‘Girlfriends’ Cast To Reunite

Eleven years after the abrupt and very cancelation of their hit sitcom, the ladies of ‘Girlfriends’ have reunited

Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White, and Jill Marie Jones will be back together for an upcoming episode of ‘black-ish.’

via EW:

“The timing was perfect to be able to bring Girlfriends to a whole new audience. We haven’t all been together on camera since 2006,” Ross tells EW. “Girlfriends ran for eight years and was important to so many people. Being able to merge the worlds of black-ish and Girlfriends was surreal for me — and so much fun. These are women I grew up with and love deeply and it was easy to tap back into the magic of our chemistry and how much we love each other. It was giggles on top of giggles on top of giggles.”

The giggles will play out on the Oct. 8 episode of Ross’ ABC comedy in an episode entitled “Feminisn’t.” The network describes the episode as thus: “When Bow [Ross] learns that Diane [Marsai Martin] and Ruby [Jenifer Lewis] don’t believe in feminism, she brings Diane to meet the women in her feminist group. Bow’s friend Abby [guest stare Nadia Quinn] thinks the group needs to be more inclusive, so Bow invites three of her girlfriends to join. Meanwhile, Junior [Marcus Scribner] and Jack [Miles Brown] help Dre [Anthony Anderson] after he realizes he is out of touch with modern day feminism.”

Girlfriends aired on UPN for six seasons before ending its run on The CW in 2008 at the conclusion of its eighth season (Jones left after season 6). The hit comedy spawned a spin-off, The Game, which ran for four seasons.

Season 6 of black-ish premieres Sept. 24 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

This is so EXCITING

Tracee Ellis Ross Will Produce And Star In Daria Spinoff, ‘Jodie’

The long-awaited ‘Daria’ reboot is going to be much better than we could’ve ever imagined.

The reboot will now be centered around Daria’s friend, Jodie.

The series itself is called ‘Jodie’ and will be produced by AND star Tracee Ellis Ross.

via Variety:

The series is a reimagining of the classic animated show “Daria,” and is described as a satire of the post college workplace and personal adventures of Gen Z. “Daria” was itself inspired by MTV’s “Beavis and Butthead,” based on the widespread appeal of the Daria Morgendorffer character whose wry wisdom was beyond her high school years.

The new series will center around Daria’s good friend Jodie Landon (Ellis Ross), an African American character from the original series. Viewers will follow her as she comes into her own and enters the workplace in her first post-college job in tech. Other former students from Lawndale High School will also appear.

MTV originally announced the new series would be a re-imagination of the “Daria” series which would feature the titular character. However, the network is now seeking to expand the franchise even further, revealing that “Jodie” will be the first in a series of spinoffs from the adult animated show which ran for five seasons from 1997 to 2002.

“I am thrilled to bring this project to life with MTV, both as executive producer and by voicing Jodie’s character. Being able to give voice to fresh, feminist and unexplored stories of young women excites me,” said Ellis Ross. ” We will feature a diverse cast, comprised mainly of unapologetically smart and ambitious young female characters who are vulnerable and flawed and interesting and funny….‘Jodie’ will be the first adult animated show in almost 20 years that will star a black woman. It will be a smart, funny workplace comedy full of commentary about everything from gentrification to sex to tech to call-out culture.”

The series hails from creator and head writer Grace Nkenge Edwards, known for her work on HBO’s “Insecure, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “Inside Amy Schumer.”

“Given the passion for these characters, there was only one person who could build upon the legacy to reimagine Jodie for a whole new generation, and that person is Tracee Ellis Ross,” said MTV president Chris McCarthy. “This marks another exciting step forward for MTV Studios as we build out a wide new slate based on the rich characters from the history in MTV Animation.”

MTV’s Trevor Rose, Morgana Rosenberg and Amy Doyle will executive produce.

I can not WAIT!

‘Black-ish’ To Do A Young Rainbow Spin-Off Set in the 80s and 90s

Black-ish could be giving viewers another dope spinoff.

via Complex:

According to Deadline, a Rainbow-focused episode will be the highlight of ABC sitcom’s fifth season. It will feature flashbacks to early events in her life in addition to serving as the potential gateway into a Black-ish prequel centered around Rainbow’s childhood.

As fans know, the character played by Tracee Ellis Ross had a unique multicultural upbringing. This plus the theatrics surrounding her home life would serve as the show’s muse. Like the upcoming episode, the plot’s set in the 1980s and ’90s and will follow the franchise’s trend of using comedy to answer societal questions.

The idea of a Bow-based spinoff has been tossed around since before the launch of Grown-ish. Originally, the series that follows the college maturation of the Johnsons’ daughter Zoey (Yara Shahidi) was pitched as a project about Rainbow and Zoey’s relationship. After critiques, it turned into the show it is today and quickly became a hit for ABC affiliate Freeform.

