Over the years, most character-driven TV shows embodying the African American experience have been focused around Black women.
Examples in recent years include BET’s “The Game” and “Being Mary Jane,” VH1′s “Single Ladies” and HBO’s “Insecure.”
Deji LaRay, an actor who grew up in metro Atlanta and was part of the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, noticed this void, and began writing his own show, which eventually became “Johnson.” The half-hour show debuted earlier this month on Atlanta-based broadcast network Bounce TV to a strong reception, drawing 2.1 million viewers, the best launch in the network’s history.
“There were a lot of extremes when it came to Black men” on TV, said LaRay, who worked with Atlanta director and playwright Kenny Leon when he was in Atlanta. “We were super gangsters. In another area, we didn’t express our feelings. We weren’t vulnerable. Among my uncles and friends, I just didn’t see me and my life, that every day man on television.” At the same time, he understood the power of media and how it shapes people’s perceptions of a particular culture.
So he created four Black men who had been friends since childhood, now in their 30s, each in different situations but still linked by their past. By coincidence, they all have the same common last name of Johnson despite not being related to each other.
LaRay plays Greg, a suave, outspoken, unfiltered man balancing a former flame with a current girlfriend. “He’s the instigator of the group,” LaRay said. “He likes to poke the bear. It’s a fun character to play.”
Former NFL player Thomas Q. Jones, another executive producer, is Omar, who is going through an acrimonious divorce and unable to see his son unsupervised while trying to manage his temper. “He’s very misunderstood by a lot of people, including his wife,” Jones said. “He wants to keep the marriage together but his wife is dead set to create a life of her own.”
Keith (Philip A. Smithey) is a photographer and single man with an endearing naiveté and a knack for falling in love with every attractive woman who pays him any attention. Derrex Brady is Jarvis, who deals with the challenges of being married to a white woman and faces all sorts of microaggressions from white folks in his realty business.
D.L. Hughley, one of the members of the Kings of Comedy tour two decades ago who also had his own sitcom, appears in six episodes as Omar’s wise (and wise-cracking) uncle. And fellow Kings of Comedy tour mate Cedric the Entertainer, now starring on CBS’s “The Neighborhood,” is an executive producer, along with Eric Rhone.
“I thought Deji was a guy with a lot of hustle,” said Cedric in an interview. “I really liked his writing style and his story. It felt fresh.”
But the journey to making it on air would take time. Jones and LaRay created a pilot out of their own pocket to gauge interest. Efforts to get the show off the ground at Fox and Hulu failed. Bounce, while a third choice, became the right choice.
“We needed a space like Bounce where we wouldn’t get filtered down,” Cedric said. “We could tell the kinds of stories that needed to be told. We wanted to make sure they were able to maintain their voice and style without getting lascivious or painting characters into one corner. We wanted to control the narrative.”
In other words, the show could be unapologetically Black on a station that has done a good job catering to that audience in the broadcast TV space.
David Hudson, executive vice president for original programing for Katz Networks/Scripps, which oversees Bounce, wanted Bounce to expand beyond light-hearted sitcoms (”In the Cut”) and soaps (”Saints and Sinners”).
“Our audience base is largely 50-plus females, African American. We’re trying to reach a bit of a young audience without alienating the core,” Hudson said. “That’s exactly who ‘Johnson’ is going after. We want men to watch but we think women will be interested in gaining insight into how men really think and act.”
This series is grounded in reality. There are no murders, soapy twists or absurdist flights of fancy. There are discussions about gentrification, colorism, voting rights and Black Lives Matter. The series revolves around the tensions each man faces that test their bonds of friendship.
And Atlanta is a definite character in the show. They shot in Stone Mountain Park and made some jokes about the Confederate legacy. The trendy Slutty Vegan restaurant is featured in the fifth episode. In the sixth episode, Greg gets caught up with the “water boys” who hustle for cash by selling water on the streets. And several scenes are shot at the Atrium night club in Stone Mountain.
“I used to go to the Atrium while I was in high school,” LaRay said. “To come back as the showrunner of this show and use that location to film scenes was a very full-circle moment.”
Atlanta, he noted, “has a lot of soul. I’m familiar with its energy and vibe. There is a lot of opportunity here. You’ll see those elements in the show.”
BOUNCE TV
BOUNCE TV
Since LaRay conceived the idea of “Johnson” around 2014, a few other shows with Black men as the focal point have made the airwaves including the award-winning FX show “Atlanta” created by Donald Glover and Tyler Perry’s recent entry “Bruh” for BET+. But “Johnson” is on free TV.
“Bounce has a very loyal audience,” LaRay said. “This show is a new lane for them and I’m happy that we can help them expand their reach.”
BOUNCE TV
BOUNCE TV
ON TELEVISION
“Johnson”
8 p.m. Sundays on Bounce TV and available later on the Brown Sugar streaming service.
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