Kirk Franklin and MC Lyte star in new reality pilots for BET
“Saturday Night Live” alumnus Will Forte stops off at the Cinefamily Theatre in Los Angeles as he promotes his new movie, “Nebraska,” with with Bruce Dern.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)Hugh Hefner, who founded Playboy in 1953 and turned it into a multimedia empire, remains the magazine’s editor in chief.
(Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times)Actor Vin Diesel is the producer and star of the sci-fi thriller “Riddick.”
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)Director Guillermo del Toro, in the mixing studio at Warner Bros. in Burbank, has a new movie coming out called “Pacific Rim,” a shot of which is on in the background, about an alien attack threatening the Earth’s existence. Giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)BET has announced a new slate of unscripted series that executives say will showcase stories of revival, redemption and second chances.
The description of the show indicates that the network is focused on providing a more positive spin on African American life than shows such as “Love & Hip Hop” and “Basketball Wives” on VH1, which critics say have featured conflicts and bad behavior among its participants.
Among the new BET shows are “Back to Me with Jeanette Jenkins” featuring trainer-to-the-stars Jeanette Jenkins as she “reshapes the lives and bodies of everyday people with her holistic approach to healthy living.”
The show is the first unscripted series from the husband-and-wife creative team of Salim and Mara Brock Akil, the producers of BET’s “The Game” and the upcoming “Being Mary Jane.” The couple has an exclusive development deal with BET.
“Hip Hop Sisters” will star veteran female MCs Lady of Rage, MC Lyte, Yo Yo, Smooth, Monie Love and Lil Mama as they join together to “reclaim the Hip Hop Throne and in the process find their next protege.”
Gospel star Kirk Franklin will host the musical competition series “Gone Gospel,” which will take familiar artists and put them through a “gospel boot camp” to renew their lives and careers.
The fourth pilot, “Internal Affairs,” “takes a stark look at police officers investigating some of their own.”
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A lifelong Los Angeles resident, Greg Braxton has written for the Los Angeles Times for more than three decades. He currently is a staff writer covering television for the Calendar section, and has also written extensively about trends and cultural issues in the entertainment field.