Man, Def Comedy Jam, the wave of memorable Black sitcoms from the 70s, and influential household names such as Richard Pryor and Dave Chappelle. In addition, the show features a raw exploration of Jim Crow segregation with a nostalgic look at the foundations of the Chitlin’ Circuit, where Black comedy got its roots.
“This collection of comedians and their stories presents an expansive, yet intimate look at the setbacks, triumphs and cultural inroads blazed by the most incredible comedians the world has ever known” said Pete Gaffney, VICE Media’s President, Global TV. “We are glad to do our part in shining a light on these legends with a project that is both ambitious and historical.”
Produced by SMAC Productions and Haddish’s She Ready Productions, the 10-episode series brings together icons and respected figures for deep dives into what and who have shaped comedy culture over the past century.
Each episode includes in-depth interviews with Shaquille O’Neal, Marla Gibbs, Tracy Morgan, Craig Robinson, Coco Jones, George Lopez, Luenell, Rachel Lindsay, Taye Diggs, W. Kamau Bell, B. Simone, and many more.
“This docuseries will have you laughing from start to finish, but also learning the stories behind the careers of some of the most iconic comedians in Hollywood history,” said FredAnthony Smith, Vice President of Non-Scripted Entertainment at SMAC Productions. “It’s been a thrill to bring this historic project to life with VICE TV, and to showcase how Black comedy has been a light through difficult times, has shined a light on injustice, while highlighting what we all have in common.”
Per the release, Black Comedy in America is executive produced by Lee Hoffman and Shane Ertter for VICE TV, Constance Schwartz-Morini, Michael Strahan and FredAnthony Smith for SMAC Productions, and Tiffany Haddish and Vanessa Spencer for She Ready Productions. Chris Spencer and Leslie Small also serve as executive producers. The series is directed by Julian Gooden, Leslie Small, and FredAnthony Smith.
Watch the trailer above.
TVLine can exclusively reveal that Emmy Award-winning actor Glynn Turman (A Different World, The Wire, In Treatment) has been cast as Otis, father of Tichina Arnold‘s Tina Butler. He’ll appear as part of a two-episode arc during Season 7, and make his debut in Episode 6 (which is currently penciled in for early December).
CBS describes Otis as Tina’s “outgoing and likable father” who “drops by for a nice visit, and appears to be hale and hearty with good news: he has ditched his dreadful second wife, Loretta, and is a free man, ready to prowl. But upon close examination, all is not well. Otis can’t drive but insists on driving, he’s sneaking fried chicken, and his wife walked out because he refused to take good care of himself. It becomes clear that Loretta was the only person keeping Otis alive. What will the family do now?”
The website TVLine recently spoke with co-showrunner Mike Schiff about the importance of introducing Tina’s never-before-seen dad. “Of all the characters, Tina, over the past six seasons, is the person who seems to have had the least connections to anybody outside [of her immediate family],” he acknowledged. “There was the girl group [in Season 4], but family-wise, we haven’t seen anyone” — and Season 7 will remedy that.
“It turns out that when Tina’s mom died a few years ago, her dad Otis remarried a little quicker than she was comfortable with,” Schiff shared, “and she blamed the woman, who she insists took advantage of her father when he was at his most vulnerable. When Otis shows up without [Loretta], Tina is delighted… but it turns out that there is more to the story than she realized.”
Turman is perhaps best known to sitcom audiences for his role as Colonel Bradford Taylor in the NBC classic A Different World. He went on to portray Mayor Clarence Royce in the seminal HBO drama The Wire, and took home an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work on fellow HBO series In Treatment.
The Neighborhood kicks off Season 7 on Monday, Oct. 21 (CBS, 8/7c). Arnold returns alongside fellow cast members Cedric the Entertainer (Calvin), Max Greenfield (Dave), Beth Behrs (Gemma), Marcel Spears (Marty), Sheaun McKinney (Malcolm), Hank Greenspan (Grover) and newly promoted series regular Skye Townsend (Courtney). The premiere will pick up shortly after the Season 6 finale, as Marty and Courtney return home with infant daughter Daphne, and new grandmother Tina discovers that “the baby apparently hates her,” per Schiff. “The baby is content with everybody else, but screams with her.”
