Sequels should never be done, people. The Hangover 2 was horrible. All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 does not compare to the first one. Big Momma’s House 2 was too horrific and we should not even have to mention Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son. However, Martin Lawrence might be entering our comedy hearts again on the boob tube. Let me give you some finer details and my opinion of the situation.
Martin Lawrence is creating a pilot comedy show for CBS. A pilot means that the staff will do a test run of the show for the big bosses. Then the big CBS bosses will deliberate and decide if they want to pick up the show and order more episodes. Martin Lawrence has done two pilots for CBS but they turned them down. It looks like he has the right pieces for this new show though.
Lawrence plays Ty, a widowed father with two teenage children. Ty loses his construction job and becomes a rookie cop. Ethan Suplee, the fat guy from My Name Is Earl, will play his goody two- shoes partner. John Amos, the father from Good Times, will play Lawrence’s boss. P.J. Byrne, a vanilla complexion guy from The Game & Horrible Bosses, will play the boss’ assistant. Regina Hall will be Lawrence’s love interest at the police station.
The show does not have a title just yet but it will soon enough. It has an established cast and has good people behind the camera too. Fred Savage, Mr. Wonder Years, will be the director of the show. He is not the failed child actor you might think he is. He does not look scary like Macauly Caulkin does nowadays. He has just taken an alternative route in his Hollywood career. Savage has directed episodes of 2 Broke Girls and Happy Endings. Those two shows will be on television for a long time. They might not have a big cult following like Community but their ratings will be consistent.
I see Martin Lawrence’s show being picked up for a full season in the end. CBS does not have much “color” on its network station as it is. It has done a great job with having quality comedies though. How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and Two & Half Men are comedies with longevity and that win multiple awards. Martin cannot count on CBS to make his comedy show a hit though. He is going have to do it himself. He might want to take some marketing classes from Kevin Hart. But he is in good company with CBS. It is better company than being on networks with CW before Hart Of Dixie or on TV One before reruns of Martin. That last one could actually work but TV One would probably want Martin to do the show for “the love of comedy” and not pay him much. This show could be the show African Americans could be really proud of. Yes, some people like the little shows on BET like The Game. But that is minor league television. BET does not have a nightly lineup. They just toss in Baby Boy when they have nothing better to do. We want to play in Yankees Stadium in the major leagues. African Americans will support other African Americans no matter how bad it is. My mother always tries to convince me to go out to see Tyler Perry movies. It never happens but you get what I am saying. We will see what CBS in the end does with this show.
