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Sparks (TV Series)
''Sparks'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on UPN from August 26, 1996, to March 2, 1998. The series stars James Avery, Robin Givens, Terrence Howard, Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Kym Whitley and Arif S. Kinchen. The sitcom is set in Los Angeles, California, and is about the everyday lives of a family of lawyers running a family-owned law practice. Reruns of the show aired on BET in the late 1990s. Content The show stars James Avery as Alonzo Sparks, a lawyer running a family law firm with his sons Maxey ( Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) and Greg (Terrence Howard) in inner-city Los Angeles, California. Cast Main * James Avery as Alonzo Sparks * Miguel A. Nunez Jr. as Maxey Sparks, Alonzo's first son * Terrence DaShown Howard as Greg Sparks, Alonzo's second son * Kym E. Whitley as Darice Mayberry * Arif S. Kinchen as LaMarr Hicks * Robin Givens as Wilma Cuthbert Recurring * Wanda-Lee Evans as Judge * Phill Lewis as Detective Floyd Pitts * Hawthorne James as Claud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home, workplace, or community. Unlike sketch comedy, which features different characters and settings in each Sketch comedy, skit, sitcoms typically maintain plot continuity across episodes. This continuity allows for the development of storylines and characters over time, fostering audience engagement and investment in the characters' lives and relationships. History The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners. These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but the term ''sitcom'' emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched as a USA Network programming block on January 25, 1980, BET would eventually become a full-fledged channel on July 1, 1983. , BET is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 92,000,000 households. History Early years After stepping down as a lobbyist for the cable industry, Freeport, Illinois native Robert L. Johnson decided to launch his own cable television network. Johnson acquired a loan for $15,000 (equivalent to $55,648 in 2023) and a $500,000 (equivalent to $1,854,921 in 2023) investment from media executive John Malone to start the network. The network, which was named Black Entertainment Television (BET), launched on January 25, 1980. Cheryl D. Miller ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the U.S. and the largest in the Western United States with a print circulation of 118,760. It has 500,000 online subscribers, the fifth-largest among U.S. newspapers. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes since its founding. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions, the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler, who adopted a more national focus. As with other regional newspapers in California and the United States, the paper's readership has declined since 2010. It has also been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in New York City. Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features. As of 2023, ''USA Today'' has the fifth largest print circulation in the United States, with 132,640 print subscribers. It has two million digital subscribers, the fourth-largest online circulation of any U.S. newspaper. ''USA Today'' is distributed in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and an international edition is distributed in Asia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jason Kidd
Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the List of current NBA head coaches, head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the most versatile point guards ever, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a six-time All-NBA Team member, and a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He won an NBA championship in 2011 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and was a two-time gold medal winner in the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, Olympics with the United States men's national basketball team, U.S. national team in 2000 and 2008. In 2018, he was inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with Steve Nash and Grant Hill. In 2021, Kidd was honored as one of the league's greatest players by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Kidd played college basketball for the California Golden Bears men's basketball, California G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron O'Neal
Ron O'Neal (September 1, 1937 – January 14, 2004) was an American actor, director and screenwriter, who rose to fame in his role as Youngblood Priest, a New York City cocaine dealer, in the blaxploitation film '' Super Fly'' (1972) and its sequel '' Super Fly T.N.T.'' (1973). O'Neal was also a director and writer for the sequel, and for the film ''Up Against the Wall''. Early life Ron O'Neal grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, to parents Eunice and Ernest O'Neal, a former jazz musician who earned his living as a factory worker. Ernest died when Ron was 16 years old. Six months later his brother, who worked as a truck driver, was killed in an accident. Following these tragedies his mother found a job in a hospital to sustain the family. Ron graduated from Glenville High School and attended Ohio State University, where he became interested in acting after seeing the play '' Finian's Rainbow''. He joined the Karamu House company in Cleveland, Ohio, work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenya Moore