Additionally, Paramount+ is in production on a Neighborhood spinoff, Crutch, starring Tracy Morgan. However, in a surprise twist, Morgan will not reprise his Season 4 role as Calvin’s wealthy brother Curtis. Instead, he’ll play a new character: Calvin’s cousin, Frank Crutchfield – or, as his friends call him, Crutch — “a Harlem widower whose empty nest plans are put on hold after his millennial son (Superior Donuts’ Jermaine Fowler) and free-spirited daughter (Snowfall’s Adrianna Mitchell) move back home,” according to the official logline.
No word yet on a release date.
Source: TV Line
The year 2024 brought us a long-awaited fourth installment of the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise. Led by Eddie Murphy, the action comedy film series began back in 1984, with the comedian and “Saturday Night Live” veteran playing smart-ass Detroit cop Axel Foley, who follows a case that takes him to the upscale Los Angeles locale, where he inevitably stirs up trouble. Riding a wave of stardom thanks to big screen roles in “48 Hrs.” and “Trading Places,” Murphy became a big screen phenomenon after “Beverly Hills Cop,” as he took the lead for the first time and sparked a box office success that resulted in a trilogy of films (though each was worse than its predecessor).
Despite the decline in quality, with “Beverly Hills Cop 3” being an atrocious addition to the franchise, fans still wanted to see what Axel Foley might be up to after all these years. They finally got their wish with “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” and it was a solid return for the franchise, though it didn’t reach the greatness achieved by the original. However, did you know there was once a “Beverly Hills Cop” sequel that would have unfolded in the form of a TV series?
Back in 2012, CBS ordered a pilot for a “Beverly Hills Cop” TV series that starred “Tropic Thunder” actor Brandon T. Jackson as Axel Foley’s son, who had become a cop himself. Eddie Murphy was on board to produce and at least appear in the pilot episode, with the hope of intermittently making a guest star appearance here and there. “Men in Black” director Barry Sonnenfeld directed the pilot, but CBS never picked it up to series. Why?
Well, Eddie Murphy previously explained that the issue was CBS wanted him to appear more often than he was anticipating. Back in 2019, Murphy said, “[CBS] thought that I was going to be in this show, because [the lead] was my son. ‘And you’re going to pop in every now and then.’ I was like, ‘I ain’t popping in s***.'”
However, when we recently spoke with Barry Sonnenfeld in support of his new book out today, “Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood,” he provided more details as to why the “Beverly Hills Cop” TV series wasn’t ordered.
For Sonnenfeld’s part, he loved the experience of working on the “Beverly Hills Cop” TV series, but it didn’t come without hurdles. For example, Murphy, who has been known to be difficult to work with on occasion, was not willing to dip back into his usual comedic antics as Axel Foley. Sonnenfeld told /Film about meeting with Murphy before shooting the pilot:
“Eddie said, ‘Listen, if you think I’m going to do all those Eddie Murphy things, like go [imitates Axel Foley’s distinctive laugh] and all those other things, I’m not going to do any of that s.’ So I said, ‘Okay, Eddie, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks. I’ll see myself out.’ And he said, ‘That’s the entire interview?’ And I said, ‘Well, I was going to talk to you about when we should do any key moments from the ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ movies, but if you don’t want to do any of those, there’s really nothing to talk about. But thanks for your time. I’ll see you on the set.’ I started to go, and he said, ‘Hey, can I ask you a question?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure, Eddie.’ And he said, ‘Why the f are you directing this thing?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m a big fan.’ And I left.”
