Sat, Nov 21, 2009
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Name:
ImJustSaying
Comment: Wait...has the planet gone mad!??? who ..what..where....who are these "people" that are complaining.. I didnt see a stereotype.. I saw a Black (African American whatever) friggin family living deal with stuff and surviving. I saw EMPLOYED Black men.. I saw a black man that loved his two kids.AND was taking care of them.. WTH!??!?!? However as a side note I did wonder why ole dudes uniform (the father)was so tight... but I digress..
You cant win for losing in this friggin world.. Hey I saw a black sitcom on T.V. cause lord knows they keeps canceling them.. yall done raised by blood pressure with this nonsense!!
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Name:
Brandon
Comment: Well "ImJustSaying", I'm one of those folks who's insulted by Tyler Perry's TV show. We all know that Fat Black Women exist, as do Fat Black Fathers, Wives on Crack, Broken homes, and KIds who over eat -- this issue isn't whether these images exist.... the issue is, we've seen these images too often on television. Since Tyler Perry can control his content, why not use that power to show more positive messages of the entire family, instead of a single father whose wife became addicted to crack and ran off?
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Name:
ChocolateBrownGal
Comment: OKay...so weight shouldn't be a reason not to hire someone if they are capable/qualified. We agree. HOWEVER, it is the poor acting and lack of comedic timing that has caused many viewers to be less than thrilled with the project. This show just doesn't appeal to me...At all. Nonetheless, I continue to wish TP well in his endeavors.
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Name:
oldschoolbrother
Comment: I am waiting on him to say that the writing will improve. The show has a very good premise, but it is NOT funny. I have seen all four episodes and it needs a lot of work. His movies were better than I expected, but this show needs some work. I still dont understand the problems with the wife, that was weird, but come on man, you can do better than this.
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Name:
nightshift
Comment: CB-Gal, I concur, I to be be a college educated critic to know what poor acting is.
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Name:
B00TANEB00TUS
Comment: ...We can't be mad at TP from drawing from things he's familiar with...He11, he grew up around fat, Black folks...Most of us can relate to that, right?...Check out the fat vs thin ratio at any family reunion or Black church...the scales won't lie...I finally got around to watching one episode...I think TP should be drawing the line through some of those scripts...I'm all for giving Black folks opportunities but...
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: Well the series is based on a lot of fat put down jokes, half of his script reflect the ridicule that a lot of overweight have to experience on a daily basis. I agree with the critics and I don't think it has anything to do with race rather content and there isn't much to the plays but a platform to go off on people and to make fun of them. Tyler Perry reaches for the most base humor to get a laugh and he would do well to reflect on how to change direction because the public is very fickle and after awhile a lot of people are going to realize that just because it is black doesn't make it good or get my seal of approval I for one am tired of the same kind of humor and play format that most of the current black authors (I use that term lightly)are churning out. The masses love medocrity so Tyler should continue for awhile to make money.
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Name:
nightshift
Comment: sorry for the misprint- I meant to say I don't have to be a college educated critic to know what poor acting is.
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Name:
McNasty
Comment: Oldshoolbrother TP said that the first few shows even he didn't think were that good but according to him, they do get better. Perpetuating a stereotype? that's when you're as.suming that because one looks like that they all do. Look around y'all there ARE a whole lotta fat black women so where's the stereotype? We need to find more substantive and productive things to focus on. If we put this much energy into community outreach - well, we'd all live better. Who TP chooses to put on a tv show is not representative of anything more than the people that surrounded him. We need to quit being so damn sensitive it's just a show!
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: Tyler has made it to the top,it is going to take a lot to stay at that level, he can't keep using the same tired and wornout formulas in his plays that have made him rich. The television executives are not as enamored with him as the black community that view him for his name recognition and ability to attract an audience. The pressure is on for him to prove that his fame is not a fluke, I can't deny he is talented but I don't view his work as a great and worthy calling on his life, but I am not him.
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Name:
B00TANEB00TUS
Comment: ...Look, you can take the chitling outta the pig but you can't take the pig outta the chitling...This is not to imply that TP is a pig...
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Name:
Tymiles
Comment: Good lord, people don't have anything better to talk about. The government taking us to the cleaners, people dieing in Iraq! And all we can worry about are fat black people on TV?
If people don't like being fat then loose some dang weight (I am 300 pounds so I can say that)
If people don't like seeing crack heads on TV, then lets work together to get people OFF crack so there is almost no such thing as a crack head!
I get tired of people who want to make TV pretend like there are no problems in the world, like everyone is skinny and prefect.
If you don't like it, don't watch it and it will go away. VERY SIMPLE.
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Name:
QueenCityBee
Comment: Well...she does look like a weeble that wobbles, but wont' fall down. It may have had a shakie start but I will continue to watch. (screamin upstair to my kin-folks) hey yall it's colored folk on tv.
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Name:
MsVanese
Comment: LOL @ Queen
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Name:
McNasty
Comment: LMAO@QueenCityBee! Now that's how we're supposed to take characters on tv. When did we get so that we let images dictate how we think and feel about ourselves? I got that from my mother and aunts and have no problem watching or turning off images that are offensive or just scraight stoopid!
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Name:
dport
Comment: Has he not received any email/comments that the show is JUST NOT FUNNY? I do agree with the sterotype that is constantly portrayed in this sitcom and most chitlin' circuit/gospel plays. It's time for the awards for 'The Last Mama on the Couch Play'!(see the George C. Wolfe play "The Colored Museum").
