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On July 23 at San Diego Comic-Con, Dawnn Lewis shared an impromptu tribute to Nichelle Nichols, the trailblazing Star Trek star. Lewis, who voices Capt. Carol Freeman on Star Trek: Lower Decks, told 6,500 fans about looking up to Nichols as a child and later sharing a decades-long friendship. Days after that emotional Comic-Con moment, Nichols passed away on July 30 at the age of 89. Here, Lewis reflects on the iconic actor and activist, best known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura.

Right after Comic-Con, I got home and I called Nichelle to tell her what happened. I said, “A bunch of people are probably going to call you to tell you that I lost it.” We talked for 45 minutes, and then four days later, she is gone. That was really hard for me. On that same Tuesday, we had a family member pass away. Wednesday, Mary Alice passed away.

Yes, even as the world begins to open up (baby steps), we still need feel-good entertainment now more than ever.

Filmmaker Linda Palmer wrote, directed, and produced a movie that hits just the right note for 2020 with her inspirational film Turnover.

Turnover is a double entendre speaking to both the flakey, fruit-filled pastry as well as the management term most want to steer clear of in their business.

Paul Guilfoyle Plays Peter, a recently divorced cafe owner who works too much, holds his cards too close to the vest and is just running out of steam.

The joy has run out of his business. But that's hardly the end of his story.

Finally forced to take two weeks to himself, he leaves the cafe in the capable hands of his newly promoted cafe manager, Henry (Riker Lynch).

But being open with Henry wasn't Peter's strong point, and when Peter leaves,...

Hollywood has been in full party mode ahead of Sunday’s awards-season finale at the Oscars. Here’s a look at tonight’s lineup of festivities from viewing parties to the post-show Governors Ball at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, and what’s come before it.

Sunday, February 9

92nd Annual Academy Awards

5 Pm

Location: Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center, Los Angeles

Vanity Fair Oscars Academy Awards Party 2020

After Oscars ceremony

Location: Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills

The Governors Ball

After Oscars ceremony

Location: Ray Dolby Ballroom, Hollywood & Highland

Guests expected: Oscar winners and nominees, show presenters and other telecast participants

Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 28th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party

3:30 Pm

Location: The City of West Hollywood Park

Benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation

The 28th annual gala will be hosted by Netflix’s Queer Eye‘s Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France,...

Hey, "9-1-1" fans. We are right here back at you with another spoiler session since episode 6 is officially done and over. In this spoiler article, we're going to discuss what's coming up in the brand new episode 7, which is due to hit the airwaves next week. Thanks to those wonderful folks over at Fox, we do have a teaser description to share with you guys. This time, it's just one teaser description as it will totally revolve around just one character. The title for episode 7 is officially called, "Athena Begins." I think that title pretty much says it all in regards to who this episode is all about. Yes indeedy. It will be an Athena-Centric episode. So, if Athena is any you guys' favorite character, this is the episode for you. In this new, 7th episode, a murder weapon is going to resurface at some point, but this won't be just any murder weapon.

1986: Another World's Cecile refused to relent to Cass.

1986: A giant "C" fell on Santa Barbara's Mary.

1995: One Life to Live's Antonio reunited with his brother.

2002: Guiding Light's Reva disconnected Richard's life support."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: The Brighter Day moved to CBS Radio after having aired its first nine months on NBC Radio. Bill Smith starred as Reverend Richard Dennis, pastor of a parish in the town of Three Rivers, where he tried to be both mother and father to daughters Elizabeth,...

9-1-1 returned for the back half of its second season on Monday in the most 9-1-1 way possible, delivering a facelift gone wrong, an out-of-water shark attack and a (potentially) fatal final twist.

Let’s begin with a quick summary of the night’s events: Athena and Maddie worked together to reunite two kidnapped children with their parents, though both had bigger drama awaiting them at home. In Athena’s case, her parents were visiting — one of whom is not a fan of her being engaged to a white man Bobby.

Meanwhile, Maddie was supposed to have her first date with Chimney,...

