Role Call: The Hollywood Critics Association Announces First TV Awards; Black Film Archive Makes Its Debut

It’s quite obvious that everyone’s a critic these days, especially in Hollywood. The Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) announced its first-ever TV Awards on Sunday night and the verdict in—Black television swept in six awards.

The categories included the best broadcast, cable and streaming programs with specific sub-genres: Comedy and Drama. Dwayne ‘The Clean, The Rock’ Johnson’s Young Rock swept in “Best Broadcast Network Series, Comedy” for NBC. RuPaul’s Drag Race won the award for “Best Cable or Streaming Reality Series, Competition Series, or Game Show”—because, obviously.

Moving to best actors and actresses, it’s absolutely no surprise that Colman Domingo won “Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Movie” for episode one of Euphoria’s two-part special. His monologue inside the diner with Rue and phone call with his family were so heart-wrenching that I’ve only been able to rewatch it once. Pose won big as Mj Rodriguez took home the award for “Best Actress” and Billy Porter took home “Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series.” After the emotional season finale of the series in May, it makes all the sense in the world that these two were honored.

Of course, we can’t forget about Michael K. Williams’ incredible performance as “Montrose” in the Tulsa episode of Lovecraft Country (and throughout the series, for that matter). Williams took home the award for “Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Series, Drama.”

It will be interesting to see the format of these awards going forward and how they evolve.

It seems congratulations are in order to Taraji P. Henson! According to a press release sent to The Root, Facebook Watch has given the green light to a second season of Peace of Mind with Taraji. The daytime-Emmy-nominated online series hosted by Henson and her and best friend and Executive Director for the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation Tracie Jade “shines a spotlight on the challenging mental health issues facing us today—especially those in the Black community. Through personal interviews with celebrities, experts and everyday people, the series shows how to provide support, bring awareness, and aims to destigmatize mental health issues.” Featured guests of the first season included Gabrielle Union, Tamar Braxton, Mary J. Blige and Jay Pharoah. The series debuted in December 2020, all episodes are available to stream now on Facebook Watch.

GP, are you with me??!! If you answered yes, then you’ll be happy to know that a new gospel drama series will be headed to BET+ soon. Per Deadline, the eight-episode, music-driven series titled Kingdom Business will be spearheaded by bestselling author and producer DeVon Franklin, veteran producer Holly Carter and multi-Grammy-winning recording artist Kirk Franklin. It will center around “the reigning Queen of Gospel Denita Jordan, and her ex-producer/songwriter/lover, Caesar, who created her sound and launched her career. Denita, who also runs an in-house record label and megachurch, is determined to guard her family and its many secrets at all costs to retain her place on the throne. Things seem to be unfolding in Denita’s favor until an unsuspecting young woman on the rise with a checkered past enters the scene. Destined and anointed to challenge gospel music conventions, Rbel, also a former exotic dancer will see if her new-found voice can carry her to the top of the gospel kingdom.”

The series is currently casting with no word yet on a potential premiere date.

Steve Harvey will be bringing his mustache and unmatched suit game to a new legal series soon. Variety reports that ABC has ordered 10 episodes of the “courtroom comedy series” under the working title Judge Steve Harvey. Serving as the host and ruling judge, Harvey “will welcome real-life people into his courtroom to rule on conflicts ranging from family disputes and sour friendships to actual small claims.” Casting is currently underway with the folks in charge looking for “roommates, friends, siblings, neighbors, co-workers and more that have humor, heart and passion who are ready to settle their case by a legendary celebrity. All awards and judgments will be paid by production however and not the defendants.” Filming will begin this October and November with an expected premiere date set sometime in 2022. Steve Harvey currently serves as the host for Family Feud and Celebrity Family Feud on ABC.

The new unscripted series from Issa Rae, Sweet Life: Los Angeles has finally hit our screens. According to a press release sent to The Root, the show centers around a group of seven successful twenty-somethings from different walks of life in South LA and provides “a unique look at what it means to be young, Black, ambitious, and in constant pursuit of one’s dreams. Exploring themes of loyalty, legacy, and love, this coming-of-age series follows a group of long-time friends in South Los Angeles as they navigate the relatable, chaotic, mid-20s moments at the quarter-life mark and propel each other into adulthood success.” 

Sweet Life: Los Angeles kicked off last week on August 19, with three additional episodes available to stream starting August 26 and the final three premiering September 2. A reunion special will also launch on September 9.

Judas and the Black Messiah star LaKeith Stanfield and Queen & Slim director Melina Matsoukas are teaming up for a new drama series for Apple+ TV. Per Deadline, the series titled The Changeling will be based on the novel of the same name written by Victor LaValle. Stanfield will play the role of Apollo with Matsoukas tapped to direct. In the novel, the story takes place after Apollo and Emma have their baby, Brian.