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: Complaining about the weight of the main characters is plain cruelty. If you don't like the show, say so, but there is no need to get ugly. Personally, I think the mother is beautiful.
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Name:
HarrisThomas
Comment: here's a a possible TP script: last week, one of my neighbors turned me into his project with regard to making my porch front steps safe until I can afford to have them completely re-done (he solicited me, I did not ask his mother what kind of work he does, and yes, he lives in his mother's basement) . . . he gave me a price which I did not haggle or dicker . . . the man did really shoddy work (all fvcked up)but we both discovered that my steps are in worse condition than we realized before he started . . . I told him to stop work and I would pay him whatever his work up that point was worth . . . he set a price but he told me that he really needed the full amount . . . we agreed on other porch projects like painting/caulking door trim . . . when I arrived at home the next day, the man had done extensive deconstruction of the porch steps from the day before and he told me that he needed to be paid more money because he had only quoted a price for labor,not materials --- I was so angry that I stuttered, however, I did not cuss out his irresponsible dumb azz . . . he told me that I him to stop the work but I did not tell him not to tear down what he had done . . . um, ah, my brain seized . . . oh, yeah, the paint job --- there is paint on my coleus plant and other places that the paint should not be . . . he asked for forgiveness and I told him that I had to get over being angry . . . BTGW, he's not getting any more money or projects . . . TP could do scripts about these events in real life, and they could be funny and though provoking
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Name:
oshun
Comment: who cares how much the actors weigh? i echo some one else's concern about waiting to see the writing (and acting) improve! that issue just deflects the real issue.
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Name:
DOne
Comment: Regardless of the actors' waistsize, the show just is not well written. Personally, I don't have a problem with characters being overweight. Sixty percent of the country is overweight so it is reality. However, I don't know of any families who sit around telling fat jokes. So just because the actors are overweight doesn't mean that the writers have to go for the cheap fat jokes.
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Name:
Southernbelle
Comment: Who gives a darn about their weight? The show sucks, bottom line. What I want is a better comedic performance with better story lines. I don't give a damn if Nicole Ritchie or Mo'Nique is the star.
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Name:
ccognac
Comment: I actually like "The House of Pain". The problem is those damnnn canned laughs. Get rid of the laugh track and it will flow better. Bring in a live audience like the show Roc did back in the day. Get real laughs, Come on TP, that's what you do best, Live Audiences. The canned laughs F's up the timing and it throw off the flow of the joke. Get rid of it!!!!!
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Name:
infofan1960
Comment: The show is horrible, regardless of the actors' weight. It just isn't funny.
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Name:
DCGG
Comment: The show sucks azz and Tyler Perry just shut the fuvk up...I'm sick of these stoopid azz men...go on down to Georgia to your damn plantation where you belong...
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Name:
missgee
Comment: I say to the critics,
Why don't you all try and get a TV show on the air and see how far you get.
I agree the show does need better writing but at least Tyler is employing Black actors and, as I said once before remember A Different World when it was first broadcast it wasn't that great either until Debbie Allen came aboard it improved 100%.
So give him a chance BLACK PEOPLE.
That's just why we're so far behind now because some of us don't want to see others succeed.
Stick together and support something other than an ignorant imus insult.
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Name:
Soulwriter
Comment: Thank you missgee; I do agree that his TV show isn't translating as well as it could, but that's no reason to outright trash it; we all improve with time and he still has enough to turn it around, at least this man is making an effort, which is more than I can say for most of Hollywood.....
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Name:
Angel
Comment: HarrisThomas - As soon as you said he lived in his momma's basement, I knew your story was gonna go downhill. There's a reason why he still lives in his momma's basement and sounds like you quickly found out. LOL
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Name:
Train
Comment: I like Tyler Perry and his work so the critics can kiss my black azz. If they know so much why don't they go out and put a t.v. show on the air. I guess if you put a show on that shows a black family dealing truthfulyl with real life issues and the father's are loving and taking care of their kid's then we all know that scares the hell out of white folks. That's why I like the shows on HBO because they truly reflect what most ppl look and act like. Network t.v. has shows where everybody has to be the perfect height, weight and may I say..complexion. These same critics will praise Imus, Limbaugh and Stern when I'm still trying to figure out why.
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Name:
ChocolateBrownGal
Comment: CO-Sign McNasty...when does a tv show determine how I define MYSELF! But if he wants the audience to erase the criticisms and stereotypes of those overweight, then he needs to erase the fat jokes w/in the script. That's hypocritical. I grew up around pleasantly large women & men, but I NEVER heard anyone make fat jokes or degrade anyone. In my experiece, I saw support of your family, attending graduations, weddings, family reunions, summer picnics, cleaning and cooking for elderly relatives, cooking for the repast, sending money or care packages to college students. It may not have been much but it gave me a sense of community and a positive outlook for a positive future.
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Name:
OSUN
Comment: When will he address that this show is just not funny?
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Name:
katgrrrl
Comment: *applauding Train* When I saw the headline for this article, I assumed it would be about ppl critisizing the show for not being funny. But, complaining about fat Blacks!? Gimme a frickin' break! Maybe these critics are used to seein' Jennifer Aniston's boney a$$ all the time. Fat Blacks is nothing new to me so I wasn't even phased.