This list will be updated on a regular basis this week with more events to be announced. Please send any event or party details to [email protected]. Most events are by invite-only except for the Oscar Week panels; tickets sold for those at Oscars.org.

Tuesday, Feb. 19

5:30Pm: 21st Costume Designers Guild Awards

Location: Beverly Hilton

Those lauded include Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther Costume Designer, Career Achievement Award), Glenn Close (Best Actress Oscar Nominee for The Wife), Betty Pecha Madden (Cdg Local 892 Labor Delegate and Costume Designer, Distinguished Service Award), and Ryan Murphy (Director/Screenwriter/Producer, Distinguished Collaborator Award). Presenters include Halle Berry, Sarayu Blue, Michael Chiklis, Wilson Cruz, Ethan Embry, Lou Eyrich, Leslie Grossman, Danai Gurira, Christina Hendricks ,Lindsey Kraft, Judith Light, Billie Lourd, Chris Lowell, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mike Miller, Ellen Mirojnick, Lili Mirojnick, Jason O’Mara, Sarah Paulson, June Diane Raphael and Baron Vaughn. Nominees include A Star Is Born,...

1986: Another World's Cecile refused to relent to Cass.

1986: A giant "C" fell on Santa Barbara's Mary.

1995: One Life to Live's Antonio reunited with his brother.

2002: Guiding Light's Reva disconnected Richard's life support."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: The Brighter Day moved to CBS Radio after having aired its first nine months on NBC Radio. Bill Smith starred as Reverend Richard Dennis, pastor of...

Exclusive: Selma Blair and Graham Greene are attached to star in the horror thriller, The Great Illusion, along with Glenn Morshower, Tokala Black Elk (Wind River), Jon Lindstrom (True Detective), Kenzie Dalton (FX’s Feud), and newcomer Oscar Cardenas. Cardenas co-wrote the film with daughter Maria Gabriela Cardenas, who will direct the pic as her feature debut.

The plot follows a tortured FBI agent suffering from an irrational fear of darkness, as he investigates a mysterious former prostitute in order to catch a vicious serial killer.

Amy Williams (Mothers and Daughters) is producing the project, which also co-stars Trisha Rae Stahl (Fox’s Glee), Rebekah Kennedy (Netflix’s To the Bone), Jaime Gallagher (Know Your Enemy), Bella Shaw, Rob Evors (Project X), as well as Monte Markham (We Are Still Here) and Beverly Todd (The Bucket List). Filming is slated to begin next month in Los Angeles.

Blair...

In good news for the Bordelon family, the Queen Sugar TV show has been renewed for a third season on Own. Season two just premiered on June 20th. In addition to the renewal, Own has announced a new first-look deal with Queen Sugar creator, Ava DuVernay. The cabler also announced that Michael Michele, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Beverly Todd will recur later on in season two. An Own drama series, Queen Sugar stars Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe, Tina Lifford, Ethan Hutchison, Nicholas L. Ashe, Omar J. Dorsey, Dondré Whitfield, Timon Kyle Durrett, Greg Vaughan, and Marycarmen Lopez. The story chronicles the lives and loves of the estranged Bordelon siblings. Following a family tragedy, they reunite in order to save the family sugarcane farm. Read More…...

Own has renewed Ava DuVernary’s “Queen Sugar” for a third season, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films said on Wednesday. Additionally, the production company has signed DuVernay to a first-look deal for television and digital media. The first collaboration from the agreement will be DuVernay’s “Central Park Five” limited series on Netflix. That project is a collaboration between Participant Media, Tribeca Productions and Harpo Films. “Queen Sugar” hails from Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The Wednesday 10 p.m. show, which chronicles the lives and loves of the Bordelon siblings in Louisiana, is adding Michael Michele, Roger Guenveur Smith and Beverly Todd to its ongoing Season.

Even as a new version of the classic mini-series is in the works, Warner Bros. is aiming to please fans by bringing the entire original series of Roots to the high definition format with a slew of bonus features. Come inside to learn more!

