Five WB Network Hidden Gems

 

January 11th marks 30 years since the WB network was founded.

Before merging with UPN to create the CW, the WB network built it's foundation on youth oriented dramas. For every 7th Heaven, Wayans Brothers, Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and One Tree Hill there were several dramas and comedies that aired on the network over the years, no one gave a chance. 

5. Do Over

Do Over was a 2002 comedy that took advantage of one of my favorite subjects time travel. It follows Joel Larsen a 30-something who experiences a defibrillator shock and wakes up as his teenage self in 1981, complete with his memories from the past 20 some odd years. He does with anyone with the knowledge of the future would do in the past, do things differently to change the course of his life. Each episode featured a point where using his knowledge he changed something about his life. It only lasted for 11 episodes with 4 episodes going unaired. It was a lot funnier and smarter than it had a chance to be, and was very underrated.

4. For Your Love

Technically For Your Love isn't a WB original, it premiered on NBC in 1998. After 11 episodes it was cancelled, and the WB network picked it up that fall. It achieved great success on the WB running for four seasons on the network. It follows three groups of friends who are all couples and them navigating life and relationships as people do. It was a dry situation comedy, but it was funny and looking at life now as a 30 something. Very very relatable, it is a hidden gem and its a shame it is not available to stream anywhere. 

3. Birds Of Prey

Birds Of Prey debuted in the fall of 2002, although Smallville was a hit on the WB at the time. This show just may have been ahead of its time. In a time the city has been dubbed New Gotham City, the city is left without a protector. In come's Diana Gordon and Selina Kyle's daughter Helena, who take the mantle of Oracle and Huntress respectively. Rounding out the trio is Dinah Redmon also known as Black Canary, who is the catalyst in the series for metahumans. Metahumans are born with super powers and no two metahumans have the same power.

Along with a GCPD detective Jesse Reese and reliable Alfred Pennyworth they work to take down  new age criminals of Gotham City. And the criminal mastermind Dr. Harleen Quinzel who is in the shadows but responsible for most of the crime in the city. The show added new crinkles to the Batman lore which maybe why it wasn't accepted along with additional sci-fi elements. It debuted a good 10 years before Arrow and The Arrowverse took over the network and should be given move credit.

Birds Of Prey is currently available on Tubi.

2. Jack & Bobby

Jack & Bobby was a interesting show in concept, retelling the story of a future U.S. president and his brother both named after members of the Kennedy family. It debuted in the fall of 2004 right before the presidential election that year. The series used interviews conducted by members of the future presidents Cabinet in the form of a documentary, and how their formative years framed their presidency years later.  The show also focused on their single mother Grace a college professor who navigates life while maintaining a steady hand over her son's lives.

The premise while not entirely unique had so much potential. It's a shame it only lasted one season before being cancelled. If given a chance it would have been a future WB classic.

1. Grosse Pointe

This comedy is one that definitely was ahead of it's time, created by Darren Star who created shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Sex In The City. The show is full of meta humor before that was honestly a thing. It followed the cast of a fictional soap opera called Grosse Pointe and the misadventures of love, fame, and dealing with management navigating life. With many jokes and scenes based on Beverly Hills 90210, and the drama that occurred behind the scenes of that TV show. It may have been too behind the scenes for most people which likely contributed to it not gaining a following.

Legend has it TV producer Aaron Spelling was pissed about a character loosley based on his daughter Tori and called the network about it. Some changes were made after that, which also likely did not help the show gain traction. However it was still a gem, and besides the jokes and the plot it also had a very catchy theme song performed by one Tom Jones

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Documentaries wishlist 2

 Content is King and with all these streaming channels competing against traditional television/cable channels. You need plenty of content, scripted content by itself won't cut it so documentaries are often produced to shed light on figures or important moments in history or the culture. Right now with the Hollywood writers and actors strike, it maybe some time before we see some new scripted programming. Which opens the door for more documentaries and more subjects for documentaries to cover.