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Name:
4mybabygirl
Comment: I personally have never seen a society focused so much on weight! I agree with Tyler, it is the inside that counts. Majority of us could afford to lose 5 five pounds. When you become obese and it causes health problems that is another story. I took after my father and I'm tall and slendor. But, my mother is thicke, sexy, and has a sweet spirit. Weight was never been an issue in my household. I have never looked at my mother as being fat. Nor do I see her that way today! I see someone who loves me and has a sweet spirit! We really cares what the character's look like. Just give people good, postive, clean entertainment! That is what we lack on t.v. We should count it a blessing that we have a black positive show on t.v. Please, everyone lets start up lifting our people and helping them out! I know it can be hard, but you will be blessed in the end! God wants us to use our tongues to speak postive over peoples life, not to curse them with the same tongue!
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Name:
Train
Comment: Now I do think that the show shuld use a live audience just like he use in his plays. I saw the pain in C.J.'s face when it was sinking in that his wife was a crackhead and he tried to find another explaination for her behavior. I tried looking at that Friend's t.v. show but it wasn't funny and as many relatives that I have that live in the NYC they couldn't find several blacks to be in the cast???? If Jennifer was all that then her husband wouldn't have left her a$$ for another woman. I agree that the show needs some working on but I like it and they have a good cast. They should just cut out the canned laughter.
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Name:
4mybabygirl
Comment: Train-I definately agree!
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Name:
exstacy
Comment: AMEN. Stay strong and keep doing your thing. Remember those that dare to be different are the ones that tend to be the most successful in life..
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Name:
missgee
Comment: Your Welcome SoulWriter,
It ticks me off when we don't support each other, PLEASE GIVE THE SHOW A CHANCE, TYLER IS HELPING SO MANY BLACK PEOPLE and he can continue to do so if we continue to support him.
Tyler if you read this message board, bring Debbie Allen in she revampted Bill Cosby's show she maybe able to do the same for yours with better writers but, keep the same cast,and don't have the little girl have such a smart mouth.
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Name:
Fran
Comment: Well it is not Cosby or Different World. I agree with missgee. Debbie might be good to bring in. I think Tyler has seen so many depressing things in his life, that even his positive messages leave you depressed. Since he drew Madea from his own life, why not have some one who is successful like him in the tv show. But I dont know. I will watch it again. But already I forget the time and date it comes on. That is not good.
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Name:
nightshift
Comment: Maybe he doesn't have as much creative control as we would like to believe. Like Chappelle, they thought that all the money would blind him not to see they wanted ALL the control. he read the pitch and let the ball go by!
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Name:
nightshift
Comment: I concur Arch
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Name:
Train
Comment: As much as I loved looking at the Cosby show growing up in a lot of ways I couldn't relate to it because I grew up in Compton which isn't exactly a place where happy times occur and police helicopters flew around every night and my parent's both worked for the federal gov't, straight blue collar. Now I do agree with some of thje posters that stated about the t.v. show needing some improvement but Daddy's Little Girls was a great movie and hardly anyone came out to support it. I think bringing in Debbie Allen is a good idea and she can "punch" it up a bit and improve it like she did on A Different World.
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: You know what I see as TP's basic problems is the fact that the plays and now this series are taken from the same old tire bag of tricks. Black folks created the fat joke and Tyler using that angle in the majority of his plays, he has made fun of all of the fat characters in his plays so he's being a hypocrite coming to their defense now that the critics are talking about the actors' weight. Remember Tamara Mann from the original plays she was a big women and TP wore her out with fat jokes and every other hefty woman in the cast got a similar dose of venom. He has used Brown's obesity to make light of him, so why all of a sudden he's sensitive about this is beyond me. I am sorry that my opinion differs from a lot of you but I think the crux of his plays is insults. We blacks (a lot of us) love it when somebody is being "read" about whatever it's almost like pack mentality. One person starts the ridicule and the rest add on the insults with raucous laughter.
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Name:
jess
Comment: I have no problem with the overweight actors, but I do have a problem with the fat jokes. Belittling people because of their size is cruel and not funny. I don't want to watch a show that has to rely on that. Now on the other hand, in Diary of a Mad Black Woman", when Uncle Joe makes fun of Madea's weight and she reaches for her pocketbook (where, as we all know her pistol is located) and dares him to say something else...well that I can get with! LOL!
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: I have plenty of fat people in my family and I'll tell you why. They eat to excess. Last year, my mom hosted a large barbecue and spent
a bundle on ribs, chicken, fish, numerous side dishes and desserts.
Some of them were so tacky that they started packing up plates to take home before the meal was even served. One from Chicago had the nerve to call last night and ask my mom if she was planning to do the same thing this year. She was like "hell no!"
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Name:
McNasty
Comment: It doesn't become a joke until they bring their own tupperware and rubbermaid containers to cart your food home in!lol
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Name:
Timolyn
Comment: OUCH....DCGG....LOL
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: On top of that, they invited numerous "friends" who only brought their appetites.
Tupperware? These folks will wrap potato salad up in aluminum foil if they have to.
The other funny thing was a neighbor that my Chicago cousin brought with her. She actually brought a fryer and chicken wings to cook in the room because she didn't want to spend extra money on food. If it is like that, keep your azz at home.
