VirginiaHamilton

Five episodes in and it's official to me that Baby Wipes is the weak link of the show. Barring the fact that his woman-hating ass makes my skin crawl, I don't buy for a second that his quivering voice-having ass is the menacing Puffy-inspired label head that this show wants me to see him as. Add the fact that he has the charisma of a box of hair and absolutely zero sex appeal whatsoever (seriously, I'm dreading the day that this show airs him in any kind of love scene because I know that my dinner will end up splattered on my carpet) and it makes me sad as hell that the producers weren't able to work something out with Wesley Snipes (or hell, any other superior Blacktor in Hollywood).

On another note, that knucklehead, Hakeem, is starting to grow on me. Will he piss me off in the future? Sure, but at least they're giving me a reason for me to care about what happens to him.

I'd much rather that they do one on Redd's running buddy, LaWanda Page.

As for ADW, the only reason why I'd make a concession is because of how it's been largely unacknowledged these days as the Top 5 hit that it once was during its heyday (largely due to the TCS lead-in, but still). Yes, they give reruns every day (which I am eternally grateful for), but it's nowhere near exalted in the mainstream in the same way that, say, The Golden Girls (another Top 5 hit for NBC), is today.

UH should totally do a profile of Howard Rollins. Guessing from the number of fans of ITHOTN that post here, he would be the perfect celeb to do an episode about.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Damn, girl! But I totally agree. The disco ep was great, and a funk ep would cover another side of the same era.

I'm still holding out for Betty Wright, though.

As am I. "No Pain, No Gain" is one of my favorite songs.

I was born during that funk era (early 80s baby here), so seeing a detail retrospective of (unsung) Black music around that time would be enough for me to tune in.

If they ever get rid of Anika and bring in VR as a rival to Taraji.... It's a wrap!

I would rut Lee like a farm animal if this were to occur.

After catching up with the episodes:

1. If Lee were smart, he'd take heed of what they've done to Sleepy Hollow (allowed a fail character to dominate the show at the expense of the integral (Black) characters to the show's detriment) and Grey's Anatomy (allow an egotistical actress to dictate storyline at the expense of the show's quality) and avoid those pitfalls so that Empire can enjoy a fruitful nighttime soap life.

2. Lee had better give Anika layers beyond being the 'snotty light-skinned bitch' pretty soon or else he'll be guilty of pulling the same sh!t that Tyler Perry does (relying on that tired paper-bag trope to draw his characters). Someone mentioned her and Hakeem developing a genuine rapport with one another as an organic way to get under Cookie's skin and I'd much rather see that kind of jab than what I've seen thus far.

3. Like everyone, I'm Team Jamal. My only fear is that Lee may decide to give him some sort of "edge" (IMO, make him unrootable and intolerable enough to want him off my screen) to pacify whiners a segment of the audience who complain about mythical don't care for Gary Stus.

4. I'll admit that one of the reasons why I don't care for Andre is because I'm over seeing a Black man being dominated by a white woman. It's never been a good look onscreen and it's tainting any sympathy that I could have for that character (well, that and him being the true bitch of the show instead of Jamal).

5. 3 episodes in and nope, I don't see it for Señor Baby Wipes as the titular Puffy Combs titan that Lee wants me to see him as. It doesn't help that I find him absolutely loathsome in real life, but the Lucious that should be onscreen is the dynamic and charismatic bastard (a la Puffy Combs in real life or JR Ewing in fictional land) that I should love to hate. Since Silky T has the onscreen presence of a moldy tampon, I'll forever mourn the producers letting Wesley Snipes (who would've been absolutely electric, despite Lucious being sort of a call-back to Nino Brown from New Jack City) slip through their fingers.

6. I never thought that Hakeem was as ugly as many others do (my theory for why some do is a whole other subject for another day) and am glad that they're giving him enough layers to balance out the Ike Brown mannerisms. I'm hoping that his dalliance with Queen Naomi actually delves deeper into his mommy issues and that they don't drop the ball on this.

7. Cookie J. Blige is the Queen of Wednesday night. That is all.

Honestly, I'd much rather get another genre-based episode, this time on the funk music that shaped late 70s-early 80s Black music--especially since Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have capitalized on that sound to garner a current #1 hit on the Hot 100 Billboard chart. Far too many talents were paid dust by mainstream radio because of that Klan "Disco Sucks"-based movement (i.e.: Slave, The Gap Band, D-Train, etc.) because they refused to water down their sound like The Commodores did (no shade to them) and now would be the perfect time to pay homage to them.

I'm not sure what to say if hundreds (?) of people gave a standing ovation for a rape joke. What part of Canada was this anyway?

London, ON

http://gawker.com/bill-cosby-joked-about-drugging-a-ladys-drink-tonight-a-1678404783

Making a rape joke onstage at his show? I can't say that I'm surprised that this would come out the mouth of a man that thought it kosher to clown a quadriplegic for not being able to stand up.

Cookie = Alexis Carrington

Lucious = Blake Carrington

Hakeem = Fallon

Andre = Adam

Jamal = Steven

#LOVEIT

Is Lucious' new woman supposed to be Krystle, then?

Considering that he thanked his anemic audience of allowing him to bring laughter into their lives at his show, I'm not holding my breath.

Certain other hypocrites like Judd Apatow can take a seat and shut that sh!t up about "rapists not being cool" when they have no problem extolling the artistic virtues of sexual abusers, Woody Allen, while working with another sexual abuser, Lena Dunham. I know it'd be a cold day in hell before a celebrity fvcks up their Hollywood future by calling him out on that, but that racist hypocrisy is precisely why I've no problem with Ms. Rashad's comments getting under certain folks' skin. Just as they protect their own, Ms Rashad is fighting to keep her coins.