I'm always down for a good documentary. With recent documentaries on Michael J. FOX, American Gladiators, and even the Wham documentary. And documentary series like Dark Side Of The Ring as well as the new Dark Side of the 2000s feeding my documentary appetite. 

I previously wrote about five subjects I wouldn't mind seeing being covered in a documentary. Many of which, if actually were produced would feed my nostalgic loving soul. After watching the recent American Gladiators documentaries on Netflix and ESPN 30 for 30 respectively. I thought of five more pop culture subjects I wouldn't mind seeing an documentary on.

WMAC Masters

I'm going to be honest here, I know this one is very obscure and the least likely to ever get a documentary from this list. That does not negate the fact that in the mid-90's amid the Power Rangers and martial arts craze, WMAC Masters was a solid kids show that deserved more love.

It was a mix between pro wrestling and American Gladiators, with some Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter sprinkled in. Filmed at Universal Studios Florida, the series was hosted by Shannon Lee (daughter of Bruce Lee). It featured real life martial artist portraying fictional martial artist, competing in a fictional tournament to win the final prize The Dragon Star. All the while giving lessons on martial arts styles and weapons. It was over the top and cheesy, but pure 90's just look at the intro. After two seasons it was abruptly cancelled.

In coming up with topics, I discovered that a book was released covering the history of the show. I'm going to add that to the list of books to buy. I'm sure even with the book there is so much history tied up in this brief show that deserves to be told.

Baywatch

In the 1990's supported by a catchy theme song and beautiful woman, Baywatch ruled the syndicated TV landscape. Created by David Hasselhoff, it resurrected his career while making stars out of woman like Carmen Electra, Yasmine Bleeth, and of course Pamela Anderson. In fact it may have been the last major successful phenomenon syndicated program before first run syndicated shows started to lose their luster amidst changing habits from the audience.

Upon doing research for this blog, I found out there is already a docuseries in the works called Baywatch: The American Dream. Which former star Geena Lee Nolin has a hand in helping produce. Looks like it was worked on during the height of the pandemic, and does not have a release date yet. The most information I could find on it was through the instagram page for the film. All a guy could ask for? Please release it sooner than later. 

FUBU

In the early 90's four guys from Queens, New York brainstormed and designed a new clothing line called FuBu (For US By Us). The four entrepreneurs Draymond John, Carlton E. Brown, J. Alexander Martin, and Keith Perrin set up to make fashionable Street wear that was also affordable for the community.

They went through they're trials and tribulations getting their business off the ground, but started gaining popularity and traction when LL Cool J started wearing their attire everywhere he was pictured.

Uncle L even referenced them and wore a FUBU hat in a commercial he did for GAP, which helped boost their appeal. 

FUBU led the way in the 90's and brands like Phat Farm, Karl Kani, Sean John, and Roc-A-wear followed their lead. However, by the time the late 90's/early 2000's came FUBU was considered no longer in style.

Their story needs to be completely told, including the slow backlash from the culture as styles changed. I vividly remember my freshman year of high school, it was no longer considered "cool" to wear the brand due to opposition of the name. To the brand making a comeback of sorts as the nostalgia wave comes around to its heyday.

Let's give these four brothers their shine and tell they're story.

Toys 'R' US

We all remember the jingle and proclaiming I'm a Toys 'R' Us kid. We remember the oversized stores  especially to a kid stocked with what seemed like an endless supply of toys and games. Geoffrey the Giraffe our favorite mascot. Not to mention the sheer joy beaming from our faces as kids when our parents let us one go in Toys 'R' U s and two go in aimlessly for what seemed like hours.

Many Millennials were crushed when it was announced in 2018 that Toys 'R' Us was filing for bankruptcy and closing all their stores. Going the way of other once upon a time retail giants like Woolworth, Montgomery Ward, Radioshack, Circuit City, and Tower Records. The story needs to be told on how did it get that point? With a changing retail landscape and online shopping booming. How did Toys 'R' Us not adapt properly? What went wrong? what's going on with the supposed "reboot" of the company? and just how much the store meant to a generation of kids.