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: Oh Tyler just shut up. Your success has been reached in part because of the worst stereotypes around and the worst form of "theater" so don't get all new on us now. Stop responding to all these ridiculous e-mails. Get some experienced or at least funny writers. If folks don't like it..they just don't like it and I don't think blacks not wanting others to succeed has anything to do w/it. The Cookout was a film w/a black cast, w/a black producers and it was straight trash. Soul Plane (although I liked it) wasn't a well written script and it also played to stereotypes. It's just like a CD...you listen to it once to see if you like it..you may give it another try but sooner than later..it's a coaster. At this point, House of Pain is a coaster. Talk about this unfunny as show. NOT the phat azzes in it.
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: And don't have a cooler full of cold Pepsis on the premises. Those swole heifers will drink six and put two in their pocketbooks for later.
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Name:
jess
Comment: gingerg> You are killin' me this morning! LMAO!
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Name:
Train
Comment: Don't get me started on those relatives that bring other ppl that you don't even know and they're expecting shyt too.
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Name:
6footah
Comment: Where is the email apologizing for the show itself?
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Name:
Peekiebear
Comment: Yes, Roseanne was hugely fat (and unattractive) nad much was made of it. She's been getting all kinds of surgery ever since to fix this and she no longer looks like herself. Even got damned cheekbone implants. But her even fatter husband on the show- actor John Goodman- got way fatter than she did. But he was considered a sex symbol! "Fat" men are called "large"- women are called "fat." Now Perry, you're a fat and unattractive man yourself. You stoop to the lowest common denominator because those with no conscience always know that that is the way to go to make the money. But- I don't remember a White show where 90% of the cast was fat- nor ugly. TV, movies- those are visual mediums. And your show isn't in the least funny. I cringed during those pathetic previews. Now- try to make a show out of an attractive Black family and let's see if you have any talent okay?
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Name:
queeniebunz
Comment: I don't like any of his stuff. I think it is poorly acted, poorly directed, and poorly written. I think Perry counts on us black folk flocking like sheep to support the garbage he puts out and I don't like to support something just because the person giving it to me is black. I wouldn't eat a plate of doo doo given to me by a black person so why would I put doo doo in my mind/spirit just because the person presenting it is black? I prefer humor that is intelligent. I prefer movies like "Hitch" that are well written and well acted. The comic timing was there and it was cute and funny. All the cliches and corny old jokes and over acting I've seen in the 2 movies I saw of his were just too much for me. Family Reunion - the overly melodramatic sister whose mama pimped her out...BOO. Her over-reacting when the cliched good guy Boris brought her food...BOO. The sister getting her butt beat by Blair...BOO. The corny monologues of the legend Cicely Tyson at the Cookout...BOO. The girl being told to bend over to get the soda from the bottom of the cooler for her older relative...GAGGING...it's all just so calculated and ridiculous and it insults the intelligence of the audience. Perry acts like he's doing us a favor by putting out this stereotypical, poorly acted garbage but he's not. It's awful and I won't support any of it anymore. I tried w/2 movies but that's it for me. As much as I LOVE Idris Elba, I couldn't see another of these movies...
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: Hold on now, Peekiebear. When did John Goodman become a sex symbol and
TylerPerry become fat/unattractive? The latter just isn't so. Perry looks just fine to me.
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: Train, I also have uncles/aunts who bring about 20 grandchildren, plus their friends from down the street
and their cousins.
These rascals don't even bring a pack of hot dogs - or even hot dog buns for that matter - or condiments for hot dogs - with them.
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Name:
justafu
Comment: More & more examples of why our people will never ever be where we should be! Never seen a group of folks that can have but won't have because we are NEVER SATISFIED WITH ANYTHING POSITIVE THAT OUR FOLKS TRY TO DO!!!
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Name:
TGen
Comment: lol 6footah. Great posts ChocalateBrownGal and Archcookies, I agree with pretty much everything you all wrote, same for some others. Can't add a whole lot to the larger point, that it's the SHOW ITSELF that deserves an explanation not the sideline issue Perry is focusing on. And shame on him for choosing to focus on minutae instead of defending his much(over)hyped project. The fact that he could ignore the HUGE elephant in the room (his medicore first effort) just gives his critics more ammunition to say he's trite and simple and has little depth. He missed a grand opportunity...
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Name:
Train
Comment: Like i stated before I like the show and I'm sure that with due time it'll improve. Remember boys and girls tomorrow night at 9pm on TBS.
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Name:
TGen
Comment: One more thing, MsGee, I don't understand why you say "A Different World" wasn't good at the beginning. Like most shows, its first few seasons were the best seasons. I remember well waiting for it to come on after The Cosby Show on Thursday nights. I'm confused at why you think it wasn't good at the beginning. It was later on, when the plot started getting too complex that it lost its luster...same for Roseanne and a million other shows. Just my opinion...
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Name:
Marlin
Comment: come on tyler! you tell it and you told it good, ya heard? i am tired of 'my people' always worrying about sterotypes this and sterotypes that. shut the %*$!( up! the fact that they are worried says 'hey, the white man is looking...' i hope tyler continiues to celebrate God, the nature of people , and art...because that is what performing is all about. yes BET is trash.....TVONE never works on cable...but guess what? i make an active decision to TUNE OUT...it's as simple as that....I have seen everything Tyler Perry...that boy is a plum nut.