(And for the record, I'm disappointed that she's risking her reputation to take up for that sellout instead of letting him drown the way that he deserves to.)

Seeing this misogynistic sellout's fall from grace has been the best Christmas present that I've received this year. Proof that it isn't a matter of if - but when - karmic retribution comes to snatch your ass for shitting on the very people that propelled you to success in the first place.

Just realized that 20 years ago today and yesterday was the beginning of Monica's breast cancer storyline

One of the best storylines ever told on soaps. Thank you for posting.

Hit the Floor is coming back for a 3rd season.

Say what? This season sucks so hard that I haven't bothered following up from the episode when Ahsha became an inadvertent drug mule.

I can't quite bring myself to call Montell Jordan "Unsung" (he had a decent run, but I'd hardly say that he offered anything different than what was out at the time), but I am looking forward to seeing the Martha Wash episode.

(It'd make my dream come true as a NYC 80s baby if they dedicated an episode to the house music scene of the 80s & 90s - especially since so many of the pioneers like David Cole, Frankie Knuckles, Crystal Waters, Larry Levan, etc. are the very definition of "Unsung".)

Speaking of Car Wash, I'd love for them to do an Unsung on Ivan Dixon. I'm one who believes that it was him, not Bill Duke, Antonio Fargas, or Richard Pryor, who carried that movie and would love to learn more about how he learned to cope with the fact that Hollywood didn't care to provide him with the opportunities that he deserved and how he manage to maintain that dignity in spite of that harsh truth.

Can't wait to check this out this weekend - especially since I'd just seen A Rage In Harlem for the first time in years a few weeks ago.

I'm telling on myself, but I know LHJ best as Joe Jackson than Cochise or Freddie Boom Boom Washington. Likewise for knowing GT more as Colonel Taylor than Preach or The Former Mr. Aretha Franklin.

Didn't realize that the Captain from 21 Jump Street was in the movie.

As for Brenda, I choose to believe that she is living in obscurity as a happy wife, mother, and grandmother after deciding that Hollywood was not for her rather than what Michael Schultz said. After all, it was based on hearsay.

Yes, I remember the live season of Roc (I think it was the second season). Also, Charles S. Dutton went on to play Dr. Eric Foreman's (Omar Epps) father on House.

I think comedian Mark Curry would be a good candidate for UH. He came up through the ranks of standup to get his own sitcom in the early 90s (though obviously, nowhere near as big as the ones helmed at this time by Jerry Seinfeld and Tim Allen would be), was badly injured in a near-tragic freak accident that nearly drove him to suicide, and would return to his roots both in standup and in a sitcom (he plays the best friend of Scott Baio's character in that NICK show I can't remember the title of).

On second thought, though, wasn't he profiled in Life After? That might cancel out a UH episode, but who knows.

Mark Curry was in Too Short's Unsung episode, which was kind of disconcerting to me because I always associate him with the ABC sitcom (which I, BTW, preferred the first season over the rest of the series).

I had only associated Diana Sands with the film version of A Raisin in the Sun (which is a pretty big deal to begin with for a theater person like me) but when I saw her in that Hal Ashby film The Landlord on Netflix last year I was so taken with what a wonderful talent she was that I'm convinced had she lived, she would have had leading lady roles for years. That film really inspired me that if I attempt to write another screenplay, it will be on an intimate scale and capture a mood the way Hal Ashby films capture a certain essence.

The Landlord is exactly what I had in mind when I typed her name (on a side note, that flick is one of my favorite 'unsung' movies ever, though I don't think that it'd qualify to be on this show since it wasn't technically a Black movie). Like you, I wish that she'd have lived to make more movies like that because her character stayed with me well after the end.

Yes, Roc would be great. What was the name of that show, also on Fox, about a mixed marriage? The husband was black and the wife was white? Nancy Walker (aka Ida Morgenstern and Rosie of the Bounty Paper Towel ads) played the mother-in-law? That would be a good pick as well, I think.

I believe that was called True Colors (the father was played by Frankie Faison and Cleavon Little, though I can't remember who replaced who - it's been almost 25 years since that show aired).

Looks like SFK answered amybrickwallace's question and jogged my memory while at it...

It was called True Colors! Wow, haven't thought about that show in years. Like Roc, it was also set in Baltimore. Roc was a great show, remember those live episodes? CSD's then wife, Debbi Morgan was also great. Back to True Colors, I remember that Frankie Faison either quit or was fired and replaced with Cleavon Little. IIRC, Walker and Little both passed away shortly after the second season and the show folded.

I'm trying to remember Debbi being on the show, but am drawing a blank - who did she play on Roc?

I'm not sure if Unsung Hollywood will be back for season 2, but if so, I'd love for them to do eppys on Diana Sands, Tim Reid, and the TV show, Roc.

The glory years...

I guess this isn't the right time to mention that I much prefer Boyz II Men's version over the OG, huh?

Flip Wilson is one of those celebrities / shows that was right before my time (as I'm an 80s baby), so while I've heard/read of it/him many times, I've never actually seen an episode - all the more reason why he fit the very definition of Unsung perfectly. (I love Pam Grier, but I'd hardly consider her "unsung" amongst those who matter - i.e.: her core audience). I wasn't crazy about seeing that hatchet-faced heifer, Joan Rivers, but I figure that this was the wrinkle that I had to deal with in an otherwise great episode.

That said, seeing clips of OJ Simpson mingling with Black folks on Black shows never fails to startle me, considering what lay ahead.

As I watched the Dick Gregory Unsung, I kept on drawing a blank as to which black comedian in this era would have the courage to turn down big paycheck after big paycheck to stand up, stand tall, and fight for his / her people. That made me sad.