Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Deception - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (13 of 13) + Groundbreakers (4 of 4) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order.
#13 of 13 Overall and (Ground Breakers #4 of 4)We save the best and what is considered an unlucky number 13 for NBC's Deception which aired at the beginning of the year and featured not 1 but 2 lead characters of color in Meagan Good and Laz Alonso, almost unheard of for Network TV.

Unfortunately the show was cancelled after one season, but is available on Digital release format Amazon or also iTunes at a reasonable $20 for the entire series(see below).  Indeed a show sorely missed for its Groundbreaking Diversity with casting multiple leads of color.

Although the show is no longer You can still Follow Leading Cast members Meagan Good and Laz Alonso to keep up with their for future projects:


ICYMI
The Series is Avail on NBC online http://www.nbc.com/deception/ and #iTunes Digital outlet for purchase

below is a Promo on NBC's Youtube channel at least available still as of this posting. We anticipate eventually the video and web content link will be removed.

The Hustle - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (12 of 13) + Groundbreakers (3 of 4) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order.
#12 of 13 Overall and (Ground Breakers #3 of 4)Fuse TV's The Hustle - the first scripted series created by music channel Fuse, it focuses on hip-hop/rap musicians friends who are navigating the music industry, a hip-hop dramedy. The series made its debut in Summer of 2013, no official word yet on a Season 2.

The show offered an introspective look into the industry, from an artist's perspective, A&R and others. A rare enough show that it makes the cut for our Ground Breakers category. It's now available on iTunes with extras including Cast interviews and as a fan of music and hip hop is one of the series Our Founder has added it to his collection.

That's our take, but Here's what the Creator and Producer Prentice Penny had to say about his show.

Web: http://www.fuse.tv/shows/the-hustle


Besides the Creator here's Cast of the Show We're Following that You may also be interested in following:




ICYMI below is a Playlist featuring Cast Interviews, as well as a Trailer :

ROGUE - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (11 of 13) + Groundbreakers (2 of 4) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order.
#11 of 13 Overall and (Ground Breakers #2 of 4)DirecTV's Rogue starring Thandie Newton

Rogue made it's premiere on DirectTV April 2013 and did so well it's set for a second season in May 2014. It's unfortunate that one of the only few shows available with an African American female lead character is only available to subscribers of Direct TV, nonetheless, we pick this show for its Groundbreaking example which we hope that the major networks and even new entries into the scripted series arena Netflix and Amazon take queue from and create shows such as this where the lead character is a woman of color.

Be sure to follow Leading Lady Thandie Newton on Twitter:

Below we include links to follow the show on Twitter on Facebook to keep up with the show whether you're a subscriber or not. For DirecTV subscribers be sure to check it out Audience Channel station as well as on-demand.
Web: http://www.directv.com/premiums/audience/rogue
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RogueDIRECTV
Twitter:

ICYMI below is a brief Promo for Season 2

Haunted Hathaways - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (10 of 13) + Groundbreakers (1 of 4) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates. This is the 1st of our Final Four(10,11,12 and 13) we're calling Ground Breakers in that they establish a great precedent we'd like to see more of from the industry.



First up is "Nickelodeon's The Haunted Hathaways" #10 of 13 overall and #1 of 4 of our Ground Breakers it premiered this summer and has hence secured several new episodes for its first season plus a slate of episodes for a 2nd Season.

The premise is a Single "Caucasian" Woman and her two daughters move into a haunted house and the Ghosts are a Single "African" American" Dad and his two sons. Let that stew for a minute!

You see the actual premise of the show did not include "Caucasian" or "African American" we threw that in to make a point. At first look at the show, as adults our American cultural mindsets teaches us to interject such labels and when doing so can mislead us at times this show would be a scary scenario haunted or not, but the irony is the show in a subtle way presses against stereotypes so engrained in american society that African American's and Whites can't coexist in great harmony.

We like this show for the very reason it helps fly against stereotypes, if we as adults simply let it do so  for the children.  It's a show for the kids and yes even for some of us adults to help us see the good of coexistence, that is of course until we as adults project our own prejudices and premises such as "why the black kids have to be ghosts" or similar thoughts onto children then the innocence and lack of prejudice children often approach with shows like this is indeed lost and we build the next generation of children pitted against each other because of race, simply because their elders or parents turned their minds to view a kids show about race instead of letting them see it for what it is: a show focused on telling a story with characters and not one about race.