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: Queenie..can u believe this..I agree w/EVERY SINGLE WORD YOU SAID..jfwu..lol But damn, you got it w/o even attacking Tyler in a bad way. Hip-hop employs a lot of blacks too. Different World was bad? Maybe I was too young but I always thought it was kewl beans from the beginning. Have the finished filming this season of HOPain? If so, at what point is it supposed to get better..next season?
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Name:
Train
Comment: A Different World was horrible at the beginning but when they got Debbie Allen to direct the episodes were on point. Debbie went to a black college (Howard) so she was able to better relate to issues that occur there then on white campuses. It was also better when they kicked Lisa Bonet off of there too because her character just didn't fit in.
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Name:
OSUN
Comment: You have to admit the first season of A different world with Denise having to wear the pig snout, the dingy white girl Maggie at a HBCU, the female students in love with the rock teacher(David Alan Grier)...was all corny. The show didn't really get good until Debbie Allen hit the scene, Denise left, Ron took off his hat, and Kim and Freddy arrived at Gilbert Hall.
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Name:
Marlin
Comment: BRANDON> your shame baffles me, why do we have to 'watch' what we do? i am smart, gainfully employed, and i love my people. i have no problem watching what i can relate to. The Cosby Show is dead...there will be another when it is time......everything has a season and it was groundbreaking for the time it was here. Boss won't be mad if you laugh....lol.lol.
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Name:
queeniebunz
Comment: >Musb - I look at it from a writer's perspective and his work makes me cringe. I hate it that black folks accept garbage and hype it up. Compare any of his movies with say, a movie like "Coming To America" that had a pretty much all black cast even if it did have Eddie like 8 times (lol), was well acted, was sweet, intelligent and funny. How can anyone possibly think that this drivel is funny or well done? Compare it to "Brown Sugar" or "The Best Man" and Perry's stuff looks like a joke. And I agree. I used to look forward to "A Different World" when I was coming up because it made me want to go to college so I could meet my Dwayne! LOL!
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Name:
blumpNpleasing
Comment: It's funny how it was okay to watch Monique play Nikki Parker a desperate fat women who chased a man who didn't want anything to do with her. Her character was a sterotype about fat women. You know fat women will put up with anything from a man. Oh! Yeah at the end he realized he loved her and married her. She should have had confidence in herself and married the other guy. After all he loved her for for who she was from the beginning and he persued her. You know like a man should. I say "Tyler do your thing man because you are keeping it real. These issues are going on in the homes in every community and maybe if we can look at it from your eyes we can make begin to make a change ."
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Name:
Fran
Comment: OSUN and Train, you are definitely right. Diff. World was boring in the beginning. When she came it encompassed black college life. Middle class blacks do have fun, and its not white folks kind of fun. It is our own. That unfortunately is never portrayed in the media. I could not wait to go to college and be like...Whitley! I know. But I had the pink covers and carpet just like her. My dad always said I would be like Claire Huxtable.I went on to be a lawyer. My husband has a Ph.D. We joke that we are like the Huxtables. (Now, we are young, we dont have that kinda dough just yet) And that show has been off the air for a long time. I feel bad that my kids have to watch reruns of Cosby just to get a positive black image.
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: YEah I must've been to young to analyze that. Looking back now, many of the shows back then were straight cornball. But, there is absolutely no comparison 'tween how the show started off at Hillman vs. HOP. Back then we were still dealing w/how to portray an all-black cast. It pre-dated a whole lot of stuff. Tyler, on the other hand, has decades of experience he can draw from (Coming to America, Brown Sugar, etc) and this is all he could come up with? It's ok because it's Tyler Perry? Well in that case, why even now, do MANY blacks voice their dislike for All of Us? All black cast, Will & Jada, yada, yada. Bad is just bad and house of pain is that. BAD! Like his stage productions...bad!
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: >mus I agreed with every single word you said. I know you are articulate and you proved it with this comment. I hope you know you have never been my enemy just an opponent, I love a good debate.
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Name:
Angel
Comment: That show SUCKS big time. I really hope future episodes get better. I like "All of Us", "Girlfriends", "The Game" so I don't need a show to be flawless to support. TP's show is just unacceptable so far...it is just SO unfunny that I feel insulted that I wasted my time watching it.
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: Here is the worse story I ever heard. A lady invites people over to dinner. She cooked so much she was inviting people to take a plate home. The one family had an %*$embly line going one would fix the plate inside and pass it to some one on the outside until they got caught.
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Name:
TGen
Comment: I'm stunned that so many think A Different World was garbage or "corny" at the beginning. I thought it was a great show throughout most if not all the seasons, from the beginning with Jalisa and Sinbad (forgot his show name) to Dwayne and Denise to Whitley and even Marisa Tomei, lol, and later with Jada (forgot her show name), Kimberly, and others. It was just a very well-written, well-thought out show. I don't think it would have survived past the first season if it was as bad as many say...
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: I remember A Different World and I didn't think the beginning was terrible at all it just improved when Debbie Allen came on board but I looked at it every week. I can't really say that about black comedies today, that and the Cosby show were regulars for me. The shyt they are producing now are just that shyt.
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: I couldn't stand a Different World, Good Times or any of that mess. Cosby was the only half-way decent thing and I got tired of that, too.
