View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sincerely, Daphnee 🇭🇹 (@theonlydaphneeduplaix)

Edited August 25Aug 25 by Faulkner

LOL at Armond becoming one of the show’s biggest boosters. This is his second article on it and he usually reviews films:

 

Why the soap opera "Beyond the Gates" is worth watching--and what you miss about American culture, history and politics if you don't. #BeyondtheGates #CBS @NAACP #NAACP https://t.co/KQ1dzIiaWY

— Armond White (@3xchair) August 27, 2025

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOKcyChETfg/

September 3, 2025

michelevaljean
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Bridget. Gosh, I miss you. Just knowing you were here on this earthly plane. A phone call or email away. You would be so proud of your “Princess” and I would bask in that pride. You were one of the most important women to grace my life and I will be forever grateful for that. You rest well, my Queen

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Michele Val Jean (@michelevaljean)

 

 

 

Edited September 4Sep 4 by janea4old

I never knew Clifton Davis had drug issues.

The Dallas Morning News Week of February 8, 1987

Davis makes a comeback from drugs by Gary Deeb

Show business in the 1980's is crammed full of people who used to be dope addicts and now are pitifully desperate to gain publicity by telling anybody who'll listen about their conversion to clean health. There even are a number of entertainers who deliberately exaggerate the extent of their past drug woes in order to grab more space in the papers and magazines.

But every so often, you encounter a Hollywood personality who has gone straight — and who has a genuinely inspirational story to tell. That’s the situation with Clifton Davis, the co-star of the NBC comedy series Amen (Saturdays, p.m., Channel 5) . His tale is worth telling.

“Very few people knew how bad off | was,’’ Davis told me. ‘‘But a lot of people in this business would say, ‘Clifton Davis? It’s all gone to his nose, brother.’ And they were right. By the time I almost overdosed on Christmas of 1980, I had blown all of my money on cocaine. I mean, I'm talkin’ a lot of money.”

Davis, now 41, became a coke freak just as his comedy series That’s My Mama was getting canceled by ABC. He spent the next four years shelling out prodigious amounts of cash for the drug, and his reputation in the industry became both stale and rotten.

“The success I enjoyed on That’s My Mama was so stimulating, so exciting that I lost track of reality,’’ he said. “I totally forgot about what was important in life. I started grabbing hold of tangibles instead of intangibles. I was getting high all the time. I just thank God that He gave me another chance.

“With the tremendous support of my mother and the rest of my family,I turned it around — after nearly dying.I dropped out of Hollywood and out of show business for about 5% years. I went back to college, did a bachelor of arts degree in theology, then went on to graduate school and did a master of divinity degree.

“When that was completed, I got the call to become the assistant pastor at this church in Loma Linda, Calif, about 60 miles from Hollywood. And at that same time, I believe God decided that He had more work for me; NBC hired me to play a minister on Amen. I'm just blown away by the coincidence of it.  I think there was a divine executive producer involved.”

DAVIS BEGAN his assistant pastor's duties at the church almost simultaneously with his comeback on Amen. Nevertheless, few people in his congregation hold his showbiz existence against him.

“Some of the people at the church looked at me funny at first, until they realized that I was sincere about my commitment to Christ and to the church,” he said. “And I backed up my commitment by waiving my salary as a minister; that’s about $21,000 a year.

“Another interesting thing about my church is that it’s predominantly white. I’m the first black minister that they've had on staff in their history. Some people thought I might find that difficult. But this is one of the most cosmopolitan and loving congregations I've ever seen — black or white. They accept me and they know I’m sincere about my devotion to God.”

A Tony Award-winner for his singing and acting talents in the early 1970s, Davis also is a best-selling songwriter. He wrote Here Comes the Sunshine for Diana Ross and the Supremes and the superhit Never Can Say Goodbye for Michael Jackson.

“Yeah, I was tryin’ to break up with a young lady and | couldn’t figure out how to tell her,”’ Davis said. “So I wrote Never Can Say Goodbye and that enabled me to say goodbye to her. That song has been recorded by more than 100 different artists, but the version by Michael and the Jacksons is definitive. He was just 13 years old at the time — such a talented young boy. It was so great to work with him.”

On Amen, Davis goes toe-to-toe with Sherman Hemsley, who portrays another of his trademark irascible characters. The two characters mix like oil and water, but Davis enjoys the contrast.

“Sherman is so talented and such a professional,”’ he said. “I wasn’t that crazy about The Jeffersons — sorry, Sherman — but I always knew he was an outstanding actor. Now, however, having worked with him on Amen, I realize that his talent goes even deeper than | thought.”

Millions of viewers this season are seeing Davis for the first time since That’s My Mama left the air in the mid-’70s, and most of them comment on either how skinny he used to be or how beefed-up he now appears to be.

“Well, when I quit drugs, I also quit smoking,”’ he explained, “and food tastes so good now. Seriously, I’ve promised myself that I'll lose some weight for the next season of Amen. But if you knew how much I invested in really good restaurants to put this weight on, you'd understand why I’m gonna keep it for awhile longer.” ©News America Syndicate, 1987

 

We need to see this on the show:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brandon Claybon (@brandonclaybon)

 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

At 14:13, Tony Moore asks Keith D. Robinson if he was nervous starting out stepping in as a recast.  Keith says he didn't have time to be nervous because "They called me on a Thursday, I screentested with Daphnée on Friday, and on Monday I was on the mark saying the lines."

On 9/5/2025 at 9:35 AM, Faulkner said:

We need to see this on the show:

 

Agreed.  There have been surprisingly few shirtless men on BTG in the first 100 episodes.  Although there has been a lot of sex occurring, very little skin has been shown on camera.  Is this a conscience choice on the part of TPTB?  And if so, why??

2 hours ago, Tisy-Lish said:

Agreed.  There have been surprisingly few shirtless men on BTG in the first 100 episodes.  Although there has been a lot of sex occurring, very little skin has been shown on camera.  Is this a conscience choice on the part of TPTB?  And if so, why??

We've seen Jacob and Andre shirtless.

No Ted, Bill, Martin, Smitty etc

IIRC we have seen Bill shirtless early on in bed with Hayley.

 

1 hour ago, Aback said:

 

Thank you for posting. Now I have something to listen to start the day. ❤️

Get that bag, Miss Ambyr:

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝑨𝒎𝒃𝒚𝒓 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 (@ambyrmichelle_)