If you're a fan of the original Roots series, or weren't old enough to remember the iconic mini-series, then you're in luck. Today WB has announced a new blu-ray set to bring the entire series to blu-ray with loads of special features that dive into the heart of the story on June 7, 2016. All the details are below:

The groundbreaking, acclaimed television miniseries that captivated the entire nation and won multiple awards, Roots, will be released on Blu-ray™ for the first time, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) on June 7, 2016. The legendary family saga, which follows the inspiring story of Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton, Transformers: Rescue Bots,...

Louis Gossett Jr., Beverly Todd, Tatyana Ali and Kelly Carlson have all booked starring roles in the faith-based drama "The Reason," which is based on a novel of the same by William Sirls, which was published in 2012. "The Reason" follows James Lindy, a blind church minister, who works to restore his small congregation's faith in the midst of adversity, as a mother puts her hope in modern medicine (after losing faith in God, and God's seemingly lack of action) to save her son, who has been recently diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia. Publishers Weekly calls "The Reason" (William Sirls' debut novel) a “skillfully written...

An eccentric psychic is about to return to Salem.

EW has learned exclusively that Beverly Todd (Crash, Bucket List) will join NBC’s Days of Our Lives as Celeste, the nutty mom of Lexie Carver (Renee Jones). She will fill the role previously played by Tanya Boyd since 1994.

Todd will first appear on April 3 for a multi-episode arc. Here’s how the producers described Celeste when they put out the call for a “gorgeous African-American female” to play the character now: “Celeste is a unique character in every way. She has had a very sordid past with many errors in judgment.

DVD Playhouse June 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Kiss Me Deadly (Criterion) Robert Aldrich’s 1955 reinvention of the film noir detective story is one of cinema’s great genre mash-ups: part hardboiled noir; part cold war paranoid thriller; and part science- fiction. Ralph Meeker plays Mickey Spillane’s fascist detective Mike Hammer as a narcissistic simian thug, a sadist who would rather smash a suspect’s fingers than make love to the bevvy of beautiful dames that cross his path. In fact, the only time you see a smile cross Meeker’s sneering mug is when he’s doling out pain, with a vengeance. When a terrified young woman (Cloris Leachman, film debut) literally crossed Hammer’s path one night, and later turns up dead, he vows to get to the bottom of her brutal demise. One of the most influential films ever made, and perhaps the most-cited film by the architects...

News on the march…!

To summarize… I Will Follow will expand to 10 more screens this weekend, with plans to continue to push into even more AMC theaters, but also integrating independent venues, like The Downtown Independent in Los Angeles, and special one-night engagements in a number of cities; and, maybe even more significant, the film will make its international debut with screenings in London and Toronto planned for April.

No box office numbers released for this past weekend though… at least, they aren’t mentioned in the below press release sent out early this morning, so nothing to report there. I did notice that Box Office Mojo has picked up coverage of the film (it wasn’t listed on the site last week); although the site only has totals through the previous, opening weekend, which have already been reported. I’m sure they’ll be released soon enough…

We’ve...

We should have the weekend box office tally tomorrow morning after its expansion to 22 screens. In the meantime, here’s another newly-released scene from Ava DuVernay’s little film that could, I Will Follow, featuring Salli Richardson-Whitfield as “Maye” and Beverly Todd as “Amanda.” We’ve provided wall-to-wall coverage of this film since opening weekend – first, you can listen to me interview with Ava Here; read my review Here; and then check out Noelani’s interviews with Sally Richardson-Whitfield Here and Omari Hardwick Here.

News on the march!

I, like a lot of other folks, were certainly very interested in how well it did in its opening weekend, after the media blitz that lead up to it. And, well, big congrats to Ava DuVernay and the I Will Follow Affrm team. The weekend’s numbers are in, and the film managed an impressive $11,428 per screen average! Doing the math… it opened on just 5 screens, making its weekend box office take close to $60,000!

But the even bigger news is that, thanks to an impressive showing for a film of its caliber, I Will Follow will expand to 22 screens in its second week of release, this weekend! So, be happy Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Oakland, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte and Jersey City, because the film will be opening in your city on Friday! So, I don’t have to hear any more of...