That doesn’t sound like Murphy was too keen on reprising one of his signature characters. But the way Sonnenfeld explains it, perhaps Murphy was just trying to puff up his chest and be a big Hollywood star. The director continued:
“So it’s the first day we’re shooting, and I’m on the set with Eddie. We set up the scene, and Eddie’s supposed to pop up from behind a car, and Brandon, who played Eddie’s son, is supposed to see him, and I would have hoped that Eddie would have gone [imitates Axel’s laugh]. But of course, he said he wouldn’t, so I’m curious what he’s going to do. I say ‘roll camera,’ Eddie stands up, and goes [imitates Axel’s laugh]. And Eddie, the whole time, did everything I would have wanted him to do, but he said he wasn’t going to do!”
For his part, Sonnenfeld said working with Eddie Murphy on the show was a great experience, and he felt the pilot turned out “really, really good.”
So, what happened after the pilot was shot? Well, it sounds like you can blame a star who maybe didn’t have the chops to lead a network TV series, as well as corporate pettiness between a TV network and a movie studio.
Once the pilot was completed, why didn’t CBS pick it up to series? What went wrong? Well, apparently one of the issues came from the show’s star. According to Sonnenfeld, Brandon T. Jackson (seen above in the NBC series “Mr. Robinson”) was not ready to lead a primetime network series. Sonnenfeld put it bluntly:
“Brandon T. Jackson was not good enough to be the starring actor in that show. In fact, there was one night where we were shooting a scene with Brandon and Eddie at a hotel where they’re doing some reconnaissance. Eddie is hilarious — he’s ad-libbing, he’s riffing. And instead of Brandon letting Eddie go, he tries to compete with Eddie and interrupts him and says something funny. Again, [for an ideal] comedy, [you need] one funny guy in the scene, one straight man in the scene. You’ve got Eddie Murphy being hilarious, the other guy better just shut up and react. Brandon kept ruining takes, and I took him aside and said, ‘Brandon, just listen to him and react. He’s hilarious.’ He goes, ‘My fans don’t want to see Eddie Murphy. They want to see Brandon T. Jackson.’ I said, ‘You know what, I have a feeling that in this scene, they really want to see Eddie Murphy.'”
If you look at the work Brandon T. Jackson has done since the pilot was completed, though he’s been working regularly as an actor, he hasn’t become a bona fide star, so there must be some truth to Sonnenfeld’s assessment. Plus, if you watch the “Beverly Hills Cop” pilot, which leaked on YouTube, you’ll see for yourself that the show gets renewed life when Murphy shows up, and it’s just fine otherwise. For the series to be successful, it would have needed a lot more Murphy than he was willing to provide.
But that wasn’t the only problem. It turns out there was a spat between CBS and Paramount Pictures, despite both being owned by Viacom.
Sonnenfeld went on to explain the other problem, which basically comes down to good old-fashioned Hollywood egos. The director elaborated:
“The other issue is CBS and Paramount were both owned by the same Viacom conglomerate. The [then-]head of CBS, Les Moonves, was in a pissing contest with the head of Paramount, who was Tom Freston. Les Moonves literally didn’t pick up a pilot called ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ co-starring Eddie Murphy — in part because of Brandon, and Eddie wasn’t guaranteeing how much he was going to be in the series or not. I will say, if you want to give Les credit for anything, he didn’t know if Eddie would be around enough. But it was really about not giving Tom Freston the hubris, the joy, the victory of having Eddie Murphy star in a television show, and we literally were not picked up. And it was a really, really good pilot … and Eddie was really good in it, and he was playing that guy, you know?”
Murphy was good in the “Beverly Hills Cop” pilot, and he’s previously cited test audiences loving the moments when he showed up. But since he wasn’t willing to dedicate more time to appearing on the show, that was just enough to make it a little less appealing. If Murphy agreed to have a more significant guest starring role, maybe we’d have seen the pilot get retooled with a different lead and find success. But in the end, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” gave us plenty of Axel Foley and scratched that 1980s itch well enough.
