Reel Talk (Television and Movie Briefs) 1.18.18 – 1.24.18
Barack Obama guest stars on Netflix’s ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman’ It been a year since Barack Obama has been out of office and although his presidency may be missed, the charismatic politician has yet to miss a beat. Recently, the former commander-in-chief sat down with David Letterman in new series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” premiering January 12. A new project for Letterman, he had a chance to debut his first episode with Obama, who did not shy away from being candid in the one-hour interview. The doting father explained that he wasn’t quite prepared for Malia Obama starting her first year of college at Harvard University last year. “I was basically useless, and everybody had seen me, you know, crying and misting up for the previous three weeks”. “Malia, who’s very thoughtful, she says, ‘Hey, Dad, you know I’ve got this lamp in this box. So put the desk lamp together?’” “So I grab it. And it should’ve taken like five minutes or three minutes. It only had like four parts or something and I’m sitting there and I’m just toiling away at this thing and it’s taken half an hour. I was just pretty pathetic,” he said admitting his emotions. Obama becoming the first Black President was both progressive and controversial for the county. When asked about the prevalence of racism, he stated, “It turns out that we come up with all kinds of reasons to try to put ourselves over other people. Racism is a profound example of that, but obviously biologically there’s no actual reality to it other than we made this thing up. We made it up”. On his reaction to President Donald Trump taking office, he responded, “I slept in, which I was pretty happy about, Obama, 56, told Letterman about the morning of Jan. 21, 2017, the day after he left the White House. “I think there was a sense that I had run the race, I had completed it. I was proud of the work we had done and I was ready for the next stage,” reports eurweb.com. “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” airs on Friday on Netflix. Obama sits down with David Letterman for a leisure Q&A (Photo Courtesy: Netflix)
‘The Chi’ brings a Black perspective to Showtime as well as soaring ratings New drama, “The Chi,” debuted on Showtime, Sunday January 7. Created by Emmy winner Lena Waithe, the series is a coming-of-age drama centered in Southside Chicago that deals with the unfortunate perplexities of gang violence. A community filled with rawness, humility, grit, courage and strength, the show humanizes Chicago natives, while narrowing in on good versus evil. The Chi” effects neighbors, everyday thugs, children, elders to police officers. Executive produced by Waithe and Common, Jason Mitchell, Jacob Latimore, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, and more star in the drama. The series was a success among viewers, according to variety.com, “The Chi” drew a total of 875,000 viewers. The show was also offered for advance sampling, adding an additional 800,000 viewers for a grand total of 1.67 million viewers total having seen the premiere. That is the best Showtime series debut when all factors are counted since “Billions,” which drew 3 million viewers in total”. “The Chi” cast, from top left to bottom right: Yolonda Ross, Tiffany Boone, Jason Mitchell, Armando Riesco, Jacob Latimore, Alex R. Hibbert and Ntare Mwine (Photo Courtesy: Mathieu Young/Showtime)
New Netflix series: ‘Katt Williams: Great America’ and ‘Step Sisters’ streaming this January Tune in this new year to catch up with fresh content on Netflix. Dubbed the king of underground comedy, Kat Williams brings unfiltered raw material to his new stand-up comedy special, “Katt Williams: Great America,” a piercing satire on the current political climate, racial tensions, sex and his disdain for roast beef, premiering January 16. Continuing with comedic relief, new web series “Step Sisters,” starring Megalyn Echikunwoke, Naturi Naughton and more follows the character, Jamilah Bishop (Echikunwoke), headed to Harvard Law School, is asked to teach a unruly White sorority how to step. Premiering January 19, the dance comedy is directed by Charles Stone III (“Drumline”) and written by Chuck Hayward (“Dear White People”), Ben Cory Jones (“Insecure”) and Lena Waithe (“Master of None”). The streaming service is providing viewers with classics this month including a marathon of “Lethal Weapon 1 – 4, “Training Day,” “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Italian Job” with Yasiin Bey formerly known as Mos Def. New Netflix series this January (Photo Courtesy: Netflix)
