Mediocre TV

I am no fan of BET; in point of fact, I have long since boycotted their station and I am kind of peeved that this one of the only stations that so-called “represent” Black culture. Of course, this is all a large sham because although BET was originally founded by an African American, it is now one of the numerous networks owned by Viacom. Viacom also owns MTV Networks and under this auspicious umbrella reside other networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, CMT, TV Land, Spike, Logo, and VH1. In other words, Viacom has cornered the market on networks that cater to all: children, urban and suburban America, rural America, African Americans, straight men, and the LGBT community, be they young or old. And BET and CentricTV represent the black side of things.
In spite of the fact that I can pleasantly reminisce with the classics that are shown on CentricTV (In Living Color still remains a perennial favorite), I have turned my back on any program that is featured on BET. Like my fellow UMCP alum Aaron McGrudor, I see very little that can pass for quality programming on their station. But a few weeks ago, I started seeing advertisements plastered on Metro bus billboards advertising this new show that was premiering and I will admit, I was a bit intrigued. First and foremost, the title of the show caught my eye; Reed Between the Lines is clever word play that no English major can resist. Second, the show features Malcolm Jamaal Warner, who deserves to rebuild some sort of fame other than Theo of The Cosby Show. Granted, he had a show a few years back with Eddie Griffin, which although it felt like just a flash in the pan, lasted for four seasons and 89 episodes from 1996-2000 on UPN (which is probably the reason it only felt like a flash in the pan).
I like Malcolm Jamal Warner; I think he is an underrated actor who has never fully been realized beyond the 80s sitcom era. And this is not even including the fact that he has been linked to another underrated long-standing veteran of television and screen, none other than the incomparable Regina King. Other than his acting chops, Malcolm has other talents as well: he has his own production company, his own jazz band, plays the stand up bass, and sometimes delivers the spoken word. He has a certain charm and quiet sophistication about him, with his chocolate skin well-accented by the beard he sports and deep melodic voice.
I was excited to see him foray back into the acting world, even if the show was on BET, so I decided to lift my self-imposed ban on the network. Admittedly I was skeptical about Tracy Ellis Ross, who I have the exact opposite opinion about than I have for Malcolm. While I respect her lineage, I have never been fond of her as an actress and as a result have been one of the few black women in America who just refused to watch Girlfriends for any length of time. In my mind’s eye, I had trouble thinking that they would have any type of chemistry. But Fox News channel, not to be confused with Fox 5, featured both Malcolm and Tracy on their morning show, and the two assured us that they have chemistry and that we should stay tuned for the broadcast back-to-back premieres starting at 10pm, right after the BET Awards. And I, like a good little lemming, followed suit.
Malcolm Jamal, as I knew he would be, was fantastic. While I’d call him more the straight man in every comedy series but The Cosby Show, he’s an actor that knows his cues and lines and executes them with the accuracy of a well-trained thespian. In addition, his facial expressions add emphasis to whatever he’s saying. Really, how can you not love him?
But the show overall, for lack of a better word, sucked. The writing was not bad, but if the show is branding itself as a comedy, I think that they should have counteracted Malcolm’s character with someone who has a little more of an ability to add some slapstick. Tracy Ellis is not a comedienne to me. Or even really an actress. She just kind of plays—well, herself—in every role. I personally would have rather seen someone, or more accurately, anyone else play Malcolm’s wife. My vote is for his real-life girlfriend to usurp the role. It is not uncommon for show executives to change, replace, or just plain omit characters in mid-stream. Some prime examples of this come to mind. In The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Vivian’s character was replaced after several seasons. On My Wife and Kids, the brown-skinned oldest child was replaced with a lighter version somewhere around the first season. And in Family Matters, the poor youngest daughter was just omitted altogether! Now I’m not saying that’s the reason she ended up becoming an adult film star, but I’m just saying, wasn’t that kind of mean?
But I digress. I still advocate for Regina King to take over Tracy because she can act, and no one expects her to be other than a finger-snapping woman that will whip your ass with a wet towel like she did in White Christmas. But I think she could pull off amazing humor just because that is generally not expected of her. I even would vote for someone like Raven Symone, but my coworker nicely reminded me that since Malcolm played her step-uncle in The Cosby Show, it would border on incestuous. Can you think of another actress that’s good with comedy? As I ponder this question myself, I think I have come up with the answer: Kim Coles!