TV Land has picked up its fifth original sitcom, “Soul Man,” starring Cedric “The Entertainer,” it was announced today at the TCA Winter Press Tour by Larry W. Jones, president, TV Land. The network has ordered 12 episodes for the first season, which is set to premiere in June of this year.
The sitcom, which was created by Cedric and “Hot in Cleveland” creator Suzanne Martin, revolves around Cedric’s character, Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine, an R&B superstar-turned-minister who takes over as preacher of his father’s church. Niecy Nash (“Reno 911”) also stars as the reverend’s wife, Lolli. The pilot also features John Beasley (“Everwood”) as his father, Wesley Jonathan (“What I Like About You”) as his younger brother, and Jazz Raycole (“My Wife and Kids”) as his daughter. The character of Reverend Boyce originated on a second season episode of “Hot in Cleveland” in which Cedric guest-starred.
“The show that Cedric and Suzanne have created is a fantastic family sitcom that you just don’t see as much on TV today,” said Jones. “That’s just one of the reasons we’re so thrilled to welcome him to the TV Land family. From the moment he appeared on ‘Hot in Cleveland,’ we knew we wanted to work with him in a greater capacity.”
Charismatic actor and comedian Cedric “The Entertainer” is best known for his many crowd-pleasing performances in such hit films as “Barbershop,” “Be Cool” with John Travolta, “Madagascar,” “Intolerable Cruelty” with George Clooney, “Johnson Family Vacation,” (the 2004 box office hit in which Cedric was both star and producer), and “The Original Kings of Comedy,” MTV’S phenomenally successful documentary feature directed by Spike Lee, to name a few.
Additionally, on the big screen, Cedric has also been seen in “Cadillac Records” co-starring Adrien Brody and Beyoncé Knowles, “Street Kings” opposite Keanu Reeves, “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins” with Martin Lawrence, “Talk to Me” starring Don Cheadle, “Code Name: The Cleaner” opposite Lucy Liu, “The Honeymooners,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” with Jim Carrey, “Man of the House” with Tommy Lee Jones, “Barbershop 2,” “Big Momma’s House,” “Kingdom Come” with Whoopi Goldberg, “Serving Sara” with Matthew Perry, as well as displaying tremendous voiceover talent in the beloved family features “Madagascar 2,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Dr. Dolittle 2” and “Ice Age.”.
Currently, Nash is hosting and starring in her own Yahoo web series called “Let’s Talk About Love,” where she gives her hilarious and no-nonsense perspectives on love, dating and relationships. The series premiered on October 1, 2011 and is slated for 26 episodes posting every Monday until March 2012. She is also taping her own reality docu-series for TLC scheduled to debut in early 2012. This came right after Nash partnered with TLC in the summer of 2011 to follow her as she planned the wedding of her dreams to now-husband Jay Tucker. The entire wedding experience aired as a two-hour television event that over five million viewers tuned in to watch. The event was so heartwarming it inspired the docu-series that shows the blending of two families and the comedy that situation brings.
Niecy was last seen starring in two successful TV projects simultaneously: She hosted the Style Network’s #1 rated home makeover show “Clean House” and was a celebrity panelist on the top-rated CBS entertainment news program “The Insider.”