Although no deals have been completed, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is predicted to serve as an executive producers, with Ross likely to do the same. It’s unclear if the series would stay on ABC and its affiliates or follow Barris to his new home at Netflix. Either way, the success of both Black-ish and Grown-ish combined with the popularity of Tracee Ellis Ross are perfect ingredients for an instant fan-favorite.

Jenifer Lewis & Tracee Ellis Ross Stop Beef Rumors With This Video

Jenifer Lewis and Tracee Ellis Ross took to social media to shut down rumors that claimed the queens were beefing on the set of “Black-ish.”

Radar Online claimed our Auntees were going at it so badly on set that production had to be stopped at one point.

“Tracee can’t stand Jennifer and vice versa, they’re like oil and water, they don’t mix well,” says the source.

“They’re just like their characters — Jennifer wants to be the boss and Tracee isn’t having it.”

Well, Jenifer posted video of a playful moment between herself and Tracee shutting those lies down

View this post on Instagram

Love & laughter. ‘Nuff said. ❤️ @traceeellisross

A post shared by Jenifer Lewis (@jeniferlewisforreal) on

‘Black-Ish’ Stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Jenifer Lewis Reportedly ‘Can’t Stand’ Each Other

I love BOTH Tracee Ellis Ross and Jenifer Lewis — so it makes me a little sad to hear that the two ladies can’t seem to get along on the set of ‘Black-ish.’

via Radar Online:

Black-ish stars Tracee Ellis Ross and Jennifer Lewis may play family members on the hit ABC comedy, but the two are apparently anything but familiar when the cameras aren’t rolling. An insider tells RadarOnline.com exclusively the two stars have been butting heads on set, even shutting down production for a time.

“Tracee can’t stand Jennifer and vice versa, they’re like oil and water, they don’t mix well,” says the source. “They’re just like their characters — Jennifer wants to be the boss and Tracee isn’t having it.”

According to on-set insiders, the entire production shut down for about 30 minutes a few weeks ago because of the drama between the two actresses.

Source says there were some heated words exchanged between the two women after Lewis called out Ross for talking while she was trying to read her lines.

Eventually, the women settled down and went on with the show. But feathers were clearly ruffled.

“Jennifer is way over the top 24/7,” the source revealed. “On the set AND in real life.”

I hope our Queens can leave all the drama in 2018 and enter 2019 with fresh start

Tracee Ellis Ross Is ‘Happily Single’ And Childless At 45

Tracee Ellis Ross just screams vintage beauty to me and thats priceless.

In a new cover spread with In Style, the 45-year-old opened up about not having kids and being cool with it

via People:

“It’s sort of fascinating to be 45 and single and childless,” the actress said in a new In Style profile.

“Happily single, I should add,” she shared. “Not at home crying about it.”

The Black-ish star, 45, may play married, mother of five Rainbow Johnson on the ABC comedy, for which she won a best actress in a TV series, comedy or musical Golden Globe, but she affirms that she’s happy with the life that she’s leading — regardless of the fact that she’s single and without children.

“These are very big and very personal questions that aren’t anyone’s business but that somehow, like the right to choose, become fodder for public conversation. Some of the ability to reflect on what I really want comes from pushing up against a society that shames me for not having the expected trappings,” she told the outlet.

“I’m very pleased with my existence these days,” she added.

While she’s happy being alone, she hasn’t been spared of loneliness. Still, she believes she’d experience those emotions even if she had a partner.

“Have I had to learn to make friends with loneliness? Yes,” she admitted. “I think if I were in a relationship, it would be the same.”

Not only she is embracing her singleness, but Ross is celebrating the body that she has and the woman that she is.

For her 40th birthday celebration five years ago, Ross rented out a theater, filled it with her friends and undressed down to her bra and underwear. She then pointed out the bodily features she disliked.

“I felt like I needed to embrace those parts, and love those parts of me because they were all a part of me and they were beautiful and I have a lot of pride in it,” Ross explained at Chico’s #HowBoldAreYou event at Joe’s Pub in N.Y.C. in March.

Now, in her mid-forties, Ross said that she feels “the sexiest and the most beautiful that I’ve ever felt.”

“I don’t say I look my most beautiful, I FEEL my most beautiful and that’s what’s really important to me and I talk a lot about it,” she said.

She also shared that she has finally become the woman she wanted to be as a child.

“You know as a young girl, I had this woman that I dreamt of being, right?” she said. “And I had her in my head and I would play around with being her in my bedroom and with certain people, but the gift of age is that you actually get to have the boldness and the courage to be that woman, to be that person and I’m experiencing it now and some of the things I’ve discovered in knowing myself is that I actually like myself.”