In short The Haunted Hathaways becomes simply a TV show about two single parents raising their children one haunted and one living, If as adults we don't interject race into the story, and you observe these parents simply learning to coexist with each other with no misconceived perceptions of culture.

So as not to taint children any further with our Adult look at this kids show, we're simply just going to post the link to the show to share with your children, nieces, nephews and the like, because this post which they probably shouldn't be reading anyway is more of a message to us who are old enough to be tainted and all the kids really need to know is there's a new kids show on TV they can checkout, explore and enjoy it for what it's worth.


Web: http://www.nick.com/shows/haunted-hathaways/

Twisted - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (9 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #9 ABC Family's Twisted which premiered Summer 2013 and has its upcoming winter Premiere Feb 11, 2014.
A teen show that tackled mature subject matter focused around 3 friends since childhood, pictured above.  Besides battling atypical teen "pressures" of life, social clicks and "love triangles" etc., the show's unique twist, no pun intended, of adding to those norms the idea of how teens would coexist when someone they all know murdered someone when he was pre-teen, served time and is released back into their small community during prime teen years and the fact of the shows multicultural cast of leads and supporting characters and guests helped make it a pick to celebrate.

Also of note, Denise Richards turns in some great performances as the passive and some times aggressive protective mother. The show's success during summer of 2013 garnered it a second season.

Connect with the Show in Preparation for Season 2:
Web: http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/twisted
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Twisted
Twitter:
Tumblr: http://twisted-onabcfamily.tumblr.com/

Cast and Guests we're Following that You also may be interested in following:



ICYMI below is a Promo:

Haves and Have Nots - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (8 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #8 OWNTV and Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots is probably the biggest breakout show story of the year as OWN TV's first scripted series it hit ratings gold and set unseen rating and demo reach benchmarks for the young network. It's fall finale alone made history for Own with a series high 2.6 million viewers making it one of the most watched episodes in network history.

The show wasn't ABC's Scandal like over the edge, but they indeed pushed the boundaries of the human spirit and the limits of how far people may or may not go to keep their secrets. The show stealers by many accounts were sexy seductress 'Candace Young' played to perfection by Tika Sumpter and not to be out done 'Kathyrn Cryer' played by Renee Lawless.

Tyler Perry actually flipped the script in some respects, without giving too many spoilers "The Haves" were not always as one would expect, the one's who Had it going on or in control. The series look at addiction and one character's struggle with sexual identity, albeit controversial to some in the African American LGBT community, combined with its multicultural cast in not so atypical roles helped make it among our list of Freshman TV Series to celebrate.

For those watching television for 100% believability or reflections of how everything in life may play out, we can only say, "TV may be the wrong medium to be watching".

Connect with the show in preparation for the upcoming season Premiere Jan 7th, 2014:
Web: http://www.oprah.com/own-the-haves-and-the-have-nots/the-haves-and-the-have-nots
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHavesAndTheHaveNots
Twitter: NO Twitter Account, just a conversational Hashtag #HavesandHaveNots

In addition to Tyler Perry, Oprah and Own TV here's some of the Cast we're Following you may also be interested in following:
With the new season just a week away here's their sleek new promo:

Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots Returns in January

It's too darn hot! Get a sneak preview of Season 2 of Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots, returning to OWN on January 7, 2014.

Love Thy Neighbor - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (7 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #7 OWNTV and Tyler Perry's Love Thy Neighbor. Tyler Perry teamed up with Oprah's Own network to launch two of the network's highest rated series, both of which make our list, but first 'Love Thy Neighbor', the latter turned out to be quite a well crafted comedic effort by Tyler which featured a good cast of characters whose chemistry seemed to hit the comedic mark and the show stealers have to go to the sassy take no mess mom Hattie Mae played by Patrice Lovely and much credit to womanizer and slacker at times Sam played by Jonanthan Chase who brings an A game to a great cast of characters. The success helped secured even more episodes on OWN TV bringing its total series order to 52 episodes with new episodes set to premiere January 8th.

