TV One, BET Slate Sitcoms, Black-Focused Networks Plan First Genre Entries for 2011

[Zoneboy]

New York — African-American targeted TV One and BET will both jump into the original scripted programming arena in 2011 with the launch of separate comedy sitcoms.

Radio One and Comcastowned TV One will test the scripted comedy waters for the first time with the first-quarter launch of Love That Girl!, starring Tatyana Ali (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) as Tyana Jones, a young divorcée who returns home to for a second chance in life and a career in her father’s real-estate business. Created by Bentley Kyle Evans (The Jamie Foxx Show, Martin), the show also stars Phillip Morris (Girlfriends) and Alphonso McAuley (Fat Albert).

“The series is about her search for love, family and her friends,” Ali told Multichannel News.

TV One said it will produce 26 episodes of the series, which has already received exposure on the network: TV One aired four preview episodes of the show this past January.

“Love That Girl! really resonated with TV One viewers when we aired the original four episodes,” said TV One senior vice president of original programming Toni Judkins. “Our viewers love sitcoms, they love Tatyana, and Martin has been a strong and beloved part of the schedule since the day TV One went on the air. Love That Girl! is a natural step for us.”

The series will complement the 50 million-subscriber network’s lineup of acquired sitcoms like Martin and Sanford and Son, as well as original reality series Life After, Unsung and K-Ci & JoJo … Come Clean.

BET will offer its take on the traditional family sitcom genre with the 2011 debut of Read Between the Lines. The comedy series stars a work-at-home educator played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) and a successful psychiatrist played by Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends), who try to balance work, marriage and parenthood.

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“As the network decided to go into scripted fare, we wanted to do situation comedies in a way that reflected what was going on in various homes, as opposed to just contriving situations for the purpose of a joke,” Loretha Jones, BET’s original programming president, said last week during a general session panel at the NAMIC Conference. “We wanted to create situations that people could relate to because you could see yourself in those situations.”

Read Between the Lines is one of three scripted series BET looks to premiere next year. The Viacom- owned network is looking to team with actress/singer Queen Latifah’s production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment, to produce a scripted comedy series, Let’s Stay Together. It takes a look at the relationship challenges of five young, aspirational African-Americans.

Also on the development slate are new episodes of the football themed comedy series The Game, previously on The CW.

The three series represent BET’s first foray into scripted programming since 2008’s Somebodies. That series, which follows a group of college friends trying to find their way in the world, failed to draw a significant amount of viewers and was cancelled after one season.

Jones also said during last week’s “The New Original” NAMIC Conference panel that it’s isn’t enough for programmers to put multicultural-themed programming on the air. Such content has to be of high quality, to appeal to both targeted and mainstream viewers, she said.

“Quality and color are equally important,” Jones said. “You cannot say that just because something is black, we are going to be satisfied and not demand that you give us qualitative opportunities to present our perspective.”


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