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Has Forever Been Renewed For Season 2? (Photo Credit – Netflix)

Judy Blume’s Forever didn’t need much time to make its presence felt. The romantic drama was locked at the top of the platform’s charts in less than a week after landing on Netflix. According to MovieWeb, the show edged over You and The Four Seasons to hold the top place in Netflix’s TV chart. This kind of debut usually doesn’t go unnoticed. Netflix handed the show a swift Season 2 renewal, a rare move considering how tight-lipped the streamer usually is with early renewals.

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A Cast That Carries The Story

Michael Cooper Jr. and Lovie Simon lead the series as Justin Edwards and Keisha Clarke, with a strong supporting crew featuring Xosha Roquemore, Marvin L. Winans III, and Wood Harris. The show’s reception has been near-unanimous.

The 55th NAACP Image Awards continued to honor Black excellence on Saturday night, with Queen Latifah hosting the live telecast from the Shrine Auditorium.

The Color Purple continued its winning streak on the final night of the NAACP Image Awards, taking the trophy for Outstanding Motion Picture. Fantasia Barrino also took the award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, with co-stars Colman Domingo and Taraji P. Henson winning their respective categories.

Domingo also won an award for Rustin in the Outstanding Actor category.

Usher was named Entertainer of the Year the same night the artist received the President’s Award. Previous recipients of the President’s Award include Gabrielle Union-Wade, Dwyane Wade, Rihanna, LeBron James, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Lauryn Hill, and Soledad O’Brien, among others.

Related: NAACP Image Awards Photos: The Best Of The Red Carpet...

Popular and pre-existing IP has reigned supreme in Hollywood as most studios and streamers look to continue the success of former franchises for an easy win. But that’s not a trend Nicole Dow is aiming to pursue.

As the head of TV for Marsai Martin’s Genius Entertainment, her formula isn’t overly complicated. Dow breaks down their development slate into three specific categories: kids and family, young adult, and new adult.

The latter of which is a less explored territory. The genre first came about within the last 15 year — and only recently gained steam online with authors like Colleen Hoover (“It Ends With Us”) and Casey McQuiston leading the charge. As the name explains, new adult covers the emerging adult generation between the ages of 18-29.

“It’s the first foray into the world where your ego comes smashing into reality, or the cringe-worthy stuff that happens from...

The new live-action TV series "Saturdays", created by Norman Vance Jr., stars Danielle Jalade, Daria Johns, Golden Brooks, Omar Gooding, Jermaine Harris, Peyton Basnight and Tim Johnson Jr., streaming March 25, 2023 on Disney+:

"...'Simone' and 'Ari' hone their roller skating skills...

"...on the cool parquet floor of 'Saturdays', a local skating rink in Chicago. 

"Together they form the 'We-b-Girlz' skate crew and are determined to show and prove they have the hottest skate routines on the planet..."

Click the images to enlarge...

The new live-action TV series "Saturdays", created by Norman Vance Jr., stars Danielle Jalade ("Yes Day") as 'Paris Johnson', Daria Johns ("Nappily Ever After") as 'Simone Samson', Golden Brooks ("Girlfriends'') as 'Deb Johnson', Omar Gooding ("Barbershop") as 'Cal Johnson', Jermaine Harris ("The Map of Tiny Perfect Things") as 'London Johnson', Peyton Basnight ("Sudden Sisters") as 'Ari' and Tim Johnson Jr. ("Ballers") as 'Derek "D-Rok', streaming March 25, 2023 on Disney+:

"...'Simone' and 'Ari' hone their roller skating skills on the cool parquet floor of 'Saturdays', a local skating rink in Chicago. Together they form the 'We-b-Girlz' skate crew and are determined to show and prove they have the hottest skate routines on the planet..."

Click the images to enlarge...

Spending their Saturdays at Saturdays is what a trio of best friends live for in the trailer for a new comedy coming to Disney Channel and Disney+. #Saturdays

Set to premiere Friday, March 24 on Disney Channel (with back-to-back episodes starting at 8:30/7:30c) and stream Saturdays, natch, on Disney+, Saturdays is described as a single-cam coming-of-age comedy that “only takes place on the best day of the week… Saturday!” as it follows 14-year-old Paris Johnson (played by Yes Day‘s Danielle Jalade) and her best friends, Simone and Ari (mixed-ish‘s Daria Johns and Sudden Sisters‘ Peyton Basnight), as...

