Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Under One Roof: Flavor Flav

Under One Roof aired from April 2008 until ? on myNetworkTV

Calvester and Winston Hill ( Flavor Flav , Kelly Perine ) acted like they were from opposite sides of the track when they actually just grew up on opposite sides of the room. Years later, Winston was a successful and wealthy real estate developer with a perfect and privileged family, but his life got interrupted when his street smart, older brother Calvester finally got out of prison and moved into the mansion.

It was not long before Calvester began parading his old prison cronies through the house driving the Hill family crazy - butting heads with Winston’s trophy wife Ashley (Carrie Genzel); seventeen year-old princess Heather (Marie Michael); and housekeeper Su Ho (Emily Kuroda). Calvester even taught Winston’s sixteen year-old son, Winston Jr. (Jesse Reid) to be a gangster rapper.

An Article from The L.A. Times

TELEVISION

'Under One Roof' on MyNetworkTV
Controversy about racial stereotypes and negative cultural images surround the new comedy starring Flavor Flav.
By Greg Braxton | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2008

"Under One Roof" has flipped the house on "Under One Roof."

The title belongs to a pair of television shows on different networks from vastly different eras -- both set in African American households. The first "One" was a 1995 CBS drama that focused on a proud multi-generational family. The new "One," a comedy that premieres tonight on MyNetworkTV, centers on Public Enemy's clock-wearing rapper Flavor Flav. Any further similarities between the two shows is skin deep.

'Under One Roof' Judging by a rough cut of the latest incarnation's second episode, cultural advocacy groups and other critics, who've long bristled at TV's penchant for one-dimensional depictions of minorities, may say it's several steps removed from its well-regarded predecessor. The new comedy's characters include a sex-crazed black man, a drunken Latino gardener and a grumpy Asian housekeeper who speaks in heavily accented broken English. "It is difficult to do much except watch, wide-eyed with disbelief," writes Times television critic Mary McNamara, who was able to see an episode despite the network's withholding of screeners, "as terrible jokes are made at the expense of just about every racial and socioeconomic group in America."

But the show's creative forces counter that such criticism is unfair and lacks a sense of humor.

"We don't think we should have to shoulder the full responsibility for every minority portrayal," said the series' executive producer, Darryl J. Quarles, whose other credits include "Big Momma's House," "Big Momma's House 2" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." "There are positive nuances throughout this whole thing. "It's all about the comedy. If you like big jokes, you'll like the show."

The '90s version of "Under One Roof" was developed as a counterweight to black-themed network comedies that featured characters that observers felt were cartoonish, offensive or stereotypical. That program, which starred Joe Morton, James Earl Jones and Vanessa Bell Calloway, marked the first time in 16 years that a one-hour weekly drama focused exclusively on an African American family. "This show is history, very much so," executive producer Thomas Carter said at the time.

Despite generally favorable reviews, the show did not click with viewers and was canceled after its six-episode run. Subsequent network dramas with predominantly African American casts, such as CBS' "City of Angels" and Fox's "413 Hope St.," also failed to attract significant audiences.

The new series, which is taped in Vancouver, Canada, is the first scripted comedy from Fox-based MyNetworkTV, a programming service that launched a little more than two years ago with serialized, telenovela-style dramas. Recently the network, seen locally on KCOP Channel 13, has been specializing in shows such as "Paradise Hotel 2," "Jail" and "Meet My Folks."

The goal of the new "Under One Roof" is simply to generate laughs -- not to advance any specific social agenda. But in pursuing that aim, it appears to have the kind of images that its predecessor was combating.

The comedy stars Flavor Flav as Calvester Hill, an ex-convict who moves in with his conservative and wealthy brother, Winston (Kelly Perine). Also living in the house is Winston's white materialistic wife, Ashley (Carrie Genzel), his provocatively dressed 17-year-old daughter, Heather (Marie Michael), and their housekeeper, Su Ho (Emily Kuroda).

The show's premise has the street-smart and savvy Calvester in constant conflict with his successful entrepreneur brother, who, according to producers, has "lost touch with his blackness."