Today, Ava DuVernay’s I Will Follow premieres in theaters across the U.S. Recently I had a chance to talk to the film’s star, Salli Richardson-Whitfield on a part she just couldn’t pass up and how it has taken twenty years to get it. We also discussed celebrating black entertainers through our own awards ceremonies and creating our own stories…something many of you have been discussing over the past couple of years at Shadow and Act. Please check out my interview with Salli after the break…

Your latest work I Will Follow won the best first feature film award at the Pan African Film Festival last month, which is quite an honor, but unbelievably it’s your very first leading role in a movie. After twenty years in the business are you still amazed at the limited roles available to woman (particularly women of color)?

Salli : Yeah,...

It opens today, so I’m reposting my review of the film, so here ya go…

Quite possibly one of the most evocative scenes comes about ¾ of the way through the film, in an unexpectedly moving sequence of exchanges between the character played by Omari Hardwick and Salli Richardson-Whitfield’s leading lady. Moments of sincere, intimate interplay between man and woman, bursting with sensuality, leading up to a final revelation that even this writer didn’t predict, all punctuated by a moody, yet beautiful accompanying soundtrack.

It’s a truly memorable, well-written arrangement of action and reaction, played beautifully by both actors, notably the gentle giant Hardwick, who demonstrates a combined strength and vulnerability, a complexity we don’t get to experience much in black male characters on screen; Richardson’s is an opportunity lost, regret, and an eventual rebirth of sorts, as our lead protagonist buries herself in a bathtub,...

Quite possibly one of the most evocative scenes comes about ¾ of the way through the film, in an unexpectedly moving sequence of exchanges between the character played by Omari Hardwick and Salli Richardson-Whitfield’s leading lady. Moments of sincere, intimate interplay between man and woman, bursting with sensuality, leading up to a final revelation that even this writer didn’t predict, all punctuated by Little Dragon’s moody, yet beautiful tune, Twice, from their self-titled 2007 album.

It’s a truly memorable, well-written arrangement of action and reaction, played beautifully by both actors, notably the gentle giant Hardwick, who demonstrates a combined strength and vulnerability, a complexity we don’t get to experience much in black male characters on screen; Richardson’s is an opportunity lost, regret, and an eventual rebirth of sorts, as our lead protagonist buries herself in a bathtub, immersed in solitude, reflecting on what may have been...

If you missed the screening of Ava DuVernay’s acclaimed feature film I Will Follow, during the ActNow New Voices In Black Cinema Film Festival in New York City, earlier this month, don’t fret. You’ll have an opportunity to see the film, before its official March 11th theatrical debut, via Affrm,(the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement) when screens tomorrow, Friday, February 25th, at 8pm at Columbia University’s Lifetime Theater (Room 511) in 305 Dodge Hall, 2960 Broadway (@ 116th St.).

Did I mention it’s a Free event? But you have to RSVP if you’re planning on going, as seating is “extremely limited!” To RSVP, fill out the online registration form Here.

The screening is brought to you by ImageNation, Urbanworld & Columbia University

I Will Follow stars Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Omari Hardwick, Blair Underwood and Beverly Todd, amongst others.

And if you can’t make tomorrow night’s screening,...

AFI Fest 2010 Hi my name is Ava DuVernay. I make and market films. A good sister named Karen who runs this very cool site, ReelArsty.com, asked me to name 5 things that excite me in black film at the moment. What a cool concept. Just like Karen. And her site. Cool. So… here goes…

5) Matthew A. CherryI like this brother's style. He shoots. And shoots. And shoots. Music videos. Shorts. And coming soon - his first feature. He works with open arms. Embracing fellow filmmakers. Embracing social media. Embracing the energy currently brewing around the black indie film aesthetic. Here's his latest video which just dropped this week for Foreign Exchange. The guy makes, like, a video a week, I swear. I love it. Work!

4) Black Swan TheoryThis is a short film that I dig a lot for a couple of reasons. First: because this fierce black woman filmmaker smashed it.