If you want to hear more fascinating and hilarious Hollywood anecdotes from Barry Sonnenfeld, such as the woes of working with John Travolta, be sure to listen to our full interview with the filmmaker on today’s episode of /Film Daily below, and check out his book, “Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time: True Stories from a Career in Hollywood,” available everywhere now.
BY ETHAN ANDERTON
NEW YORK, NY – October 01, 2024 – BET proudly announces diamond-certified rapper, producer, entrepreneur, and global superstar Travis Scott as the recipient of this year’s prestigious “I Am Hip Hop Award.” The six-time “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2024 nominee will be celebrated for his creative genius, cultural contributions, and incredible talent, which have catapulted him to the top of the game as one of the most innovative forces in music and popular culture. This year’s show, taped at Drai’s Beachclub & Nightclub in Las Vegas, NV, on Tuesday, October 8, will transform the traditional award show format into an exciting celebration of hip hop, highlighting iconic club anthems from over the years. Hosted by hip hop legend Fat Joe, “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2024 will premiere on Tuesday, October 15, at 8 PM ET/PT on BET.
“Travis Scott is a visionary artist who continues to push the boundaries of music, culture, and live performance,” said Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy. With his unmatched creativity and relentless passion, he has redefined what it means to be a captivating, inspiring entertainer within the hip-hop genre. We look forward to celebrating him at BET Hip Hop Awards 2024.”
Megan Thee Stallion leads this year’s nominations with an outstanding twelve nods. “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2024 celebrates the best in Hip Hop from the past year across 17 categories chosen by a prestigious voting academy of industry experts. For the complete list of “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2024 nominees, click here.
Fans can vote for DJ of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Best Hip Hop platform categories at https://www.bet.com/votehha24
Connie Orlando, EVP of Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy, will oversee the production of the annual event and serve as Executive Producer with Jamal Noisette, SVP of Specials & Music Programming. Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, will act as Executive Producer for “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2024, with Jeannae Rouzan-Clay and Dionne Harmon from Jesse Collins Entertainment also contributing as Executive Producers.
For more information about the “BET Hip Hop Awards” including the latest news and updates, viewers can visit the official site at BET.com/HipHopAwards.
John Amos, the TV writer turned Emmy-nominated actor who starred as the stoic father on Good Times before he was fired from the landmark sitcom for admittedly letting his temper get the best of him, has died. He was 84.
Amos died Aug. 21 in Los Angeles of natural causes, his son, Kelly Christopher Amos, announced.
“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” he said in a statement. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved the world over. Many fans consider him their TV father. He lived a good life. His legacy will live on in his outstanding works in television and film as an actor.”
Amos, who played football at Colorado State University and had training camp tryouts with the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, saw his showbiz career take off after he landed a gig to play WJN-TV weatherman Gordy Howard on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The New Jersey native received his Emmy nom for portraying Toby, the older version of Kunta Kinte, on the acclaimed 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, and he had a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on NBC’s West Wing.
His career on the big screen began with Melvin Van Peebles’ blaxploitation classic Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), and he played the manager of a McDonald’s-like restaurant who hires an African prince (Eddie Murphy) and his right-hand man (Arsenio Hall) in Coming to America (1988).
Many years earlier, Amos had been in the McDonald’s training program before appearing as an employee for the fast-food chain in a well-known 1971 commercial (“Grab a bucket and mop, scrub the bottom and top!”) that he said helped put his kids through college.
After showing up a dozen times as the good-natured Gordy on the first four seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the barrel-chested Amos was invited to read for the part of James Evans Sr., the husband of Esther Rolle’s Florida Evans and father of their three kids, on a new CBS series, Good Times.
The 1974-79 show, created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by Norman Lear, was set in an inner-city Chicago apartment located in the projects (think Cabrini-Green). A spinoff of Maude (itself a descendant of All in the Family), Good Times was the first sitcom to center on an African-American family.
“Everybody knew who Norman Lear was,” Amos said in a 2014 interview for the TV Academy Foundation. “I’d seen the pilot episode of All in the Family and thought, ‘There’s no way in the world they’re going to put that on television.’ … Sure enough, it became a hit.