Long live Toys 'R' Us and share the story from it's inception to it's sad end.

WB/UPN

During the mid-90's two new broadcast networks were sprung up to go against the Big Four (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox). These two upstarts known as The WB and UPN found a small amount of success by targeting niche audiences. Both networks targeted the Black Audience in it's early years with comedies such as The Steve Harvey Show, Wayans Brothers, Jamie Foxx show, and Smart Guy (The WB), and Moesha, Malcolm and Eddie, The Parkers, and Girlfriends. The WB then branched off becoming known as the network for teen/young adult focused dramas (Dawsons Creek, Felicity, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill). UPN mainly relied on WWF's Smackdown and the Star Trek franchise along with their successful Monday Night block of Black sitcoms to stay afloat.

Despite their success, neither network could really gain traction to sustain longevity. Most of their programming was looked down upon, even when they were really good shows (Veronica Mars). Or shows that could have been something if just given a chance 7 Days and Special Unit 2 on UPN, Jack and Bobby, Gross Pointe on WB.

Eventually in the mid-2000's both networks decided the landscape was changing too much and if they wanted to survive they needed to merge. Thus they picked the cream of the crop of show's from both networks to keep and The CW was born. Which ironically is going through some things regarding their programming direction under new ownership. 

There is a book on this very story that's on my list to read called Season Finale: The Unexpected Rise and Fall of The WB and UPN . Both networks were an integral part of my pre-teen/teenage years when network TV catered to older audiences and there was a time cable TV was not in my mom's budget. Especially with the Black sitcoms that many of us still enjoy today, the story of how both networks realized they were tumbling needs to be told.

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Robert Townsend Deserve's His Flowers Now

 Today is the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite movies The Five Heartbeats. Watching the movie which is a beloved amongst the Black culture, I thought about just how much Robert Townsend has given the culture that is often acknowledged but really overlooked. With The Five Heartbeats Townsend was a star in the film, in addition to producing, writing, and directing the film. That's alot of hats to wear for a movie that is about as close to perfection as they come.

Looking over his filmography his first major break in Hollywood was Hollywood Shuffle. Another film he starred in, produced, wrote and directed. The movie is a satire on the Hollywood industry and it's treatment of Black actors when it comes to finding the "right" role, very relevant today as it was in the 80's when the film was made.

In 1993 before Blade, before Black Panther, hell a year before Blankman. He gave us the first Black superhero on the big screen I remember Meteor Man. A film that at the time had a who's who of Black actors and actresses in it (Marla Gibbs, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby, Luther Vandross, Robert Guillaume, Don Cheadle) and the list goes on and on. This film employed alot of Black people and likely inspired the next generation.

Those three films are probably Robert's most well known contributions to Hollywood, but it doesnt stop there. He directed Eddie Murphy's RAW standup movie, he wasn't credited but I'm inclined to believe him and Keenan Ivory Wayans helped write some of the jokes for the film. He directed B.A.P.S, starring Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle. Carmen:An Hip Hopera, Holiday Heart, Playin' For Love, Living For Love: The Natalie Cole Story, and The Little Richard movie are some of the additional films he's directed.

On the TV side, he created and starred in one of the WB's first sitcoms in the Cosby inspired Parent'Hood which ran for five seasons. He had his own variety comedy special on HBO called Robert Towsend and His Partners in Crime. Directed episodes of Love Is, Black Lighting, Last O.G., Soul Food and American Soul along with other TV series.

For some reason when the conversation about legendary or most influential Black filmmakers comes up. Robert Townsend is almost never bought up, not sure if thats just because he's never came across as a guy who really cares for the spotlight. In any case he has provided the culture with so much, and it's time we start giving him his flowers now. 

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