If you didn’t watch it when it aired on Lifetime, you can watch Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story, starring Taraji P. Henson, Terry O’Quinn and Beverly Todd, in its entirety, Now!

It is based on a dramatic true story of Tiffany Rubin’s (Taraji P. Henson) daring 2008 rescue of her seven-year-old son, Kobe, after he was abducted by his biological father and taken from his home in Queens, New York, all the way to Seoul, South Korea. At the urging of her mother Belzora (Beverly Todd), Tiffany sought the counsel of Mark Miller (Terry O’Quinn) and his charitable organization, The American Association for Lost Children. With Mark’s help, Tiffany was able to travel to Korea to execute a high-stakes plan to bring her son home.

The film will air twice more – February 11th at 9Pm, and February 27th, also at 9. But, as I said,...

For those of you out there who get off on “Woe is me! Lawd what did I’se do to be so black and blue?” black movies have I got a winner for you. On January 4th Lionsgate will release on DVD The Lena Baker Story starring Tichina Arnold (from Martin and Everybody Hates Chris) Beverly Todd and Michael Rooker who is Hollywood’s go-to guy for playing racist Southern rednecks, just like he did recently on AMC’s The Walking Dead.

The film tells the story about Lena Baker, the only woman to be executed in the electric chair in Georgia only to be pardoned 60 years later. The film was made over two years ago and I don’t know of any theatrical showings the film might have had, but the extreme downbeat nature of the story no doubt made it hard for the film to get any kind of domestic theatrical release.

Rating: 4/5

Writer: Ava DuVernay

Director: Ava DuVernay

Cast: Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Beverly Todd, Tracie Thoms, Omari Hardwick, Michole White, Blair Underwood

I Will Follow, Ava DuVernay’s first fictional feature film, spans the course of a day as Maye (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) packs up the home she shared with her aunt Amanda (Beverly Todd) in the last year of her life as she battled breast cancer. Based on real moments from DuVernay’s own life, the film is a beautiful and unique take on the process of mourning. Through the physical undoing of a life and the people encountered along that process, simple tasks take on greater meaning and casual encounters end up carrying much more weight than they normally would.

Read more on AFI Fest 2010 Review: I Will Follow…...

The Haiti Food Project: A Second Aid Benefit Concert for sustainable food programs that feed and nourish the Haitian children and the communities they live in was held at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, California, earlier this month.

The event was held in collaboration with Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger, which since 1985 has granted over $50 million to prevent and alleviate hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds, and The Board of Rabbis of Southern California. The event was attended by a bevy of leading personalities, entertainers and politicians, including Deepak Chopra, Her Excellency, Geri Benoit, Haiti’s Ambassador to the Un World Food Programme and Former First Lady of Haiti, Robert Wexler, Beverly Todd, Lou Gossett Jr, Brenda Russell and many others.

The event raised over $200,000 for victims of the Haitian earthquake, and could not have been held without the support of Qsc Audio.

Read more...

Kanye West, Wyclef Jean, Lou Gossett Jr and Larry King will be some of the stars attending the Haiti Food Project Second Aid Benefit presented by Mazon at the Amercian Jewish University in Bel Air on Thursday, February 4.

Guests will be treated to motivational words from Deepak Chopra, as well as performances from Master of Ceremonies Beverly Todd, James Ingram, Deniece Williams, Brenda Russell and special secret guests yet to be announced.

Proceeds from the event will be awarded to the Lambi Fund of Haiti, International Medical Corps, Friends of the Children of Lascahobas, Haiti, and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital of Haiti.

Read more...

House is finally introducing us to the missing branch in Foreman's family tree. Sources confirm to me exclusively that Orlando Jones has been cast as Foreman's estranged (and currently incarcerated) brother, Marcus. Although we have previously met Foreman's father and mother (played by Charles S. Dutton and Beverly Todd, respectively), his brother has only been mentioned in passing. Little is know about Marcus except that he, like Foreman, had a troubled childhood. Jones' episode, which has already been shot and is scheduled to air in February, finds the siblings reconnecting on the eve of Marcus' parole hearing. Not surprisingly, House...