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Name:
ChocolateBrownGal
Comment: From my understanding, TP has taped 100 episodes and funded the whole project himself because he couldn't get sponsors to back him w/o having to make certain changes to his project. 1 can only hope he consulted w/ experienced writers/producers, etc. A Different World will always be my favorite show of all times, b/c it demonstrated to America, black and white, that black students contribute greatly to student life and that higher ed administrators should continue to support the legacy of AA student succees, regardless of where they attend. The show was visionary. I can't say the same for HOP. IMO
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Name:
TGen
Comment: Gingerg, what didn't you like about those shows? Is it just sitcoms in general or just those shows?
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Name:
SweetieDarlin
Comment: Interesting to see a diverse views about Tyler Perry, for a while I thought I would never see the day! Used to be you could nothing about Tyler Perry LOL! Tyler Perry has always had old Minstrel Show Stereotypes but a lot of people find that funny, and I was always the one trying to figure out what was the draw. The Tyler Perry people support him no matter what but Tyler needs to get over himself and realize that not everyone is going to want to see him...there have been greater writers/directors that people didn't/ don't get into, that's showbiz---to coin a cliche'. As far as a golden age of black comedy, it is subjective, I watched and loved Cosby in the 80s, don't want to see it now, the Jefferson's was funny in the 70s, don't want to see it now, Different World was cool after Lisa Bonet and before Dwanye and Whitley got married. Martin, I thought was clownish atfer a while but now I watch those same episodes and and laugh my azz off. Actually very few comedies stand the test of time, however IMO the mark of a good comedy is if you still want to see it 5 years later (for me that would include Seinfield, WKRP in Cincinnati, MASH, Martin, Living Single, the 1960's Cosby show and Dick Van Dyke) but again it is subjective. To piggyback Musbe> I am going to come out the closet now and say Soul Plane was funny---much like other stupid comedies like How High and Mr. Deeds---so bad it was good.
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: >SweetieDarlin, I think a lot of blacks got hooked on the TP plays and some from the other well known black playwrites (ug that was hard to say)are putting out, the yo man is cheatin on you genre, with all the emotional show songs, the token gay, the crack ho, the man the the body like a brick shyt house, the old praying mother, the clown, and part and parcel of these plays. I got tired of them a long time ago and although there have been a few great black shows the majority of the theatrical audiences that the majority of our people attend are junk theater offerings.
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: correction audiences = productions
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Name:
cornbread
Comment: TYLER PERRY AND THESE FAT AZZ BLACK ACTORS HAVE TO MAKE THEIR PAPER THE BEST WAY THEY KNOW HOW. I APPLAUD THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE DOING. YES, THIS SHOW SUCKS AZZ AND DICK, BUT AT LEAST THEY ARE ACCOMPLISHING THEIR DREAMS AND GOALS. ALL YOU MUTHA FUKKAZ CAN DO IS SIT BACK AND TALK SHIIT AND PLAYER HATE BECAUSE YOU BROKE AND YOU MISERABLE. FUKK ALL YOU PLAYER HATIN MUTHA FUKKAS. Y'ALL CAN EAT A DICK!
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Name:
archcookies
Comment: It still is amazing how people can come out on a DISCUSSION board and get pizzed because somebody else's view point is not the same as theirs. Cornbread you need to go back to kindergarten and start over.
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Name:
queeniebunz
Comment: >Cornbread - Tyler? Is that you?... You're at an 8 and I need you to take it down to a 4. Relax. Exhale...That's better...
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Name:
MsVanese
Comment: I guess if he had the stupidity of Flavor of Love, College Hill, etc maybe folks would like it more. I do have to agree though that better writing is needed.
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: I said looking back now the shows were kinda corny. Denise making Theo a fake me out Godron-Catrell(sp) shirt (ya'll remember that black and gold crap she'd sewn. Corny doesn't mean not good..just corny. I was surprised that you can now say something not so good about Tyler. Lawd knows there was a time when he was heralded as the 2nd coming simply because he made us laugh. Has his plays ever been thought-provoking to the extent of a Black Boy or satire like The Colored Museum? No! He gave us a woman leaving her wheelchair-bound husband in the shower for 3 days. That was just humor that's all. SD..I swear that movie was so over the top I couldn't do much but laugh. And I don't mean over the top in a Norbit kinda way. MsVanese...a LOT of people do NOT like College Hill..I just do..lol
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: Arch..I had to go back and read your post. I'm trying to debate if I should just say thanks or make a cyber-pass at you..lol
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Name:
Dovelyone
Comment: I didn't read all the posts but I hope NOBODY is trying to compare Tyler's sitcom with A Different World. It is my FAVORITE TV show of all time. Even the bad first season was still good because it showed Black folk in college in a positive way. Like somebody else said, it did improve once Debbie Allen came on board. The show themes still hold up over time. I've not seen Tyler's show (don't have cable) but from the feedback I've heard, it doesn't sound like it's that good but Tyler must be hearing different feedback because all of his comments are saying that the show is off the charts so um...what gives?
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: TGen, I guess they really weren't that bad. I was just disappointed that there were no other quality dramatic offerings and that our people are too often pidgeonholed and stereotyped.
It just makes me tired, sleepy even.
