Love That Girl aired from January 2011 until ? on TV One.
Tatyana Ali stars as Tyana Jones, a recent young divorcee returning to southern California in search of new independence, a new career and a brand new chapter in her book of this next phase of life.
An Article from Variety
TV News
Posted: Mon., Jan. 4, 2010, 6:11pm PT
TV One acquires 'Love That Girl'
Four-episode sitcom, starring Tatyana Ali, will air Jan. 19-21
By Michael Schneider
Tatyana Ali, right, stars in 'Love That Girl,' airing Jan. 19-21.
TV One has acquired "Love That Girl," a four-episode sitcom from Martin Lawrence and scribe Bentley Kyle Evans.
Evans created the sitcom, which stars "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" alum Tatyana Ali.
"Girl" will air as a special three-night event on TV One, from Tuesday, Jan. 19, through Thursday, Jan. 21, at 9 p.m. Back-to-back episodes will air each night (including repeats).
Ali stars as a divorcee who moves back to Southern California to work with her father (Phil Morris) in the real estate business. Alphonso McAuley co-stars as her unemployed brother, while Kendyl Joi plays her best friend.
In an unusual setup, Evans ("Martin," "The Jamie Foxx Show") produced the sitcom without the involvement of a studio, and called in favors -- which included drawing on his "Martin" star, Lawrence -- to make the show happen.
"Love That Girl" was even shot unconventionally, with all four episodes produced over five days at Blakeslee Recording Studios. Singer Raphael Saadiq, whose 2008 single "Love That Girl" serves as the show's theme song, owns Blakeslee.
Beyond Lawrence, Evans also tapped "Full House" creator Jeff Franklin to help bring "Love That Girl" to life.
Evans then recruited several family members to perform key roles on the production: His sister, Stacey Evans Morgan ("The Parkers"), was a producer-writer on "Girl," while his nephew Nile Evans ("Wild'n Out") and brother Lamont Evans also helped as writers.
Evans' wife, Valicia Evans, served as set designer, while Ali's sister and business partner, Anastasia Ali, was also a producer.
Besides Evans and Lawrence, other exec producers on "Girl" include Saadiq and Trenten Gumbs.
"Not only do they get the business behind programming to the more sophisticated urban market, they have the ideal audience for a series like ours," Evans said of TV One. "Thanks to our two distribution partners, Dennis Ray and Desmond Gumbs, we were able to structure a business relationship with TV One that will bring benefits to all parties involved. If executed properly, this will represent a whole new model for producing and delivering quality scripted series to the television market, at a reasonable cost."
A Review from African American Entertainment Examiner
‘Love That Girl’: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Jan 10, 2011
Black TV comedy is back, as “Love That Girl” (starring Tatyana Ali) kicked off on Monday night with back-to-back episodes. Tuesday’s got jokes too, as you can check out the resurrection of Tia Mowry’s “The Game,” which will air on BET, followed by the premiere of “Let’s Stay Together,” starring RonReaco Lee.
After all the hype, here’s what ran through my mind as I watched an hour’s worth of “Love That Girl.”
The Good: Black comedy.
Sitting down to watch “Love That Girl” gave me a sense of Deja Vu. It was quickly followed up by a strong dose of frustration. Watching this sitcom, created by Bentley Kyle Evans, you can’t help but feel nostalgic for a time not so long ago when African American sitcoms were not just on television, but in many ways dominated prime-time TV. In 2011, that’s a thing of the past, as “The Cleveland Show” is about as black as sitcoms get these days.
To that end, “Love That Girl” is a great throwback to a time that’s all but gone.
The Bad: Characters.
Sitcoms are a funny thing. The cast can either be filled with empty archetypes, embarrassing stereotypes, or feature an ensemble that brings a work of fiction to life. “Love That Girl” is more the former, where the supporting cast is solid, but the jokes are limited and the characters feel two-dimensional.
The Ugly: The scripts.
This current era of traditional sitcoms (shot in front of a live studio audience) just ain’t what it used to be. The end of the 1990s marked the end of a golden era of sitcoms, as “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Martin,” “Living Single,” “The Cosby Show,” “Sister, Sister,” “Family Matters,” “In Living Color,” and more will never be topped.
Though just as silly as sitcoms of the past (everything from “I Love Lucy” to “The Jeffersons”), there was a certain charm, nuance, and fun to those series. The scripts were witty; the dialogue sharp as a razor.
“Love That Girl” is missing a dose of cleverness and edge. Props to TV One for creating its first original sitcom, but this Tatyana Ali vehicle is too passive for its own good.
** out of *****
A Review from The News and Observer
Happiness is a warm TV
"Love That Girl" returns with not much more to
Submitted by adriennj on 01/10/2011 - 08:30
Around this time last year, TV One tested "Love That Girl," its first original scripted sitcom, executive produced by comic star Martin Lawrence, with a limited run of four episodes.
Guess the audience responded positively because tonight (9 p.m.) the network airs two episodes of the half-hour sitcom as part of a full season.
If you missed the first run, the show stars Tatyana Ali (Ashley from "The Fresh Price of Bel-Air) as Tyana Jones, a young divorcee who has returned home to work with her father (Phil Morris) in his real estate business. She lives with her unemployed, aspiring stand-up comedian brother Latrell (Alphonso McAuley), and has a best friend (Kendyl Joi) who owns a hair salon.
While some things have changed behind the scenes on the show, not much has changed on screen, which is too bad. Ali still has what it takes to be a modern-day "That Girl," but the writing on this show fails her. Mercifully, the first episode shows little of Tyana's over-the-top-of-the-Empire-State-Building gay neighbors, but you'll get plenty of the comparably overdone homegirl that is supposed to be the business' receptionist. Seems Mr. Lawrence can't let go of the Sheneneh-type.
The show arrives at an interesting time for the African-American owned cable network; tomorrow competitor BET is launching a new original scripted sitcom (from the house of Queen Latifah), as well as reviving "The Game," a dramedy that aired on the WB. (We'll have reviews tomorrow.)
"Love That Girl" is a harmless distraction (it's been termed 'breezy' which I will now think of as meaning 'emptyheaded'), something a little fresh to watch before the re-runs of "Martin." Goodness knows, there's plenty of other shows like that on TV, so why shouldn't TV One have its own version?
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