It feels like both a reward and a challenge for the new dad. Apollo, the son of a single mother, had been scraping by as a bookseller who hunts estate and garage sales for rare first editions, so even the unusual circumstance of Brian’s birth (on a stalled subway train) seems like a blessing, as does the way Apollo stumbles across a first edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (inscribed by Harper Lee to Truman Capote, no less) shortly thereafter. But after some young-parent squabbles and inexplicable images on their smartphones foreshadow trouble, the story turns nightmarish.

The upcoming series comes from Apple Studios and Annapurna. There’s been no word yet on a premiere date.

Acclaimed TV writer, director and producer DeMane Davis has secured an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV Group, The Root has learned. Per a press release, the exclusive multi-year deal will see Davis in the role of “co-executive producer and producing director on the Ava DuVernay executive produced-DC series Naomi, helming multiple episodes throughout the season and overseeing the show’s directing team. Beyond her work on Naomi, Davis will render additional directing services exclusively for the Studio. She will also develop new original programming for all platforms, including WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, external streaming services, cable, and the broadcast networks.” 

Naomi follows “a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse. When a supernatural event shakes her hometown to the core, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins, and what she discovers will challenge everything we believe about our heroes.”

Respect and Sextuplets star Marlon Wayans has been tapped to star and produce a new Halloween adventure comedy for Netflix. Though the feature is currently without a title, Deadline reports that the plot is set to follow “a teenage girl, who after accidentally unleashing an ancient and mischievous spirit on Halloween, which causes decorations to come alive and wreak havoc, must team up with the last person she’d want to in order to save their town–her skeptical father (Wayans).”

This marks the newest project in Wayans’ relationship with the streamer, having previously starred and produced in the films Sextuplets and Naked. Additionally, Wayans also dropped a new standup special on HBO Max titled You Know What It Is on August 19. There has been no word yet on a premiere date for the untitled Halloween feature.

On August 26, Mya Cade launched Black Film Archive, an online database where viewers can find films focusing on the Black experience that have been directed or produced by a Black person, starred a Black actor/actress or focused on an important topic within the Black diaspora. There are over 200 films available on the website dating back to the 1910s up to the late 1970s. All 200+ films are currently streaming with each description and synopsis written by Cade herself.

“We are an evolving archive dedicated to making historically and culturally significant films about Black people accessible through a streaming guide with cultural context,” states Cade. All films provide context that isn’t focused on Black trauma and the romanticization of Black trauma through film.

Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) is slated to direct a “live-action” The Lion King prequel with Disney+. So far, the production has cast Kelvin Harris Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Waves) and Aaron Pierre (Underground Railroad) as Taka and Mufasa, respectively. Disney describes the untitled prequel as “live-action” and will feature “photorealistic animation technology that director Jon Favreau used in the blockbuster 2019 update of the beloved franchise,” according to Deadline. The rest of the cast hasn’t been announced yet, and Jenkins is ready to “further explore the mythology of the iconic characters, including Mufasa’s origin story.”

On August 26, Fortnite launched March Through Time, a yearlong creative experience that celebrates the anniversary of the March on Washington. In partnership with TIME Studios, the experience promised to transport players to a reimagined Washington, D.C., allowing them to “step into a fully immersive experience and learn first-hand the civil rights teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. like never before,” according to a press release provided to The Root.

While Epic Games and TIME Magazine clearly had good intentions, their execution was apparently lacking. Not only does MLK’s daughter, activist Bernice King, claim to have been left out of any decision-making—creative or otherwise—but upon its release, Epic hadn’t disabled any of the emotes (features) they offer across platforms. So, there were hundreds of people participating in the virtual experience, listening to MLK’s speech...dressed like Batman and Stormtroopers and doing Fortnite Dances in the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial according to The Root’s sister site, Kotaku. Since then, Epic has disabled all emotes for the March Through Time experience and is only allowing 8 specific ones designed for the experience including a sitting and protesting one.

So, thank you, Epic for fixing that bug real quick, but honestly, what did you think was going to happen if you allowed all of your emotes to be open for the world to have access to?

On August 24, VH1 premiered the latest installment of the original docuseries Growing Up Black. This new chapter focuses on the “legendary grit and heart” of Chicago while exploring the difference in the Black experience from one city to another. The show also features an in-depth look at the rich cultural history of Chicago and interviews people such as Jasaun Buckner, Rhymefest, Tiffany Walden, G Herbo, BJ The Chicago Kid, Trey White and more. Growing Up Black: Chicago shows a side of the city that not many people ever get to see and changes the narrative about the Black experience and community. Growing Up Black: Chicago is now available on the VH1 YouTube Channel.

After a national search was sent out for NBC’s holiday production of Annie Live, triple threat Celina Smith has won the titular role. The 12-year-old will star alongside Taraji P. Henson as Miss. Hannigan, Harry Connick Jr. as Daddy Warbucks, Nicole Scherzinger as Grace and Tituss Burgess as Rooster. Smith began her acting career as Young Nala in the touring company of The Lion King and was featured on Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan. The live musical event will air Thursday, December 2 at 8 pm ET on NBC, per a press release provided to The Root.