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Name:
TesticAl
Comment: Archcookies, SHUT THE FUCKK UP! How are you going to tell Cornbread to go back to "kinnygarden" and start over? He/she is minding their own business. Aren't you the person who said that two weeks ago? Yes you are. I'm going to jump on your azz every chance I get. YOU MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! Practice what you preach bich! That is all. Have a blessed day.
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: MsVanese, you speaking on this issue this afternoon. How many of you cackle at that ignorant, low class Flavor Flav or that bimbette New York, but have the audacity to come on here and blast Tyler Perry.
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Name:
Sexee
Comment: LOL, now that's funny when a critic says that you have to be stopped.
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Name:
FiveMore
Comment: Cornbread>LMBO!!!"They got to eat too!!!"
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Name:
SweetieDarlin
Comment: I cackle at Flavor of Love, I Love New York and many other mindless shows, I look at the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and Food Network. I read Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Claude Brown in addition to Walter Moseley, Tina McEloy Ansa, Valerie Wesley---so your point is what. You can be diverse in your viewing habits, you watch what you watch it is not indicative of your intelligence level or lack of intelligence, again comedy is subjective, for example Tyler Perry brought us a woman who may have killed her abuser, then got dressed and went to a wedding, a woman who beat a man who was wheelchairbound, a mother who was in cahoots with a man who beat her daughter, a weed smoking old man (WOW great comedy, who ever heard of older people smoking weed, that funny and a STRETCH!!!) so he isn't exactly poster child for high minded ideas either.
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Name:
musbdherbs
Comment: Ginger..I'm azzuming that some people at least find a modicum of humor which keeps them watching such shows but they don't find that w/Tyler. I abhor all of Perry's stage productions but I liked Soul Plane. Queen was a good period piece but Halle's acting was AWFUL and I'll never watch it again!!! Everybody Loves Chris is FUNNIE but HOPain is AWFUL! Different scrokes for difrint folks...lol
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Name:
poeticlyspkng
Comment: Like giggolos, overweight people need love too. So let's focus on the bigger issue, the ish ain't funny! Unless Madea on there. I hope it improves but I've seen 3 episodes it just doesn't work for me. Reminds me of how sometime Good Times was funny, other times sad. 'Cept the funny, ain't.
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Name:
mseffy
Comment: It is troubling to me that TP ONLY addressed the critics (I usually watch what the critics hate because I'm familiar w/their bias), and theweight issue in his letter; and wasn't big enough to at least throw something out there about the awful writing, like 'Keep the faith people...the writing and everything else will improve over time'. He has 100 SHOWS. GUARANTEED! That is unheard of for a first-time show, even if it's not on one of the major networks. He has some time to hire better writers to assist him, but not much; I'm hoping the show will evolve into something that makes all of US posters, proud.
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Name:
gingerg
Comment: I liked The Women of Brewster Place.
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Name:
FiveMore
Comment: ginger>I like them too!
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Name:
BlackScribe
Comment: I unfortunately have seen a couple of episodes of the show and I was disappointed, to say the least. It was NOT good, and I'm a writer so I was lookin at it through a writer's eyes. I don't begrudge Tyler his success, but I think he can do better than this. The quality sucks, but then I may not be the best judge of this since I've never seen any of his plays or movies. The humor is too broad and slapstick for my tastes. But hey, thousands of others feel differently, so who am I to judge. The day that I will see our race being portrayed in all of our diversity, I 'll probably be gone, but until then I'll continue to fight the good fight, creating characters and stories that show all of us in all our dimensions.
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Name:
justafu
Comment: LOL...THE SAME OL' SHYT>>>CRABS IN A BARREL!
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Name:
MsHRDiva
Comment: just speechless
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Name:
SweetieDarlin
Comment: Why is criticism about a black artist/writer/entertainer etc. crabs in a barrel? So if you are black there can be no criticism or is it like I suspect if your black and the poster likes you, it's crabs in a barrel, if you aren't so liked it's okay to criticize...
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Name:
LAKat
Comment: Let's face it...this series sucks!! Tyler's transition to the big screen is pretty good. The writers transition to television sucks!! I PAYNEFULLY watched the first four episodes.I can't stomach any more.
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Name:
justafu
Comment: No SweetieDarlin it's okay to do that but it's funny how he got where he is probably by the fact that alot of these same black people paid money to see his dayum plays! Please give the brotha a chance to grow or just don't watch the show if you don't like it!
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Name:
mrsadreano
Comment: I think it's a little hatin' goin on for any one to put down what T.P. is doing. And might I add, I am a HUGE fan of him; I love that Madea thing he does, I love Cassie (you keep doin' your thang baby girl!) Just like he said, he is more oriented towards recruiting people based on their talents, as well as their overall attitude. Not to sound cheesy, but I think it's beautiful that he's giving them a chance to express their God-given talents. He will be blessed for it all in the end, and as far as Madea goes, most of us have a Madea-like big momma in our family (black folks). Big ups to you T.P., I got much love for you baby. You keep doing your thang with it!!!
