In case you missed the season premiere of Kevin Hart's highly buzzed about "Real Husbands of Hollywood" season premiere last Tuesday, you can catch an encore tonight at 8PM on BET. The second episode of the series will air tomorrow night. Stars and industry insiders gathered for a night of fun and glamour when Black Entertainment Television hosted the New York City premiere party for two new shows. "The Real Husbands of Hollywood" and "Second Generation Wayans" are BET’s exciting new programming offerings. The first being a Kevin Hart fronted reality show, and the latter a scripted comedy centered around the lesser known members of the Wayans family.
Following in the footsteps of the success of shows like the "Housewives" franchise and "Basketball Wives," the "Real Husbands of Hollywood" provides a comedic look inside the lives of some of Hollywood’s hottest hubbies. Kevin Hart, Nick Cannon, Boris Kodjoe, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove, and Robin Thicke are the leading men profiled in what BET has labeled “the fakest reality show ever”.
The pressure to succeed is universal, motivating us all, but perhaps even higher stakes are placed on someone when they are part of a superstar family as famous as the Wayans. "Second Generation Wayans" is a refreshing change from television's typical scripted vs. non-scripted model. By taking real life Wayans family members who are working on making it big, and shooting them through a scripted lens, the show is an unparalleled peak inside of Hollywood’s trials and tribulations. Starring Damien Dante Wayans and Craig Wayans, the half-hour program also features the talent of Tatyana Ali and George O. Gore II.
The premiere, held within the School of Visual Art’s majestic movie theatre, featured refreshments like popcorn, soda, and goodies highlighting the movie theme of the evening. While enjoying the treats, music from the overhead speakers set the mood while the celebrity talent walked the red carpet. Many of the cast members were in attendance, as well as other celebrities. Damien Dante Wayans, Craig Wayans and Tatyana Ali were on hand to support "Second Generation Wayans," and J.B. Smoove and producer Chris Spencer hit the red carpet for the "Real Husbands of Hollywood." Bow Wow, who currently hosts on BET’s "106 & Park," made an appearance alongside his co-host Miss Mykie, and Jennifer Williams from the hit show "Basketball Wives" was in attendance as well. Even the Jersey Shore showed up! Sammi and Ronnie from the former MTV show came out to show BET love. Big-time executives were present as well, BET’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Debra L. Lee and the BET President of Music Programming and Specials, Stephen Hill. Debra L. Lee told Examiner.com "It started as a skit on the BET awards and it did so well we were like why don’t we make this a show? Kevin Hart was totally in and really poured his heart and soul into the show so we are really excited about it."
Cameras flashed, photographers shouted, and reporters asked questions while the celebrities strutted down the carpet. Once the hubbub died down, guests were ushered into the theatre to screen the shows. Following the viewing, guests were encouraged to attend the exclusive after party at The 40/40 Club.
Tatyana Ali
Q. Who are you wearing?
A. I am wearing Chanel.
Q. Are you excited for tonight?
A. I am very excited. I just can’t wait for the show to be out there and for people to see it. It's so different, fresh, and original. It's hard to describe because the guys are playing themselves and I’m playing a character.
Q. What drew you to this project?
A. I auditioned for it because I was looking for a job. One of the VPs at BET actually called me and told me what the character was to them. They wanted to make sure there was a female character that was really strong, that their audience could identify with. She’s really smart and ambitious and cool, she hangs with the guys, but is totally feminine at the same time. It's hard to find characters like that, I would’ve done it for free.
Q. What else do you have in the works?
A. One of the songs I’ve been working on is going to be in the ninth episode of the show. It's called "Almost Love." I think I’m going to release it as a single because I play it for people and they really like it and it feels really authentic, and the sound is right for me.
Damien Dante Wayans
Q. Are you excited for tonight?
A. I’m extremely excited. It’s the premiere of our new show and its in our old neighborhood. What better place to drop the premiere of your show six blocks down from where you grew up?
Q. What’s the response been like so far?
A. The response has been great. Today, I just read "Entertainment Weekly" and they gave us a B+, "Starz" gave us a 4/5, so you can’t be mad with those types of reviews.
Q. What made you want to create this project?
A. Back in 2009, me and my cousin Craig came up with the idea because people would ask what it was like to be Wayans. They came to us with reality shows and we didn’t want to fake the drama, but we said there is a lot of funny stuff just being second generation Wayans, so why don’t we script this? Now you get to see the good, the bad, the ugly, and the funny all wrapped up in one show.
"Real Husbands of Hollywood" Producer Chris Spencer
Q. How does tonight feel?
A. Incredible. It’s a dream come true. I believe in all myths now, Santa Claus, Boogey Man anything is possible.
Q. Highs and lows of working on the show?
A. No low, absolutely no low. All these guys are my best friends, so to see them have to pay attention to me and let me boss them around is incredible. Every one of them are incredible actors, so to have five or six alpha dogs working together sometimes causes conflict, but it all makes out to be really funny.
Q. What can viewers expect?
A. Expect the unexpected. Expect to see Kevin Hart the comedic genius! Kevin Hart is George Jefferson and Martin Lawrence had a baby. You’ve seen "Think Like a Man" and the specials, you have not seen him like this yet. I promise you he is at his best right here.
"Real Husbands of Hollywood’s" J.B. Smoove
Q. What does this night mean to you?
A. Tonight is husband time. Back in the day in the 90s it was hammer time, it's husband time now. It’s time for the husbands to step to the forefront right now.
Q. What’s the experience been like?
A. It's been amazing on the show, we are a unique bunch of guys. We’re like the Avengers, the black Avengers. We all have certain powers and abilities that we must show you in the show. We all have a certain power over each other. You will see it right away. You will know who every character is and these are just over exaggerated versions of ourselves. It's very real. It’s a TV show, but we’re playing our damn selves.
Q. What made you want to get into it?
A. When I heard about all the guys that were a part of it, respecting their craft and what they do, and being a husband myself, I thought it was time to see the husbands, what we do when ladies aren’t around. Being the only guy on the show that isn’t married, we got to retaliate against Kevin, who is the divorced guy.
Jersey Shore’s Sammi & Ronnie
Q. How does it feel now that the show is over?
Sammi – It’s bittersweet, kind of sad, but eventually all good things have to come to an end. Now we’re just working on ourselves and our projects and what we have going on.
Q. And what are you guys working on?
Ronnie – I have a skinny margarita that just hit the stores. I have Ron Ron juice hitting the stores around Valentine's Day and I just started doing some acting.
Sammi – I have my men’s cologne and women’s perfume, I have a clutch line and a new collection in the clutch line coming out. I also have my workout line. I’m going to take some hosting classes and try and get into a little hosting.
Bow Wow
Q. How are you enjoying your experience on the show?
A. You can quote this, I f*cking love it. It’s the best thing I possibly could have done. I think this is what a lot of artists should do. Don’t just confine yourself to one thing, be versatile, that’s how you last in the game. For me it's just bettering my business savvy. It's helping me with acting, being in front of the camera five days out of the week, being able to act and play around and be stupid and silly, so when I get a call to do a movie I’m going to feel so relaxed.
Q. And what about the music?
A. It’s so crazy now that I’m able to just do music when I feel like it. It's like what Justin Timberlake just said, it's no rush for me to do my music it's just that you want it to be right. The timing has to be right. Me and Lil Wayne got a new record together dropping this week, so that will be the first record to hear from me in 2013.
Additional reporting by Moshe Alpert-Eschbach
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