“So I went in and read with Miss Rolle for Norman Lear, with just the three of us in his office. When we finished the reading, Norman looked at Esther, and Esther looked at me and looked at Norman and said, ‘He’ll do just fine.’ “
Amos starred on the show for three seasons, but he soon objected to the silly, stereotypical storylines that surrounded their oldest son on the series, J.J. — played by the comic Jimmie Walker — and he went public with his criticism.
“We had a number of differences,” he said. “I felt too much emphasis was being put on J.J. in his chicken hat, saying ‘Dy-no-mite!’ every third page. I felt just as much emphasis and mileage could have been gotten out of my other two children, one of whom aspired to become a Supreme Court justice, played by Ralph Carter, and the other, BernNadette Stanis, who aspired to become a surgeon.
“But I wasn’t the most diplomatic guy in those days, and [the show’s producers] got tired of having their lives threatened over jokes. So they said, ‘Tell you what, why don’t we kill him off? We can get on with our lives!’ That taught me a lesson — I wasn’t as important as I thought I was to the show or to Norman Lear’s plans.”
James Evans Sr. was the victim of a car accident in a two-part episode that aired in September 1976 to kick off season four.
John Alan Amos Jr. was born on Dec. 27, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey. His father drove a tractor-trailer and worked as a mechanic, and his mother, Annabelle, was a housekeeper who eventually went back to school and became a nutritionist.
His mom cleaned the home of a cartoonist who drew for the Archie comics, and that led to Amos and a buddy attending a taping of radio’s The Archie Show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. “It blew my imagination wide open,” he said.
“I was disappointed in a way, because none of them looked like Archie or Jughead or Veronica … Some of the magic disappeared, but the science of the industry became apparent to me.”
At East Orange High School, Amos drew cartoons and wrote columns for the school newspaper, played a convict in a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner and was a star running back.
Amos won football scholarships to Long Beach City College in California and then Colorado State University, where the Rams had the longest losing streak in the nation at the time.
“God kept telling me, ‘I don’t want you playing football,’ ” he said. “The direction I was getting from above was to be a performer, to be a writer, something that I had always done and came easy for me.”
Still, Amos did not give up his dream of playing pro football, signing his first free-agent contract with the Broncos. (One of his training camp teammates was Ernie Barnes, whose painting, Sugar Shack, appeared in the opening credits of Good Times.)
Amos played or tried out to play with many teams, including the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League and the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League.
After the Chiefs cut him for a second time, Coach Hank Stram allowed him to read a poem about shattered dreams to the players — and he received a standing ovation. “It was the first confirmation I got from my peers that I could write material that could evoke emotions in people,” he said. “It was very gratifying, much more so than running off-tackle or trying to pick up a blitz.”
(Amos would play a retired player struggling with injuries from his NFL days on the HBO series Ballers.)
In Vancouver, Amos did stand-up and met a television writer who encouraged him to come to Los Angeles, where he landed a writing and performing job on a syndicated TV variety show hosted by radio personalities Al Lohman and Roger Barkley. (Also getting their starts on that program: McLean Stevenson, Craig T. Nelson and Barry Levinson.)
That in turn led to work writing and performing in sketches on the 1969 CBS variety program The Leslie Uggams Show. Two producers there, Lorenzo Music and Dave Davis, were helping to develop a series for Mary Tyler Moore and thought he’d be great for that.
“They could very easily have said, ‘Well, [Gordy] can be a sports announcer.’ That would have been [as easy as] falling off a log for me,” he recalled. “I liked the fact that he was a meteorologist; that implied the man could think.”
On the 1973-74 season of Maude, Amos appeared on three episodes as Florida’s husband, setting up the launch of Good Times.
James Evans struggled to find full-time work, but “he provided for his family with any job that he could find. We managed to survive, and America loved that show. It was close to how most Americans lived at that time.”
