Saturday, June 04, 2005

South Side Honeymooners?

Wassup, Y'all!

I've got seven words for this knucklehead idea - "What the hell is on your mind?" Man - who thought this was a good idea? Now I'm all for checking out hot shortys Gabrielle Union and Regina Hall but come on now! The Honeymooners is a classic and last I saw on TV Land that joint had a *north side* cast - and a great one at that. Hollywood - you can't just go messing with classics all willy nilly! What's next? A south side version of Gilligan's Island? Please...

Now I'm a south side homey from waaaay back (with a wee pinch of the Irish :-) ) and even I can see why the north siders might get a little pissed with this choice of casting. I like all four of the movie's stars but how is it that the creative geniuses in Hollywood couldn't create a new vehicle for them or even a "honeymooners-like" vehicle for them (like the Flintstones take off) instead of casting them in a remake of the Honeymooners itself? I know if I caught Brian Dennehy playing Fred Sanford, I'd be ready to take it to the streets. Sanford and Son is a classic in its own right too. I've never been a fan of these types of remakes and that goes back to Will Smith taking on the role of James West in Wild, Wild West. As they say down at Winky's Corner Store - I ain't wit dat. We need to be creating new roles and making them classics and get off these retreads.

Now I hear y'all out there saying, "But Tyrone, what about Bernie Mac in 'Guess Who?'" Yeah, yeah. First, I wasn't all the way on board with that joint, but you'll note it was a take off on 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner', not a remake with a south side cast and Ashton Kutcher in Sidney Poitier's role (I'd have been taking it to the streets in that case too, y'all!). Ironically, Mike Epps was in that joint too!

Personally, I'm much more interested in seeing Mike Epps playing Richard Pryor (side note: y'all know LA would be burnt to the ground the the day after they cast Jerry Seinfeld in any Richard Pryor role!) than I am in seeing him playing Ed Norton - a role that will always be owned by Art Carney. And Cedric the Entertainer, sir is damn sure no Jackie Gleason. They're different comedians with different styles and they need to stay that way. Now just in case, y'all never saw the original Honeymooners, here's a retro glossy to get you reoriented:


The Honeymooners
l to r: Cedric, Gabrielle, Mike and Regina

See what I mean?

Peace@Least,

Tyrone

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