Mostly Gossip

So Martin Lawrence is going to be launching some new shows. One is an adaptation of a British comedy about a family living in a funeral home. Another is based on comedian Gary Owen's stand up, about an interracial couple. The last show is an animated series based on growing up in D.C. It features him and one of the producers of The Boondocks. So that should be good.

Wait, what happened to The Boondocks, anyway? They have super long breaks in between new seasons and I miss them. All of them, Huey, Riley, Robert, Jazmine, A Pimp Named Slickback. It's bad enough that I can no longer read the comic strip in the Daily News... Okay, fine, The Boondocks will be back later this year. That seems so far away…

And here goes the gossip. So Usher and his wife are getting a divorce. And instead of Usher being a gentleman and just citing irreconcilable differences, his people are making it seem that his wife (they're not divorced, yet) and the mother of his children may have cheated on him. Well, finally Tameka (or rather her friend speaks out.) She puts the rumors to rest in an interview with Essence, including what really happened in Brazil. Not that I believe that Tameka was on vacation and “spur of the moment” decided to have plastic surgery and then had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. I mean, seriously plastic surgery in South America? And you have 5 kids? Be serious, everyone thinks that through. But I say good for her. They did it old school, your ex is saying craziness, you get your homegirl to get a few people in your court. Keeping silent and being a martyr is no fun. Tameka must have some dirt on him, because his lawyers were requesting that any journals she may have kept be turned over to them. What kind of craziness is this? Anyway, if these two cannot act like adults and get a divorce and do the joint custody thing quietly with a little dignity, well I'll have fun finding out all about it. And yes it is possible to get a divorce and be cordial. Look at Babyface and Tracey, Russell and Kimora. People do it all the time, especially when there are kids involved. Grow up!

Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting up his ex girlfriend, Rihanna, (well we assume they are no longer together.) He got 5 years probation and has been ordered to stay at least 50 yards away from her. Unless they're at a public event and then he has to stay 10 yards away from her. He also has to do 180 days of community service or 180 days in prison. We know which one he'll be picking (he is too cute to go to jail.) I respect him for pleading not guilty. He did the crime and he owned up to that. I know he has advisors and people telling him what to do, but he could've pleaded not guilty. I know I would have, (Your honor, I don't know how that ended up in my car. Surveillance camera? Oh, no that's not me!) Anyway...I'll be back, soon. Ta-ta.

Our Generation Needs A School Daze...

I hate watching T.V. with my father because he watches everything made within the last 5 years, with open disdain. Our commercial breaks are filled with: "Melinda, ya'll don't know good television. These shows are so corny." He shakes his head. I roll my eyes. "OK, daddy" Typical father/daughter moment.

But lately I have been watching TV One (a black owned cable network, that plays old shows that would have been forgotten) and after cracking up over Martin and Cole trying to fight some midgets I have to say, my father is right. The quality of sitcoms (what little are left) is not the same. There's no chemistry between the actors, the storylines are lame, and the rest of the content seems so watered down. I mean old shows took it there. Watch All in the Family, Sandford & Son, Good Times, or The Jeffersons. They used a lot of words and storylines that are not "PC". But what we have forgotten is that the real world is NOT politically correct. People are not PC. We do, say and think things that may offend our hairdressers, cab drivers and neighborhood grocers. Television doesn't always have to reflect the world we want to live in, it should show the world we DO live in.

Movies make me cry. And not in a "I wrote to you everyday for a year" The Notebook kind of way. It's more of a Oh, look another Tyler Perry movie is coming out...I guess I'll go and watch School Daze on Youtube. Seriously, where have all the Black movies gone? I mean where is John Singleton? I need a new millennium Spike Lee to come out with a Do The Right Thing type of movie, that's going to make me think and feel. I want to get mad in the movie theater, leave with a new favorite saying, and replay the movie in my head over and over because it was so good.

Sigh. Well until then, I'll be Youtubing it some more. Today: Devil In A Blue Dress. Tomorrow: He Got Game. Sensing a theme? Old Denzel movies...