By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, filed January 5, 2011
In an episode of TBS's "Are We There Yet?" airing next week, the kids find their dad's old videotapes. And since this is a clean show, they don't find porn. Instead, they find episodes of "A Different World," a popular NBC show from the 1990s featuring an all-black cast.
"This was one of the top TV shows on the networks for like six years!" Nick Persons, played by Terry Crews, tells them.
"Black people used to be on network TV?"Â his stepdaughter Lindsey asks, a line unlikely to be said by a real child but is a joke about how sitcoms with black casts have disappeared from the big five networks. Now, they appear on BET and TBS.
"Are We There Yet?", based on the 2005 movie of the same name and executive produced by Ice Cube, did well last year during a brief 10-episode test run. Following the path of Tyler Perry, the series passed the test and was given a whopping 90-episode commitment from TBS. Taping began in the fall.
"We're shooting 90 episodes over 15 months," said Crews. They tape up to three episodes a week, which again follows the Perry model of speed and efficiency. "This," he noted, "is the future of television."
There is another reason why doing 90 episodes in a row makes sense: the kids. If the show spread the episodes out longer, the kids might start looking too old too quickly. Crews knows that from personal experience: his time on UPN/the CW's "Everybody Hates Chris," where Tyler James Williams' voice changed mid run and over four seasons, he grew quite a bit. "When he hit 17," Crews said, " it changed the mood of the show."
Already, Coy Stewart, who plays Persons' 10-year-old stepson, "went up three shoe sizes" from February to October, Crews said. "He's about the grow like a weed!"
"Are We There Yet?" has modest aspirations. It breaks no new ground in comedy. It merely goes for gentle family-friendly laughs. Dilemmas are posed and solved in 22 minutes. Punchlines come and go. Crews, as the anchor, uses physical humor and funny faces for chuckles.
The first episode tonight feature Charlie Murphy as Suzanne's ex husband trying to reduce his child support payments. In the second episode, Suzanne tries to be more spontaneous and plans a "date night" with Nick. "A date night?" her best friend Gigi asks. "Are you 70?"
Crews is the only actor I know of who has simultaneous regular gigs on a scripted show and a reality program. His BET reality show "Family Crews" last year debuted before "Are We There Yet?" and also did well enough to get a second season, taped this past summer.
"It's not lascivious or crazy," he said. "It's me and my kids and how we get along. It's real."
In 2009, he filmed a major role in 2010's "The Expendables" starring Sly Stallone and a host of other big stars. He's up for a sequel. He also isn't willing to give up commercial work: his Old Spice ads last year became a viral sensation (though not quite as big as the "Look at me!" guy Isaiah Mustafa). He's hoping to do a sequel for that as well.
"I want to keep working," Crews said. "I'm being totally serious when I say I'd do this for free. I love what I do."
TV PREVIEW
"Are We There Yet? 10 p.m. on Wednesdays, starting Jan. 5 with back-to-back new episodes
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
