''Cosmic Slop'' is a 1994 American

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

television film executive produced by

Reginald Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning "queen". Th ...

and Warrington Hudlin. The film is hosted by musician and Parliament-Funkadelic frontman George Clinton, and derives its title from the 1973 album and song of the same name by Clinton and Funkadelic. ''Cosmic Slop'' features three short stories, directed by the Hudlin brothers and Kevin Rodney Sullivan. The first and third segments are based on the short stories "

The Space Traders "The Space Traders" is a science fiction short story by Derrick Bell. It was originally published in 1992 in the year of the Columbus Quincentenary, and republished in the year of its setting in the 2000 edition of ''Dark Matter (series), Dark Matte ...

" by Derrick Bell and "Tang" by Chester Himes, respectively. The film's

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

includes

Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer, known for his role as Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-off, ''Benson'', as well as for voici ...

, Jason Bernard, Edward Edwards, Larry Anderson, Nicholas Turturro, Richard Herd,

Paula Jai Parker Paula Jai Parker is an American actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the films ''Friday'' (1995), '' Sprung'' (1997), '' Why Do Fools Fall in Love'' (1998), ''Phone Booth'' (2002), ''Hustle & Flow'' (2005), and '' Idlewild'' (200 ...

, and Chi McBride.

Cast

"Space Traders"

"The First Commandment"

"Tang"

as Tang * Chi McBride as T-Bone * Reno Wilson as The Messenger

Release

''Cosmic Slop'' premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

at 10:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on November 8, 1994 (03:00 UTC, November 9).

Reception

Ken Parish Perkins of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' likened ''Cosmic Slop'' to "a multicultural '' Twilight Zone'' filled with political and racial angst," calling it "offbeat, humorous and disturbingly effective." Perkins concluded that "the Hudlin brothers have created a politically charged anthology that doesn't flinch or apologize for its views. This could ultimately prove unsettling, even to the usually risk-taking executives at HBO." Mike Duffy of the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' wrote that ''Cosmic Slop'' "suffers erratic, hit-and-miss moments," save for the "Tang" segment; Duffy wrote that "Tang" "echoes the provocative intelligence of the original ''Twilight Zone''", and praised the performances of Baker and McBride.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmic Slop (Film) 1994 films 1994 television films 1990s science fiction films American anthology films 1990s English-language films Films about extraterrestrial life Films based on short fiction HBO Films films