Kenya Summer Moore (born January 24, 1971) is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, television personality and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1993. Since 2012, she stars on the reality TV series, ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta.'' She has also appeared in films and television shows including; ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995), ''Deliver Us from Eva'' (2003), ''The Steve Harvey Show'' (1998), ''Girlfriends (2000 TV series), Girlfriends'' (2004), The Apprentice (U.S. season 14), ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' (2015), ''Dancing with the Stars (American season 30), Dancing with the Stars'' (2021), and ''Special Forces: World's Toughest Test'' (2023). Early life and education Moore was born on January 24, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan to teenagers Patricia Moore and Ronald Grant and raised by her paternal grandmother Doris Grant(1931–2017) and aunt after her mother abandoned her three days after her birth. The reality-TV-show star revealed that her mother never named her. " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Maria Horsford
Anna Maria Horsford is an American actress, known for her performances in television comedies. Horsford is best known for her roles as Thelma Frye on the NBC sitcom ''Amen'' (1986–91), and as Dee Baxter on the WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1995–99). She had dramatic roles on the FX crime drama '' The Shield'' playing A.D.A. Beth Encardi, and CBS daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' as Vivienne Avant, for which she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series in 2016 and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2017. Horsford appeared in a number of movies, most notable as Craig Jones' mother Betty in 1995 comedy film ''Friday'' and its sequel '' Friday After Next'' (2002). Her other film credits include ''Times Square'' (1980), '' The Fan'' (1981), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' Set It Off'' (1996), '' Along Came a Spider'' (2001), '' Our Family Wedding'' (2010), and '' A Madea Christmas'' (2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and martial artist. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation and women-in-prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Her accolades include nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Satellite Award and a Saturn Award. Grier came to prominence with her titular roles in the films '' Coffy'' (1973) and '' Foxy Brown'' (1974); her other major films during this period included '' The Big Doll House'' (1971), '' Women in Cages'' (1971), '' The Big Bird Cage'' (1972), '' Black Mama White Mama'' (1973), '' Scream Blacula Scream'' (1973), '' The Arena'' (1974), '' Sheba, Baby'' (1975), '' Bucktown'' (1975) and '' Friday Foster'' (1975). She portrayed the title character in Quentin Tarantino's crime film '' Jackie Brown'' (1997), ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Ellis
Terry Lynn Ellis (born September 5, 1963) is an American singer. She is best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop vocal group En Vogue which formed in 1989. Biography Early life Born in Houston, her father was a truck driver and her mother was a housewife. Ellis is the youngest of their four daughters, and she earned a Bachelor’s degree at Prairie View A&M University. Career In 1988, Ellis performed in a lecture/concert with singer Kashif which turned out to be an onsight audition for a proposed singing group to be created by Kashif and friends. Ellis later auditioned to sing in an upcoming female group. Initially, producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy had already chosen singers Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones, and Cindy Herron to be in a three-piece girl group, but added Ellis after hearing her sing. After joining Ellis to the lineup, the group became a quartet and originally chose the name "For You", later changed to En Vogue. Ellis sang lead vocals on the intro of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nell Carter
Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American actress and singer. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later began work on television. She was best known for her role as Nell Harper on the sitcom ''Gimme a Break!'', which aired from 1981 to 1987. Carter received two Emmy and two Golden Globe award nominations for her work on the series. Prior to ''Gimme a Break!'', Carter won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical in 1978 for her performance in the Broadway musical '' Ain't Misbehavin''' as well as a Primetime Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television in 1982. Early life Nell Ruth Hardy was born on September 13, 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama, one of nine children born to Edna Mae and Horace Hardy. She was born into a Catholic family and raised Presbyterian. Carter later self-identified as Pentecostal and as Jewish. At the age of two, Hardy witnessed her father's electr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway ( Bell; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress. Beginning her career as a dancer, Bell Calloway became known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy ''Coming to America'' and its sequel. Since then, Bell Calloway appeared in more than 150 film and television productions. She is a nine-time NAACP Image Awards nominee. Bell Calloway appeared in films '' Death Spa'' (1988), '' What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), '' The Inkwell'' (1994), '' Crimson Tide'' (1995), ''Daylight'' (1996), '' The Brothers'' (2001) and '' Biker Boyz'' (2003). Bell Calloway had several starring roles on television series and movies, include first African American prime time soap opera, '' Under One Roof'' (1995). She later played recurring roles on '' Hawthorne'', '' Shameless'' and ''This Is Us''. From 2016 to 2022, she starred as Lady Ella Johnson in the Bounce TV prime time soap opera, '' Saints & Sinners'' and in 2022 began starring in BET+ crime dram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
