Television
New NPR Profile Celebrates The Intersection Of Double Dutch And Hip-Hop
Source: China News Service / Getty A new NPR profile this week celebrates the art and legacy of jumping double dutch–the game that came to create and define Black Girl Magic as the artform enters its 50th year as an organized sport. “Double Dutch is Black girl magic. It came from a union of young girls in their community getting together to socialize, and to engage in each other’s dreams and ambitions,” Lauren Walker, president of the National Double Dutch League told NPR. In 1973, two New York City policemen, Ulysses Williams and Lauren Walker’s father David A. Walker established Double Dutch as a team sport and got it into schools. The following year, more than 600 people participated in the first New York City tournament. Five years later, four New York d...
Kenan and Kel Reunite Alongside Keke Palmer on ‘SNL’ for Dramatized Sitcom Reimagining ‘Kenan and Kelly’
Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell and orange soda reunited for the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live in a sketch that sees Keke Palmer and the two comedians caught in a soapy love triangle storyline with a pregnancy twist. Thompson and Mitchell, who became teen stars thanks to their work on All That and later their beloved titular roles in the 1996 Nickelodeon sitcom Kenan and Kel, appeared on the Dec. 3 episode as part of a sketch reimaging the show decades after it went off the air. Dubbed Kenan and Kelly, SNL host Keke Palmer is the one who pitched the faux series, which offers an aged-up dramatic spin on the comedic shenanigans the original kids show was known for. The sketch opens with Palmer selling Thompson on the reboo...
Bob McGrath, Original, Longtime Resident of ‘Sesame Street,’ Dies at 90
Bob McGrath, the Sing Along With Mitch tenor who portrayed the friendly music teacher Bob Johnson for more than four decades as an original castmember on Sesame Street, has died. He was 90. “Hello Facebook friends, the McGrath family has some sad news to share,” McGrath’s family posted on his Facebook page Sunday (Dec. 4). “Our father Bob McGrath passed away today. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family.” Born on a farm in Illinois, McGrath was one of the four non-Muppet castmembers when Sesame Street debuted on public television stations of Nov. 10, 1969. With no acting experience, producers always told him to be himself. Over the years, he sang dozens of the show’s signature tunes, including “Sing, Sing a Song” and “The People in Your Nei...
Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang and Mikey Day on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast Overhaul: ‘You Just Keep Going’
Ahead of the premiere of Saturday Night Live season 48, the late night comedy show lost eight of its castmembers, the biggest cast overhaul in a generation. At the end of season 47 in May, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney and Pete Davidson signed off of the sketch series for the last time. Their departures were followed by Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor and Aristotle Athari in the summer and, finally, Chris Redd in September. A few weeks before season 48 premiered in October, SNL shored up its ensemble with four new castmembers, who would join the show as featured players for the 2022-23 season: Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow and Devon Walker. According to standout Bowen Yang, having the new castmemb...
Will Smith Discusses Oscars Slap & New Movie On ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Matt Wilson / Comedy Central Will Smith appeared on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and talked about the infamous Oscars incident where he slapped Chris Rock . The Academy Award-winning actor got the chance to sit down with Noah for his first late-night interview since earlier in the year on Monday night’s episode. Smith was there to promote his latest feature, Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua which will debut in theaters on Friday before airing on Apple TV+ on Dec. 9. During the conversation, Noah ventured a question about that night at the Academy Awards where Smith strode onstage and slapped presenter Chris Rock who had made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. “I’d love to know since we’ve been talking – what has the journey been like tha...
LL Cool J To Receive Entertainment Icon Award At 2022 Urban One Honors
Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty Hip-Hop icon LL Cool J will be among those recognized for their contributions to the culture at the annual Urban One Honors being held this week. The announcement of the annual gala held by Urban One was made earlier today. In a press release, the star-studded event will be held on Friday, Dec. 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Urban One Honors will then be aired on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 16, 2023 on TV One and Cleo TV, a division of Urban One. R&B star and actor Tank will be hosting the festivities. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TV One (@tvonetv) The theme of the night will be “Celebrating Icons of the Culture,” and LL Cool J was named as one of the honorees who will be awarded at the event. The two-time Grammy Award and NAACP Image ...