In his 2014 TV Academy Foundation interview, Amos got emotional when he noted that he had “young men, in their 30s and 40, of every ethnicity imaginable, come up to me and say, ‘You’re the dad I never had.’”
After he left Good Times, Lear’s company hired him to play a congressman on the pilot for a new show called Onward and Upward. But he would quit that project as well.
Amos had traveled several times to Africa, including living for months at a time in Liberia “to absorb the culture of the continent that I had come from, indirectly,” when he was approached to appear in Roots.
“It was just what I needed,” he said. “It took the bad taste of Good Times out of my mouth — not that Good Times had been all bad, but the circumstances under which I left and the acrimony between Norman Lear and myself … I realize that a lot of it I brought on myself. I was not the easiest guy in the world to get along with, or to direct. I challenged any and everybody. [Roots] was a vindication, a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.”
He and Lear eventually got over it, and Amos starred for the producer in a short-lived 1994 sitcom, 704 Hauser, about a liberal family living in Archie Bunker’s former house in Queens.
Amos also had recurring roles on other TV shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, on which he played Will Smith’s stepfather; Hunter; The District; Men in Trees; All About the Andersons, as Anthony Anderson’s dad; and the Netflix drama The Ranch.
His film résumé also included The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973), Let’s Do It Again (1975), The Beastmaster (1982), Die Hard 2 (1990), Ricochet (1991), Mac (1992), Night Trap (1993), For Better or Worse (1995), The Players Club (1998), Coming to America 2 (2021) and Because of Charley (2021).
In 1972, he appeared on Broadway in Tough to Get Help, directed by Carl Reiner.
When he found it tough to get work in the 1990s, Amos wrote and starred in the one-man play Halley’s Comet, about an 87-year-old man who ruminates about the state of the world while he waits in the woods for the coming of “the comet.” He toured all over the U.S. and in several overseas cities with the play for more than two decades.
In addition to his son, K.C. (nicknamed for Amos’ days with the Chiefs), survivors include his daughter, Shannon, both from his first marriage to Noel “Noni” Mickelson. THR’s Gary Baum wrote his kids’ acrimonious relationship in November.
Amos also was briefly married to actress Lillian Lehman, who played Andre Braugher’s mother on Men of a Certain Age.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Kevin Hart appeared to have attempted to show off his singing skills in front of a packed audience. The “Fatherhood” actor hilariously popped up at Usher‘s concert trying to deliver a song onstage.
Recently, the R&B icon entertained his fans at his show, which was a part of his “Usher: Past Present Future” tour. When he was not on the stage, his comedian friend Kevin took his place. Kevin confidently walked to the center of the stage and carried a standing microphone.
Once he got closer to the audience, Kevin took off his sleeveless white top, proudly flaunting his toned abs. His unexpected move prompted concertgoers to scream out loud and laugh. He then told the concertgoers that he was “about to sing.” He exclaimed, “Let’s f**king go!”
Kevin began to sing Usher’s song “Nice & Slow”, “It’s seven o’ clock on the dot/ I’m in my drop top, cruisin’ the streets, oh yeah.” In the meantime, Usher was walking towards Kevin, who was sporting a similar outfit to that of the singer.
Kevin turned around and asked, “What the f**k are you doing?” acting as if Usher disturbed his show. Usher replied, “What the f**k are YOU doing?” Kevin said, “B***h I told you I’m about to come up here and sing a song.”
In response, Usher stated, “I said no!” Confused, Kevin said, “I thought you said go. I thought you said go,” leading Usher to shake his head. Meanwhile, the concertgoers were bursting into laughter while watching the two famous figures arguing on the stage.
Usher insisted, “No, I said no!” Kevin reiterated, “B***h I thought you said go!” The comedian went on to hint that he did not want to get off the stage since he “took my shirt off.” He demanded Usher to let him “finish the song.”
Despite Kevin’s request, Usher told the actor to leave the stage. While walking away, Kevin sang the lyrics before saying, “You’re so f**king jealous. You know what they wanted. They wanted this, n***a!” referring to his abs.