Connect with the Show in Preparation for the upcoming season:
Web: http://www.oprah.com/own-love-thy-neighbor/love-thy-neighbor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TylerPerrysLoveThyNeighbor
Twitter: NO Twitter Account, just a conversational Hashtag #LoveThyNeighbor

In addition to Tyler Perry, Oprah and Own TV here's some of the Cast we're Following you may also be interested in following:
ICYMI below is a Promo:

Devious Maids - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (6 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #6 Lifetime TV's Devious Maids from Executive Producer Eva Longoria. Despite controversy from some in the Hispanic community, there were many who welcomed and embraced the series within the hispanic community and other cultures as a fresh change from atypical television fare as evidenced by its ratings that helped it secure a second season coming in 2014. The show also marked the return to TV of daytime TV icon and star Susan Lucci.
Connect with the Show in Preparation for the upcoming season:
Web: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/devious-maids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deviousmaids
Twitter:

Here's the Executive Producer Eva Longoria and some of the Cast we're Following that You also may be interested in following:

Not on Social media, but we're pretty sure the ladies want to know more about the sexy brother on the show played by Wolé Parks IMDB Profile: Wolé Parks | Devious Maids Profile: Wolé Parks

ICYMI below is a Promo:

Graceland - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (5 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #5 is USA Network's: GRACELAND which premiered Summer of 2013. A twist on the atypical undercover cop/agent genre where agents were tested in how far they would go in pushing the boundaries of both sides of the law and featured a very diverse multicultural lineup of cast mates and guests. Needless to say, one of the few such shows you actually found yourself rooting for the law. The shows ratings helped nab it a second season coming summer 2014.
Connect with the Show in Preparation for Season 2:
Web: http://www.usanetwork.com/graceland
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/gracelandTV
Twitter:

Some of the Cast we're Following that You also may be interested in following:



ICYMI below is a Promo:

Hit The Floor - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (4 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #4 VH1's Hit The Floor dance team and basketballers themed show for the Grown folks, chock full of eye candy for both sexes which premiered and garnered great ratings throughout the summer of 2013. Second season coming in 2014.
Follow FilmTVDiversity - FATDIVE Entertainment's board VH1 Hit The Floor - Cast of 2013 on Pinterest.
Connect with the Show in Preparation for the upcoming season:
Web: http://www.vh1.com/shows/hit_the_floor/series
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VH1HitTheFloor
Twitter: Follow both the Network and Show Page for all the latest


Not in the intiial promos, but Actor and former NBA player, Rick A Fox recurs as the better half of leading lady Charlotte Ross's character

ICYMI below is the Sexy Promo Video:

RHOH - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (3 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. #3 BET's Real Husbands of Hollywood the fakest reality TV show which premiered Spring 2013 with a hilarious and ratings roar, second season just wrapped this fall, another season coming in 2014. The show features a virtual whose who in Entertainment stream of cameos and helps add welcome relief and comedic enjoyment beyond the parade of "true" reality shows where people of color are regularly tearing one another down. A personal favorite of our Founder by a long shot.

Connect with the Show in Preparation for the upcoming 2014 season:
Web: http://www.bet.com/shows/rhoh
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BETRealHusbands

Twitter:



ICYMI below is a little satire on the creation of the show. As noted earlier, even the promo is a comedic take on reality shows aka a fake reality show that's turned into a hit for BET.

Mistresses - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (2 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles in random order. #2 ABC's Mistresses which premiered Summer 2013, a US take of a UK series of the same name. We make no judgements on the the series premise, simply the fact of having a series featuring numerous strong lead female characters of multiple cultures facing and dealing with the various things life throws at them and their bonds of friendship that transcends culture. Season one is available to buy on digital services Amazon/iItunes. The second season of Mistresses comes in Summer 2014.

Connect with the Show in Preparation for Season 2: Web: http://abc.go.com/shows/mistresses

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mistresses

Twitter:

Some of the Cast we're Following that You also may be interested in following:

ICYMI below is a Promo:

The Fosters - Freshman TV Series of 2013 (1 of 13) FilmTVDiversity Celebrates

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A year end look back at 13 Freshman TV series of 2013 @FILMTVDIVERSITY applauds and celebrates for their Diversity in featuring people of color in prominent roles, in random order. 1st up is ABC Family's The Fosters from Executive Producer Jennifer Lopez which premiered in June 2013. The Fosters series took diversity several steps further in representing women, multi-cultural families and the LGBT community, as well as giving a view of a world that involves foster families.

The winter premiere is Monday Jan. 13th, but you can also catch a full replay of Season 1 Today Dec. 31, 2013 starting at 11am/10c on ABC Family. The Series is also available on digital viewing services Amazon/iTunes, as well as Netflix Stream.
Connect with the Show in Preparation for the upcoming season:
Web: http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/the-fosters/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFostersonABCFamily
Twitter:


Here's Executive Producer Jennifer Lopez and some of the Cast we're Following You also may be interested in following:
ICYMI:
Here's an intro video from Executive Producer Jennifer Lopez about the series