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There have been funny male stripper movies (The Full Monty), auteur-directed male stripper movies (Magic Mike), Black male stripper movies (three Chocolate City films). Now comes Back on the Strip, yet another attempt to wrest humor and drama from the spectacle of scantily clad men gyrating to audiences of wildly appreciative women. The independent film receiving a wide release definitely leans toward the funnier end of the spectrum, with its overqualified cast including many formidable comedic talents. But despite some amusing moments, it never really takes off, burdened by a tiresome romantic subplot that periodically stops the movie dead in its tracks.

The story revolves around Merlin (Spence Moore II), whose name stems from his lifelong desire to pursue a career as a magician. His supportive single mother Verna (Tiffany Haddish), who narrates the proceedings, encourages him in his dreams and roots for him when he makes an appearance at a local talent contest.

It would come as no surprise to learn that “Back on the Strip” started out as a “Magic Mike” parody. I’m not saying that it did. But what else could explain the bizarrely literal premise of an ensemble indie comedy in which our hero is a wannabe magician who heads to Vegas hoping to be the next David Copperfield, only to wind up shaking his wand for a Chippendales-style male dance revue instead?

What makes “Strip” so consistently funny for most of its too-long two-hour running time isn’t Merlin’s lame prestidigi-dream (that part feels like co-writers Chris Spencer and Eric Daniel have been watching too many Nickelodeon movies) but the sorry state of his fellow dancers: a has-been crew called the Chocolate Chips. That fairly original hook allowed the filmmakers to round up an A-list lineup for this C-grade endeavor. The movie features everyone from Tiffany Haddish...

"It's time for you to get on stage, and do it your way!" Gvn Releasing is handling the US opening of this comedy titled Back on the Strip, made by writer / actor Chris Spencer. While it's not made explicity clear in the trailer, this seems like a spoof of the Magic Mike movies, with an old crew of male strippers coming back for a revival show in Las Vegas. "The Chocolate Chips" must get together again to help out a friend of theirs, a magician named Merlin, who is sent by his mom to Vegas to get his act together. The old crew features Wesley Snipes, Jb Smoove, Gary Owen, Bill Bellamy, and Faizon Love (the funniest one in this), along with Spence Moore II, Tiffany Haddish, and Raigan Harris. This looks like it has some good jokes and funny lines, but it also looks extremely cheesy, especially set in Vegas.

Exclusive: Elie Samaha, Missy Valdez, Geno Taylor and Daniel Diamond’s newly launched Luminosity Entertainment have set their first movie, the comedy Back on the Strip, starring Wesley Snipes and Tiffany Haddish.

Luminosity will finance, produce and distribute feature films theatrically in the U.S. and handle foreign sales.

Back on the Strip reps the theatrical directorial debut of Chris Spencer, the creator and EP of Real Husbands of Hollywood and EP and scribe of Grown-ish. It follows a young man, Merlin (Spence Moore II), who moves to Las Vegas to pursue his dream of becoming a magician after losing the woman of his dreams. But when a costume malfunction reveals his physical “gifts,” he is recruited to become the frontman of an infamous male revue group. The comedy chronicles a series of escapades as Merlin tries to achieve magician success, pursuing his dream girl and finding family in the process.

Warning: The following contains spoilers from Thursday’s grown-ish.

There is no denying that grown-ish‘s Zoey (played by Yara Shahidi) and Aaron (Trevor Jackson) have a complicated relationship.

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The minute one moves on with someone else, the other seems to dip back in and tear things up. And as fans saw on this Thursday’s installment, “All in Love Is Fair,” it is Zoey...

The following contains spoilers from the grown-ish Season 3B premiere. Read at your own risk.

The “will they or won’t they” question between Zoey (Yara Shahidi) and Aaron (Trevor Jackson) received an answer this Thursday night on Freeform’s grown-ish.In a word, they won’t — at least not anytime soon. But what is even more significant than the fact that Aaron moved on and settled down with a new boo in the Season 3B premiere is that his girlfriend, Rochelle, is darker skinned.

More from TVLinePerformer of the Week: Javicia LeslieCould grown-ish Be the Next Insecure? Star Yara...

The two-part conclusion of “Crisis On Infinite Earths” is mere hours away (are you as excited as I am?), and the end of Arrow imminently after that, but the Arrowverse is still looking beyond the conclusion of its flagship progenitor with the release of an assortment of new photos for Green Arrow and the Canaries.

Prominently featuring Mia, Laurel and Dinah, the images show our trio of lady heroes looking badass in their hero costumes and elegant out of them, indicating that the mix of gloom and style that made Arrow so visually distinctive will remain alive and well in its spinoff. Crucially, they show that the Laurel and Dinah who will appear in the series are their present-day incarnations rather than the fifty-something versions of the characters seen in the 2040 future, meaning that more time travel will be utilized to kick off the series and possible paradoxes to avoid...

If you thought you were starting to get a handle on what the potential Arrow spinoff would look like, think again.

In a first bevy of photos from the CW series’ penultimate episode, airing Tuesday, Jan. 21 and titled “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” we see Laurel (Katie Cassidy), Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) and Mia (played by Katherine McNamara) patrolling an atypically bright-n-clean 2040 Star City in both super-stylish garb as well as in their assigned crimefighting costumes.

More from TVLine'Crisis' Returns! Caity Lotz on Paragon Problems ('Everybody Just Wants Oliver Back'), Legends-Flavored Finale'Crisis on Infinite Earths' QuickCap: What Happened in Parts 1, 2 and...

Exclusive: Henri Esteve (Revenge), Raigan Harris (Ballers) and newcomer Andrew Liner set for recurring roles on the upcoming third season of Grown-ish, Freeform’s hit comedy spinoff from ABC’s Black-ish.

Grown-ish is a contemporary take on the issues that students face in the world of higher education, and follows Zoey (Yara Shahidi) and her friends as they return to CalU with confidence and swagger. Learning from the ups and downs of their freshman year, they all think they’ve got their second year on lock, but quickly realize that they’re not as grown as they think. The cast also includes Luka Sabbat, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Deon Cole, and recently upped-to-series-regular Diggy Simmons.

Esteve will play Javier, a gorgeous grad student whom Ana (Raisa) interns with at Cal U. A well-educated Cuban Republican activist, Javi is able to cross party...