LL Cool J To Receive Entertainment Icon Award At 2022 Urban One Honors
Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty Hip-Hop icon LL Cool J will be among those recognized for their contributions to the culture at the annual Urban One Honors being held this week. The announcement of the annual gala held by Urban One was made earlier today. In a press release, the star-studded event will be held on Friday, Dec. 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Urban One Honors will then be aired on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 16, 2023 on TV One and Cleo TV, a division of Urban One. R&B star and actor Tank will be hosting the festivities. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TV One (@tvonetv) The theme of the night will be “Celebrating Icons of the Culture,” and LL Cool J was named as one of the honorees who will be awarded at the event. The two-time Grammy Award and NAACP Image ...
LL Cool J To Receive Entertainment Icon Award At 2022 Urban One Honors
Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty Hip-Hop icon LL Cool J will be among those recognized for their contributions to the culture at the annual Urban One Honors being held this week. The announcement of the annual gala held by Urban One was made earlier today. In a press release, the star-studded event will be held on Friday, Dec. 2 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Urban One Honors will then be aired on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 16, 2023 on TV One and Cleo TV, a division of Urban One. R&B star and actor Tank will be hosting the festivities. View this post on Instagram A post shared by TV One (@tvonetv) The theme of the night will be “Celebrating Icons of the Culture,” and LL Cool J was named as one of the honorees who will be awarded at the event. The two-time Grammy Award and NAACP Image ...
CBS To Air Inaugural TheGrio Awards On Network Television
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Tommaso Boddi / Getty A Black media destination is heading to network television. CBS has agreed to air the inaugural TheGrio Awards. As spotted on Deadline African American-focused news, lifestyle, sports and entertainment platform theGrio recently celebrated icons, leaders and legends at Byron Allen’s inaugural THEGRIO AWARDS, a star-studded, black-tie event held at the Beverly Hilton. Co-hosted by THE TALK’s Sheryl Underwood and Taye Diggs, BYRON ALLEN PRESENTS THEGRIO AWARDS will be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 26 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live on Paramount +*. The special will celebrate excellence in film, music, comedy, television, sports, philanthropy, business, fashion, social justice, ...
Maren Morris Campaigns to ‘Make DJ Gay Again’ Following Candace Cameron Bure’s Anti-LGBTQ Comments
If dunking on anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is a skill, then Maren Morris is an expert at this point. The country star posted a comment on Instagram on Tuesday calling out actress Candace Cameron Bure for her recent comments on “traditional marriage” and queer characters. Writing under a post from LGBTQ influencer Matt Bernstein, Morris said “Make DJ Gay Again,” a reference to Bure’s most famous role as DJ Tanner on Full House and the 2016 reboot, Fuller House. Morris is far from the only star to call the actress out — JoJo Siwa posted an Instagram on Tuesday calling Bure’s comments “rude and hurtful,” and GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis issued a damning statement saying it was “irresponsible and hurtful for Candace Cameron Bure to use tradition as a guise for exclusion.” Explore Explore Se...
‘The Best Man: The Final Chapters’ Trailer Hits And That Book Is Still Causing Trouble
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Gilbert Carrasquillo / Getty Peacock is giving out an early Christmas gift. The Best Man: The Final Chapters is heading to the streamer on Dec. 22 just before the holiday. A teaser trailer dropped late over the weekend to preview the show. The 8-episode series began with two popular movies, 1999’s The Best Man and 2013’s The Best Man Holiday, helmed by director Malcolm D. Lee. The movies starred Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Terence Howard, Morris Chestnut, Monica Calhoun, Melissa de Souza, and Harold Perrineau, becoming one of the most beloved of the black rom-coms. In the first movie, Diggs plays Harper, a writer who draws animosity from his college buddies after publishing his first novel Unfinished Business, a thinly disguised version of their l...
Fortune did not, in fact, favor the brave: Matt Damon’s Crypto.com TV spot turns 1
The crypto industry has had its share of issues with marketing, from projects many authorities labeled scams to high-profile branding with sports franchises, but one ad that has stood out came from crypto exchange Crypto.com featuring Hollywood star Matt Damon. Many have ridiculed the “fortune favors the brave” ad starring Damon since its release in October 2021, using the TV spot as a creative springboard to criticize the crypto space and celebrities supporting it. The creators of South Park aired two episodes and one two-part special poking fun at crypto users and the Crypto.com ad specifically. Late-night TV hosts including Stephen Colbert also targeted the ad spot with parodies and jokes following the market downturn in May. Still shot of Matt Damon in the Crypto.com TV spot, sinc...