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Name:
realuvbaby
Comment: I wish the world would realize -- that there is never going to be one black person who can represent the entire black race. As Tyler said, no one talked about how Roseanne and her husband were both overweight -- not once. Now black folk see a black family on TV and want to ask why are they playing into a stereotype. That's bananas. No one person/ group/can represent an entire race. When we don't embrace our own -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- to me that reeks of self-hate or at the very least intolerance. I don't know about any of you, but I had all sizes, shapes and colors in my family. My mother -- born in South Carolina -- married a man from Grenada and soon there were not only different sizes and shades of black, some family members talked with an accent. The trick is to separate perception from reality. It is what it is, but it's not what it seems. When I watch a black couple on TV, I'm watching a black couple on TV and not every black couple in the world. If you feel you are not being represented on the screen because you didn't have fat people or a Madea in your family, then perhaps you should put out movies that reflect the people you'd like to see on the big screen instead of knocking someone who is doing something. Tyler has come a long way, and his work is having a lot of positive of influence on a lot of people. Black folk, we really need healing and acceptance of our own. If you think that when you get to heaven, everybody is going to look like you, then you are going to be hurt. God could have made very pencil thin or portly, but he made us all different and put us all over the world. It's by design. If God was going for a single trait from all of us, it's ONE LOVE. I challenge each person on this board to think about the diversity within their own family and see if one family member could speak for the entire family. I don't think so. So why do we expect it from the ENTERTAINMENT industry??
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Name:
realuvbaby
Comment: I've read reading some of these posts all I can say is at least Tyler is doing something and he's not sitting on his a.s.s. critiquing how other people should run their lives. Thler is doing Tyler. Like Janet, Whitney, Michael, R. Kelly, Mike Tyson, Prince, OJ, MLK, Rosa Parks -- he will have his fans and he will have his detractors. I like Tyler's plays because they are familiar. They are something I can relate to. And I laugh my a.s.s. off in the theatres and the movies. Do I come home mad because the characters are too whatever? No. Laughing is one of my most favorite things, and Tyler is good for a few. I do think the show is weak, but it's a writing thing. Tyler hasn't found a way to translate to the small screen, but I believe he will and that's why he invested so heavily in the project. If it doesn't, then at least he would have done something -- He didn't talk about it, he was about it. He put his show on TV and if it does nothing, at least he accomplished getting it on the air. I will hang for a few more episodes, and if I don't like what I see, I'll just turn the channel. But to knock the characters or the actors -- NAAHHHH . . . that ain't cool.
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Name:
realuvbaby
Comment: Lsst word on the subject: Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha - we got to live together
I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag l'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For bein' such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha-we got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one that won't accept the white one
And different strokes for different folks
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Name:
LAKat
Comment: JUSTAFU: Didn't your bonehead read that I will not watch the show any more?? Didn't I say I watched all of the current episodes?? How many more episodes must I PAYNEFULLY watch?? Yall need to stop defending Tyler like OJ (And yes, he did it). This show is not funny, or well written. Sometimes black people aint funny to black people when they miss the mark. Everything Tyler does is not gold. YUCK!!!!
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Name:
Babygurl
Comment: They can't act...that's why they shouldn't be on the show. And I'm sorry, but he makes "fat jokes" all the time in his movies and plays so of course there are going to be a lot of people who are hurt by those jokes.
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Name:
bklynbabe2k
Comment: Tyler has broken many barriers in the entertainment field. All those who said he couldn't do it, he did it. But I am sure he did it with alot of advice. Here's what I see are the problems. Is not a matter of the actors are fat ot skinny. The people he casts are not TELEVISION actors. They are great for theatre but their skills do no translate well on TV. This is the same problem with the writing. The Mr. Brown character with all his antics are tried and true on the stage, on TV it just translates into being sorry to say, but corny. Last,the laugh track was off.
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Name:
RMP7772000
Comment: I SOOOO AGREE WITH YOU McNasty, Tymiles,
Justafu, Mrsadreano and Realuvbaby. I don't believe this is a show we are suppose to be rolling on the floor laughing. The rest of you have been taught to criticize your own black people! I was a model weighing 90 lbs. for 38 yrs straight! until I had a baby.Then I went up 300 lbs. and had 2 strokes. But I had to lose the weight myself to live healthy. Before my mom died, she was fat and her mother and sisters. But it's in our bones. Are any of your mothers fat, and if so, how would you like it if people pointed and talked about her or your sisters and daughters out loud? That doesn't sound to good does it? This man is doing what he wants to do with his talent. And when the white people critics read all the bad things about your own black people they get to tear Tyler down and take him off the t.v. Then you all will sit arounda saying the white people do not want us on t.v. So cut the crap, I hope your future children go through what you haters are putting Tyler through when they try and get in to the entertainment world! THAT'S RIGHT I SAID IT! WHAT GOES AROUND COMES BACK AROUND!!!!!!! Thank GOD YOU HATERS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE WATCHING THIS SHOW! I will keep watching it and enjoying it! STAY BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS MR TYLER-GOD'S GOT YOUR BACK AND FRONT!!!!!!!
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Name:
john51boy
Comment: I've read the negitive comments people have placed on the comment board. That's whats wrong with the world today people are so quick to criticize the good that people do. Tyler Perry your doing a wonderful thing an you have came a long way in life God has blessed you well with the gift to make people laugh. the people tha have so much bad things to say when anybodies good. Your doing what a lot of people scared to do. many people want hand out's but they won't work for nothing.
I love what your doing and may god bless you and keep you strong to give us many more days,plays.
sincerly yours Gwen mcintosh
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Name:
keysgreatq
Comment: Good for you Tyler. What about Jackie Gleason and some of the new white comedians with hit television shows. Give black people a break. Spend your time helping in your community.
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