"It isn't long before Calvester starts parading his old prison cronies through the house, driving the Hill family crazy," says the show's press release. "Calvester even teaches Winston's 16-year-old son, Winston Jr. (Jesse Reid), to be a gangster rapper."

The producers of "Under One Roof" call it a "whale out of water" premise that mixes the sensibilities of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" with "Married . . . With Children." The series is written by Danielle Quarles, the daughter of producer Quarles, and Gelila Asres. Neither writer is a member of the Writers Guild of America.

"It's all about the big laughs," said executive producer Claude Brooks. "And we're equal opportunity offenders."

Brooks and Quarles said they did not expect the new comedy to be controversial, despite the presence of Flavor Flav, who has come under fire for his outrageous Lothario antics on VH1's popular reality show "Flavor of Love." Critics and others have blasted Flav and his series for perpetuating what they called negative cultural images. Flav continues to play on his "Flavor of Love" persona in the sitcom, pursuing hookers and other women even though his character has nine children.

Said Brooks: "There's a reason why Flav is the top reality star of all time. His heart speaks volumes. This role fits him perfectly, and he's a completely natural actor."

But more than the show's treatment of blacks may trigger criticism. In the show's second scheduled episode, Calvester -- who has been accused of stealing -- spots a goat wandering through the mansion and follows it to a remote room, where the huge family of Mario, the fired gardener, has been surreptitiously living.

It's the Latino family that has been doing the stealing, not Calvester. The show completes the Latino family portrait by showing a woman holding a baby, a chicken running around the room and ranchera music playing in the background. In another scene, Pablo, the intoxicated (and less expensive) Latino gardener who replaced Mario, stumbles around the house, drinking from a bottle.

"There's a small fraction who may take offense at some of the humor," said Brooks. "But that's the spirit of the show. We poke fun at things that are and aren't real."

A Review from the L.A. Times

TELEVISION REVIEW
'Under One Roof'
New comedy tries to be like 'Fresh Prince,' but this show oozes offensive stereotypes.
By Mary McNamara, Times Television Critic
April 16, 2008

MyNetworkTV chose not to send out any early screeners of its new Flavor Flav sitcom, "Under One Roof," which is never a good sign. But I managed to see a rough cut of an episode anyway, though I quickly wished I hadn't. "Under One Roof" loosely follows the template of the 1990s NBC hit "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air": A streetwise con man winds up living with his rich relations, dragging his gangsta cred and connections through their posh life to general hilarity.

But "hilarity" is not a word that comes to mind while watching "Under One Roof." Because this is not the 1990s, MyNetworkTV is not NBC and Flavor Flav is no Will Smith. Instead he is Calvester Hill, a softhearted street thug who, after taking the rap on a car wreck for his younger brother Winston, expects to live with him because, in the words of the poet, "you owes me."

Winston (Kelly Perine), now a shallow, materialistic real estate baron, lives in the requisite McMansion carefully appointed with just about every stereotype imaginable: the stringy, implanted white trophy wife named Ashley (Carrie Genzel); a wimpy (possibly gay) son (Jesse Reid), a princessy (possibly stupid) daughter (Marie Michel) and a staff that includes a gibbering Chinese cook in a Mao jacket and a drunken Mexican gardener called Pablo. Pablo has replaced the former gardener, Mario, who, for a time, lives in one room of the mansion with nine family members, a chicken and a goat.

If the writing were better, "Under One Roof" could conceivably pass for satire, a takedown of a genre that might be called "comedy of color." And who knows? Maybe that's what creators Gelila Asres and Danielle Quarles were shooting for. But I doubt it. Flavor Flav is not exactly Bill Murray, and when an episode opens with the line, "If your ears were as big as your booty, you would have heard me" -- as Calvester sneaks two hookers into the house through the window -- it is difficult to make the "guerrilla comedy" argument stick.

Indeed, it is difficult to do much except watch, wide-eyed with disbelief, as terrible jokes are made at the expense of just about every racial and socioeconomic group in America.

Winston: "Why should I give a key to someone with a prison record as long as those heroin tracks on her arm."

Calvester: "These aren't heroin tracks; she's just hairy."

Hooker No. 2: "Yeah, I'm part Persian, and I'm in between waxing."

