A SPECIAL HOLIDAY GETS ROUTINE COMEDY TRIBUTES.Byline: David Kronke TV Critic UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation had a dream: building an evening of sitcoms around honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Alas, the gimmick is better in theory than in execution. In ``The Hughleys,'' which opens the evening, Darryl's son Michael (Dee Jay Daniels) is trying to get a bowling alley named for Martin Luther King Jr. When instead he hears a street has been named for the man, he says with a shrug, ``Big deal - Mr. Oak and Mr. Main have that.'' I imagine the producers had trouble getting even the canned-laughter machine to chortle chor·tle n. A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle. intr. & tr.v. chor·tled, chor·tling, chor·tles To utter a chortle or express with a chortle. at that one. Turns out the street is in a slum, which Darryl (D.L. Hughley) finds an insult to King's memory. So he starts a petition trying to get his own street named after King, which provides the upshot for the evening, Darryl's politically incorrect insults of a midget neighbor, culminating in a fairly silly scene in which he plays poker with midgets and strives mightily from making any nasty cracks. Meanwhile, daughter Sydney (Ashley Monique Clark) tries to befriend be·friend tr.v. be·friend·ed, be·friend·ing, be·friends To behave as a friend to. befriend Verb to become a friend to Verb 1. some popular cheerleaders, with disastrous results. There's a joke about after-school specials, but ultimately, this episode ends up playing like one. At 9 p.m., ``The Parkers'' offers up a virtually unwatchable episode - it's the comedy equivalent of James Earl Ray ''This article or section is being rewritten at , and sourcing.]] James Earl Ray (March 10, 1928 – April 23, 1998) was convicted of the assassination of American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which occurred on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. . When professor Oglevee (Dorien Wilson) asks his class what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means, Kim (Countess Vaughn) blurts out, ``Shoe sale at Nordstrom!'' This leads, fairly irrelevantly, to a flashback to the '70s, in which a radical takes over a college radio station. A white student vapidly sympathizes: ``I can related to being oppressed op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. - one time I had to do my own laundry.'' In the unsweetened version I watched, the studio audience barely murmurs at this grasping material. ``Girlfriends'' offers the evening's best variation on the theme, more for its snappy writing than for its plot. Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross Tracee Ellis Ross (born Tracee Joy Silberstein on October 29, 1972, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. The daughter of singer/actress Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein; she is best known for her role on the UPN/CW network series, ) wants her law firm to give her the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday off, but her white boss, who enjoys spouting insensitive jokes, will have none of it. When she lectures him, he feigns snoring snoring, rough, vibratory sounds made in breathing during sleep or coma. The noisy breathing is the result of an open mouth and a relaxation of the palate; it is frequently induced by lying on one's back. , then says, ``Sorry, I was having a little dream myself.'' Meanwhile, Toni (Jill Marie Jones Jill Marie Jones (born January 4, 1975 in Dallas, Texas) is an African-American actress. After attending Duncanville High School, and Texas Woman's University, she started modeling, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting full time. ) sells William (Reggie Hayes) a new house as a surprise for his girlfriend, which results in some fairly specious arguments. ``THE HUGHLEYS'' What: Martin Luther King Jr.-themed episode of the family sitcom. The stars: D.L. Hughley, Elise Neal, Eric Allan Kramer Eric Allan Kramer (born 1962) is an American actor best known as Little John in and as Dave Rogers, the white neighbor in ''The Hughleys. Kramer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and attended the BFA program at the University of Alberta at Edmonton, which led to acting in . Where: UPN (Channel 13). When: 8 tonight. Our rating: Two stars ``THE PARKERS'' What: Martin Luther King Jr.-themed episode of the college sitcom. The stars: Countess Vaughn, Mo'Nique. Where: UPN (Channel 13). When: 9 tonight. Our rating: One and one half stars ``GIRLFRIENDS'' What: Martin Luther King Jr.-themed episode of the sitcom about the trials and tribulations of four single women. The stars: Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White, Jill Marie Jones. Where: UPN (Channel 13). When: 9:30 tonight. Our rating: Two and one half stars CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Dee Jay Daniels, left, and John Henton in tonight's special Martin Luther King Jr. Day episode of ``The Hughleys''. |
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