By Bill Vaughan
Entertainment Writer
“A House Divided,” the popular Daytime Emmy-nominated series, is returning for a fifth and final season Jan. 12 on AllBlk, AMC Networks’ streaming service for Black TV and film.
Featuring Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (nominated for “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Fiction Program”), LisaRaye McCoy (“The Family Business”), Paula Jai Parker (“Queen Sugar”), Demetria McKinney (“Motherland: Fort Salem”), and Brad James (“Outer Banks”), the scandalous soap opera became the service’s longest running series.
Following the saga of the wealthy Sanders family and the ongoing power struggles surrounding the family business, last season found members navigating international extortion plots, facing major adversaries, and enveloped in secrets and scandals. In addition, love triangles reached new pinnacles as the stakes grew more dire for everyone involved.
This season promises to be more ruthless as revenge and power struggles come to a head.
Ameer Baraka (“Tyler Perry’s Zatima”), Parker McKenny Posey (“Games People Play”), Dominique DuVernay (“Freelancers”), Deborah Lacey (“Straight Outta Compton”) and Steph Santana (“7 Deadly Sins”), Taja V. Simpson (“The Oval”), and Terrell Carter (“Empire”) round out the impressive supporting cast.
TASTY QUIP: “Got all my bloodwork done with the doctors and all that. I ain’t got no problem. No meds. … It’s hello again. You’re gonna have to drag me off. I feel good as hell right now. So if I go out on stage, yeah, cool. ‘You went out funking.’” – GEORGE CLINTON (performing with Parliament Funkadelic Jan. 12 at Anaheim’s House of Blues) on “The Rolling Stone Interview”
CLIPPETTES: Move over Idris Elba. Rumors have it that the James Bond franchise producers are adding the younger Lucien Laviscount of Netflix’ “Emily In Paris” to a short list which includes Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Bullet Train”) to take over the role from Daniel Craig …
Acclaimed stage and screen actor Brian Stokes Mitchell performs Jan. 6 at Segerstrom Concert Hall …
“The System,” a new action film starring Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Lil Yachty and Jeremy Piven, has been released on DVD and Blu-ray from Vertical Entertainment and Distribution Solutions …
The Jonas Brothers and Em Beihold are in concert at Banc of California Stadium where Pitbull and Gayle are giving a show the following evening …
Tyler Perry (“A Jazzman’s Blues”) is next writing and directing “Six Triple Eight,” about the all-Black female 6,888th battalion in World War II, for Netflix …
Warner Bros and the Elvis Presley estate are marking what would’ve been his 87th birthday with free screenings of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” in 10 nationwide theaters including the AMC Burbank on Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. The film’s star Austin Butler and director will appear in a specially created introduction prior …
Later that evening, Jazz Is Dead, the all-star band co-founded by bassist Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report, Santana) and legendary drummer Billy Cobham (Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra), celebrate their 25th anniversary with a show at the Lodge Room exploring the music of the Grateful Dead …
Also, the birthday of David Bowie is celebrated at the Teragram Ballroom with Afro-Bowie, a funk/punk/progressive musical 3D art exploration led by Vernon Reid of Living Color and Angelo Moore, Norwood Fisher and Chris Dowd of Fishbone …
The American Cinematheque hosts a special screening of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” with Angela Bassett participating in a question-and-answer session Jan. 9 at the Aero Theatre. At press time, they were accepting standbys, but should you not get in, the film will begin running Feb. 1 on Disney+ …
The Grammy Museum celebrates the 40th anniversary of the smash hit “Hey Mickey,” with choreographer, dancer, director, producer, recording artist, actress and street dance historian Toni Basil, for an intimate conversation on Jan. 11 discussing her extraordinary career …
HR of Bad Brains hits Whisky A Go Go on Jan. 12.
TASTY QUIP: “Do not feel like a victim to any situation or to anyone. I am what you see today, and I will probably be that way until I’m ready to crossover and will probably feel that same way even when I crossover. Because that’s what I do. I don’t work for the living. I work for the dead. Living can’t tell me anything. The dead, they always have good intel.” – YOUREE DELL HARRIS, aka Miss Cleo, from HBO Max’ “Call Me Miss Cleo”
TC ON TV: Jan. 6 – “CBC Ceremonial Swearing-In” (TV1): A broadcast of the historic proceedings of the Congressional Black Caucus with performances by Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter John Legend, Kenny Lattimore and Kierra Sheard-Kelly. “Today” (NBC): Al Roker returns to his seat after blood clots hospitalized the co-host. “BMF” (Starz): Executive Producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s series about the Black Mafia Family criminal empire with Mo’Nique returns for a second season. “Lopez vs. Lopez” (NBC): Rita Moreno and Cheech Marin guest-star in this episode about ghosts. “Ready To Love” (OWN): Back for a second season of matchmaking in Miami. “All The Single Ladies” (OWN): A provocative view of intimacy and dating in the modern world from the perspective of Black women across the nation. “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked” (MTV): Guest judges this 15th season include Janelle Monáe, Amandla Stenberg, Ali Wong and Julia Garner.
Jan. 8 – “Alert” (Fox): Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez portray members of the Philadelphia Police Departments Missing Persons Unit in this new series. “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches” (AMC/AMC+/BBCA/WE/IFC/Sundance): Based on Rice’s best-selling trilogy, the eight-episode series with Alexandra Daddario (“The White Lotus”), Erica Gimpel (“God Friended Me,” “Fame”), Harry Hamlin and Jack Huston premieres on multiple platforms.
Jan. 9 – “Koala Man” (Hulu): Hugh Jackman and Hugo Weaving are additions to the voice cast of this Australian adult animated series about a middle-aged dad whose only superpower is a burning passion for following rules and snuffing out petty crime.
Jan. 10 – “The Golden Globe Awards” (NBC/Peacock): The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 80th anniversary event hosted by Jerrod Carmichael will be televised live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Tracy Morgan, Billy Porter, Niecy Nash, Colman Domingo, Quentin Tarantino and Jamie Lee Curtis are among the announced presenters. “Gina Yei” (Disney+): The first Puerto Rican series on the Disney platform stars Didi Romero as a young girl who wins a scholarship to the prestigious Caribbean Music Institute to study Latin music and the birthplace of reggaeton. “The Tonight Show” (NBC): Giancarlo Esposito
Jan. 11 – “Lingo” (CBS): Host RuPaul Charles welcomes four teams to face off in the original fast-paced word-twisting game show where the correct words could be worth thousands, but only one team will take home the extra $50,000 jackpot prize.
Jan. 12 – “The Climb” (HBO Max): Jason Momoa is executive producer of this visually arresting and life-changing competition where amateur climbers are put through a rigorous series of mental and physical challenges for a $100,000 cash prize. “Velma” (HBO Max): Mindy Kaling is executive producer and lead voice of this adult animated comedy series telling the origin story of the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. Listen for the vocal contributions of Sam Richardson, Constance Wu, Russell Peters, Wanda Sykes, Nicole Byer, Yvonne Orji, Ming-Na Wen, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
END QUOTE: “When I use the word Black, I don’t use it as a way to separate ourselves from anyone. I use it as a way to put an exclamation point behind our greatness, because I don’t think that it’s always been celebrated and recognized. But I’m also a lover of mankind and human beings and accepting of all people that are good, so multiculturalism is equally as important to me. But I’m here to represent who we are and if you want to come along for the ride, everyone’s welcome!” – NIA LONG (Peacock’s “The Best Man: The Final Chapters”) to Buzzfeed
As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.