Winston is fat, dimwitted and desperate -- driving the plot is the fact that unless he sells a $2-million condo in three days, all is ruined. His son Winston Jr. wears a bow tie and what look like knee pants and steals his sister's birth control pills because he feels "moody," while his sister seems to be there to provide the dumb-blond-of-color jokes -- "Quick," she says when her mother begins choking. "Someone grab a beer so we can do the Heineken maneuver."

Not surprisingly, compared with these moneyed morons, Calvester is positioned to seem like the soul of common sense and integrity, despite his tendency to say things like, "I've got something sitting on my chest heavier than Monique riding bareback on an elephant" and drag Whoopi Goldberg's armpits into the conversation (don't ask). He also has very cool rap star friends.

Depending on a laugh track that could vibrate a flat screen right off the wall, "Under One Roof's" Asres and Quarles seem to cynically believe that a mostly black cast gives them permission to be as racist and generally offensive as humanly possible, and that if viewers are bludgeoned with enough familiar cues, they will laugh in spite of themselves.

But Flavor Flav, his VH1 credits notwithstanding, is no actor, and whatever charm there is to be found in his street-spun wisdom and linguistic ignorance wears off very quickly. One can only hope the show follows suit.

An Article from USA TODAY
Published on May 12, 2008

T.O. on TV: Cowboys WR makes sitcom acting debut
|
By Jaime Aron, AP Sports Writer

IRVING, Texas — Get your popcorn ready: Terrell Owens is coming to prime time Wednesday night. As an actor.
T.O. will make his sitcom acting debut on the MyNetworkTV show "Under One Roof" as the long-lost brother of the show's star, Flavor Flav. Owens tries convincing Flav and sitcom sibling Kelly Perine that they're all brothers in hopes of getting them to invest in his Web site.

"I see dollar signs," Owens said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm trying to kind of smooth my way into the family, but Flav is not buying it. It's a lot of funny dialogue. It was a good time."

It might also be a first step toward a second career.

"If I'm going to really consider doing acting after football, this a great start to let me get my feet wet," Owens said. "For an actor trying to become an A-lister, I think I'm on the bottom of the pile. I'm a D-lister."

Owens always has been comfortable in front of a camera, but it's usually playing the character known as T.O.

He's built his reputation through end-zone celebrations, colorful interviews (such as the time he answered questions while doing sit-ups in his driveway) and dressing up for the Tour de France just to ride a stationary bike at training camp. He showed more acting skills during a skit with one of the "Desperate Housewives" that aired before a Monday Night Football game. The scene ended with the woman dropping her towel -- and ABC later offering an apology.

Owens got a taste of Hollywood in 1999, when he appeared in "Any Given Sunday" with a star-filled cast. A friend who is the casting director of this show has long been encouraging Owens to take on roles, something he's more receptive to after the way things went with Flav's show.

He came away with several football-acting comparisons: Cast members are like teammates, the script is like a playbook and both require lots of practice so that once the lights go on you're ready for anything.

"You've got to get a feel for the flow of the show and the storyline and go with it," Owens said. "They told me they were very, very pleased with the way I played my character, just how I was getting my lines on point and on cue. That was very, very encouraging."

Viewers can see for themselves at 8 p.m. EDT on Wednesday night. Owens will be tuned in, too, because that'll be the first time he sees the finished product.

And, yes, he'll have his popcorn ready, like he memorably urged fans to do upon joining the Cowboys.

"I think I've got everyone I know tuned in to watch this show. I even sent an e-mail out," he said. "I guarantee you, once people see the show, I'll be getting e-mails and text messages out the wazoo. ... Believe me, it's some funny stuff. It's going to be great."

Even if the reviews are outstanding, Owens won't be giving up his day job any time soon -- even if he is in the final year of his contract.

"I know what's the breadwinner for me," he said. "But definitely I'm looking forward to doing some acting after football, in the offseason next year. I think I did well enough that they even may bring me back for some recurring roles. It's a start for me, and I don't like to fail at anything I do."

For a Review of Under One Roof go to http://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/Under-One-Roof.html

To watch the opening credits go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glXrU00KcN4