This man has been dead for years
TBS has picked up Ice Cube’s Are We There Yet? and will make it into a television series. In case you don’t remember, Are We There Yet? is NOT Ice Cube’s landmark 1992 rap album. That would be The Predator. No, Are We There Yet? is this steaming pile of liquid feces. And while Cube won’t star in the show, we can still hold him responsible as a producer.
Instead [of Ice Cube], Terry Crews, who earned raves as the father in “Everybody Hates Chris,” will reunite with [writer Ali] LeRoi to star in the new show as Nick, a single man who starts dating a young divorcee with two kids. In the 2005 movie, Nick takes the kids on a road trip to see their mother – and winds up clashing with them the entire way…
“Are We There Yet?” wound up at TBS after intense bidding, with cablers such as USA Network and BET also in the running. [Variety]
An intense bidding war for low-grade slapstick. Sigh. I suppose Ice Cube deserves to do with his career whatever he pleases, but damn. I kind of hoped for more from the founding member of N.W.A. whose definition of a good day included not having to use his assault rifle.
Today in “future cancellation” news, TBS has announced that it will enter the late-night fray in November with a talk show starring George Lopez, best known for his work telling jokes you didn’t laugh at.
Lopez plans an “outdoor street-party atmosphere” featuring celebrity guests, live music and comedy acts. The show will also encourage audience members to interact with Lopez and his guests.
“George Lopez is a special talent, with an everyman appeal that makes him uniquely positioned to be the next great late-night host,” said Michael Wright, exec vp, head of programming, at TBS.
I don’t know. I was going to say that this hardly seems worth my scorn, but then I watched the clip above, and I suddenly wanted to firebomb TBS’s offices. Oh my God, Spanish-speaking people say J’s like H’s! That’s gold! Give that man a show!
Huzzah! The unholy televised abortion of unfunny sketches centered on effective-but-tired impressions known as “Frank TV” has been canceled! Although Frank Caliendo will remain on FOX’s NFL pregame show, we can all sleep peacefully knowing that TBS will never again run another promo for “Frank TV.”
TBS will not be bringing back his sketch comedy series Frank TV for another season, but he has a signed a new deal to continue his role with Fox NFL Sunday for another two years.
The TBS comedy series, which debuted in November 2007, gained notoriety early on mostly because it was heavily promoted by the network during its baseball playoff broadcasts that year, enough so that even Caliendo would joke about it in subsequent interviews.
In case you’re wondering, the image here is my rendition of Frank Caliendo’s severed head skewered on a pike in hell. I think art is best when it’s sincere, when it comes straight from the heart.
