felicitylen
07-19-2005, 04:06 PM
UPN's Blackout
By Jawn Murray, AOL BlackVoices columnist
The UPN Network seems to have more drama on their sitcoms than they do on their actual dramas. BV Buzz broke news on June 20 that Elise Neal would not be returning to the Will Smith-produced 'All of Us' and that Flex Alexander was being fazed out of the show he co-created, 'One on One.' Now we've learned that 'One on One,' which is returning for its fifth season, has fired series regulars Sicily Sewell (Spirit) and Kelly Perine (Duane) and rumor has it that the intentions are to replace their characters with new white ones. Even worse, the two actors were only nine episodes away from syndication!
Inside the Buzz
In this week's BV Buzz: Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth fires her husband and Sicily Sewell, who plays Spirit on the UPN sitcom 'One on One' gets let go from the show.
Read Last Week's BV Buzz
BV Buzz was able to track down Sewell, who was extremely disappointed by what transpired. "After the upfronts in May (when television networks announce their fall lineup), I assumed when they decided to pick up the show for another season, they'd be picking us all up," she explained. "Apparently not!"
Sewell says she and Perine received word about a month after the upfronts that UPN would not be "renewing their option" to return to the series. "We were told they were taking the show in a different direction," she said.
The timing of the ambush firing shocked Sewell who anticipated making it to the sitcom's fifth, and likely final, season, since the actress had weathered several other situations that arose during her tenure on the show. "At one point they told me to come down on my weight. It was basically, lose weight or that's your job," she confessed. Executives for the show even complained about Sewell's ample breasts. "I was told that people in high school didn't have a chest like mine. I can't help it that I have big breasts," she concluded.
The actress says she's not bitter about the termination and will certainly miss the camaraderie of working with her co-star Kyla Pratt. "We talked every day. We were together every day. Since I was 15 years old, this was all I knew. This was my family away from home, and it's going to be weird not talking to them everyday," shared Sewell.
Her plans now? Sewell stars next in the upcoming Lifetime original movie 'No More Victims' alongside Ernie Hudson ('Oz'), Edwin Hodge ('Jack & Bobby') and Jami Gertz ('Jersey Girl'). That movie is slated for August.
BV Buzz contacted UPN's Joanna Massey, senior vice president of Media Relations, for comment. "There is absolutely no truth to the assertion regarding casting on 'One on One.' As announced in May, UPN is changing the direction of 'One on One' to focus on Kyla Pratt and Robert Ri'chard's characters. Several new series regulars will be hired; however, no casting decisions have been made at this time," she said via e-mail.
It is suspected that the firings also back up a theory we reported in the BV Buzz on June 20 about UPN shows being forced to cut back on expenses since neither Sewell nor Perine will earn revenue from the sitcom's syndication. To that claim, Massey offered, "The changes in the direction of the show were made for creative reasons. No other factors were considered."
By Jawn Murray, AOL BlackVoices columnist
The UPN Network seems to have more drama on their sitcoms than they do on their actual dramas. BV Buzz broke news on June 20 that Elise Neal would not be returning to the Will Smith-produced 'All of Us' and that Flex Alexander was being fazed out of the show he co-created, 'One on One.' Now we've learned that 'One on One,' which is returning for its fifth season, has fired series regulars Sicily Sewell (Spirit) and Kelly Perine (Duane) and rumor has it that the intentions are to replace their characters with new white ones. Even worse, the two actors were only nine episodes away from syndication!
Inside the Buzz
In this week's BV Buzz: Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth fires her husband and Sicily Sewell, who plays Spirit on the UPN sitcom 'One on One' gets let go from the show.
Read Last Week's BV Buzz
BV Buzz was able to track down Sewell, who was extremely disappointed by what transpired. "After the upfronts in May (when television networks announce their fall lineup), I assumed when they decided to pick up the show for another season, they'd be picking us all up," she explained. "Apparently not!"
Sewell says she and Perine received word about a month after the upfronts that UPN would not be "renewing their option" to return to the series. "We were told they were taking the show in a different direction," she said.
The timing of the ambush firing shocked Sewell who anticipated making it to the sitcom's fifth, and likely final, season, since the actress had weathered several other situations that arose during her tenure on the show. "At one point they told me to come down on my weight. It was basically, lose weight or that's your job," she confessed. Executives for the show even complained about Sewell's ample breasts. "I was told that people in high school didn't have a chest like mine. I can't help it that I have big breasts," she concluded.
The actress says she's not bitter about the termination and will certainly miss the camaraderie of working with her co-star Kyla Pratt. "We talked every day. We were together every day. Since I was 15 years old, this was all I knew. This was my family away from home, and it's going to be weird not talking to them everyday," shared Sewell.
Her plans now? Sewell stars next in the upcoming Lifetime original movie 'No More Victims' alongside Ernie Hudson ('Oz'), Edwin Hodge ('Jack & Bobby') and Jami Gertz ('Jersey Girl'). That movie is slated for August.
BV Buzz contacted UPN's Joanna Massey, senior vice president of Media Relations, for comment. "There is absolutely no truth to the assertion regarding casting on 'One on One.' As announced in May, UPN is changing the direction of 'One on One' to focus on Kyla Pratt and Robert Ri'chard's characters. Several new series regulars will be hired; however, no casting decisions have been made at this time," she said via e-mail.
It is suspected that the firings also back up a theory we reported in the BV Buzz on June 20 about UPN shows being forced to cut back on expenses since neither Sewell nor Perine will earn revenue from the sitcom's syndication. To that claim, Massey offered, "The changes in the direction of the show were made for creative reasons. No other factors were considered."