''The Party Machine with Nia Peeples'' is a half-hour late-night American musical

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a co ...

that aired in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

for one season in 1991. The show was hosted by

Nia Peeples Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama '' Pretty Little Liars''; Karen Taylor Wi ...

and executive produced by

Arsenio Hall Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Com ...

History

Background

created ''The Party Machine'' as a televised afterparty to his own program, ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'', and to be a late-night alternative to ''

Club MTV ''Club MTV'' is a half hour television show modeled after ''American Bandstand'' that aired on MTV from August 31, 1987, to June 26, 1992. ''Club MTV'' was part of MTV's second generation of programming, as the channel was phasing out its origi ...

''. Hall built the half-hour show around

, who previously hosted

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's Friday night '' Street Party'' series and the short-lived US adaptation of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. The ''Party Machine'' set featured live music venues, multi-level dance floors, conversation pits, a

VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...

room, a non-alcoholic bar and a resident DJ. Music videos were introduced by Peeples, who also served as a dancer/choreographer. The show, sold to markets as a companion piece to Hall's talk show, aired weeknights in syndication beginning January 7, 1991 on approximately 150 stations. In addition to ''

'', its format brought comparisons to ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series ...

'', ''

Dance Party USA ''Dance Party USA'' is an American dance television show that aired on cable's USA Network from April 12, 1986, to June 27, 1992. It was originally a half-hour, but was expanded to an hour in 1987. The program was shot live television-to-video ...

'' and ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pr ...

''.

Guests

''Party Machine'' aimed to be a showcase for established and breaking

urban dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, locking, house dance, waacking etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created organically from a cult ...

acts. New Jack Swing singing group

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Tr ...

was the show's first guest. Other music acts who performed on the show include The Boys,

Tevin Campbell Tevin Jermod Campbell (born November 12, 1976) is an American singer and songwriter. He performed gospel in his local church from an early age. Following an audition for jazz musician Bobbi Humphrey in 1988, Campbell was signed to Warner Bros. R ...

Taylor Dayne Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single ...

, Guy,

LeVert LeVert was an American R&B vocal group from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Formed in 1983, LeVert was composed of Sean and Gerald Levert (sons of Eddie Levert, founder and lead singer of R&B/Soul vocal group O'Jays) and Marc Gordon.Wells, ...

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as " U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi. O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven Top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of whic ...

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his acting career starring as a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' The Fresh ...

Ralph Tresvant Ralph Edward Tresvant (born May 16, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as the lead singer of R&B group New Edition. As a solo artist, Tresvant released the album '' Ralph Tresvant'' (1990). In 2008, he ...

and

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

. The show also featured comedians and actors such as Sinbad and

David Faustino David Anthony Faustino (; born March 3, 1974) is an American actor and radio personality primarily known for his role as Bud Bundy on the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children''. He has also voiced animated characters for Nickelodeon, includi ...

Ratings

Initially, ratings for ''Party Machine'' were solid and on several occasions beat ''Late Night'' head-to-head in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, Miami and Washington. Viewership gradually dipped, however, and in June the show was cancelled. The final episode aired on September 15, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Party Machine with Nia Peeples, The 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1990s American variety television series 1990s American music television series American television spin-offs Dance television shows English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Television series by CBS Studios

History

Background

Guests

Ratings

See also

References