Exclusive: Tim Johnson Jr. (Ballers) and newcomer Peyton Z. Basnight are set as series regulars in Disney Channel’s Saturdays, a comedy series from Black-ish star Marsai Martin and her Genius Entertainment, and writer-executive producer Norman Vance Jr.. Production is slated to begin in May.

Written by Vance, the series introduces teenage Paris Johnson (Danielle Jalade), who considers roller skating to be part of her soul — she breathes it in and makes it a lifestyle. She lives for the weekends because that’s when she gets to go to her sanctuary, the neon-lit Saturdays, a seemingly magical wood floor roller-rink where the impossible often manifests. In this wondrous place, Paris can hang with her best friends (the We-b-Girlz skate crew), choreograph exhilarating routines on wheels, banter with her rivals, navigate life with her DJ brother London (Jermaine Harris) and work on becoming a Golden — a member of Saturday’s skating elite,...

Exclusive: Disney Channel has handed a pilot order to Saturdays, a single-camera comedy about a young girl and her competitive roller skating crew, from 16-year-old Black-ish star Marsai Martin via her Genius Entertainment and writer-executive producer Norman Vance Jr.. Charles Stone III will direct.

Written by Vance, the pilot centers on Paris Johnson, played by Danielle Jalade (Yes Day), a 13-year-old girl who has spent most of her life roller-skating.

Saturdays follows Paris, who, since the age of four, has been honing her skills on the cool parquet floor of Saturdays, a local skating rink owned and operated by a former ’90s hip-hop back-up dancer. With its neon lights, galaxy-painted rink and killer D.J. spinning the latest music, Saturdays is the place to show and prove. Paris is the leader of a skate crew and is determined to take them all the way to the top.

20th Century Fox is picking up two comedies for Robert Teitel and George Tillman's State Street Pictures: one is written by Norman Vance and the other is a pitch by Adam Sztykiel. Champions, written by Vance, is a family comedy in the vein of Parenthood that deals with a middle-class black family as it tries to resolve issues brewing over three generations. Malcolm Lee is in negotiations to direct the picture, which would fall under the Fox 2000 banner, headed by Elizabeth Gabler. Lee is the director of Roll Bounce, the upcoming State Street-produced film that Vance also wrote and stars Nick Cannon and Bow Wow. The second project is an untitled high school comedy by Sztykiel for Hutch Parker's TCF.

Malcolm Lee's roller-skating comedy Roll Bounce is moving forward with a cast that includes Chi McBride, Bow Wow, Nick Cannon, Khleo Thomas, Mike Epps, Meagan Good and Rick Gonzalez. The Fox Searchlight/Fox 2000 co-production is due to start lensing June 28 in Chicago with State Street Pictures producing. From a script by Norman Vance Jr., the late '70s-inspired coming-of-age comedy centers on a time when roller skating was a way of life. X (Bow Wow) and his pals rule supreme at their local roller-skating rink, but when the doors close, the boys venture into foreign territory -- uptown's Sweetwater Roller Rink, complete with over-the-top skaters and beautiful girls. Through his preparation for the showdown of the season, X manages to find himself and also help his dad (McBride) get back on track. Brandon Jackson, Marcus Paulk and Jurnee Smollett round out the cast.

Andie MacDowell, Alfre Woodard and Bryce Wilson are joining the cast of MGM's Queen Latifah comedy Beauty Shop. MacDowell will play a conservative Southern socialite who goes through a rebirth when she follows Queen Latifah's character from her fancy hairdressers, run by Jorge (Kevin Bacon), to her new salon. Woodard is set to play Miss Josephine, the shop's Afrocentric stylist, who spouts Maya Angelou poetry. Wilson, meanwhile, will play James, a con/truck driver turned hairstylist. Nobody can figure out whether he is the ultimate metrosexual or actually gay. Alicia Silverstone, Djimon Hounsou, Mena Suvari and Lil' JJ round out the cast of the Barbershop spinoff. Bille Woodruff directs from a script by Kate Lanier, Norm Vance and Audrey Wells. Beauty Shop is being produced by Queen Latifah, her producing partner Shakim Compere, Mandeville's David Hoberman and State Street partners Robert Teitel and George Tillman. Mandeville president of production Todd Lieberman and CubeVision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez are executive producing. Elizabeth Cantillon, Erik Baiers and DeVon Franklin are overseeing for the studio. MacDowell next appears in The Last Sign from director Douglas Law. Woodard's upcoming features include The Forgotten with Julianne Moore. MacDowell is repped by ICM. Woodard is repped by WMA. Wilson is repped by Anonymous Content.