Tuesday, December 4, 2012, Silver Spring, MD — A heaping order of family and laughter are on the menu when TV One premieres its latest original scripted series Belle’s, a new comedy centered around widower William "Big Bill" Cooper who owns and operates his family’s upscale soul food restaurant, on Friday, February 1, 2013 at 10:00 pm EST on TV One. The half-hour series, co-created by legendary Emmy® Award-winning producer Ed. Weinberger (Taxi, The Cosby Show), features an all-star cast including Keith David (The Cape, Crash,), Elise Neal (All of Us, The Hughley’s), Tami Roman (Vh-1’s Basketball Wives), Ella Joyce (Roc) and Miguel Núñez (Juwanna Mann), and introduces young actress Nadja Alaya.
In addition to running the restaurant, Bill (Keith David) must deal with his two headstrong daughters: Jill (Elise Neal), the sensible hardworking manager of Belle’s who also juggles being a single mom; and Loreta (Tami Roman), a stylish, self-absorbed prima donna whose ambitions alternate between a career in the music business and finding a rich husband. And if working with his daughters isn’t challenging enough, Bill must deal with the temperamental chef at Belle’s who also happens to be his – thorn-in-the-side sister-in-law, Gladys (Ella Joyce). Rounding out the family is cousin Maurice (Miguel Núñez), the irresponsible bartender and self-proclaimed ladies’ man who is always in hot water; and Jill’s savvy tween daughter Pam (Nadja Alaya), who seems to be the only one who has a handle on everyone and everything that happens in the family, and at Belle’s.
Belle’s takes a page from sitcoms of an earlier era by tackling hard hitting cultural issues through the prism of comedy and laughter. In the premiere episode, Jill rents out the restaurant to the Crawford family to host their annual family reunion. Just as the Coopers get ready to celebrate their sudden windfall, Big Bill is tormented to discover the Crawfords’ once owned his wife’s family during slavery.
In addition to Weinberger, the half-hour, six-episode series is co-created and executive produced by Belle’s co-star, veteran comedic actor Miguel Núñez. Additional executive producer credits include Oscar Turner for Gallery Road Productions and Jubba Seyyid for TV One.
“TV One is honored to work with Ed. Weinberger and Miguel Núñez on this new comedy series,” said TV One Executive Vice President of Original Programming and Production, Toni Judkins. “Audiences love family comedies, and Belle’s has all the perfect ingredients for success, from its award-winning creators, to its amazing and versatile cast, to its relevant, witty storylines.”
ABOUT TV ONE:
Launched in January 2004, TV One (www.tvone.tv) serves more than 57.3 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies, and music designed to entertain, inform and inspire a diverse audience of adult Black viewers. In December 2008, the company launched TV One High Def, which now serves 14 million households. TV One is owned by Radio One [NASDAQ: ROIA and ROIAK; www.radio-one.com], the largest radio company that primarily targets Black and urban listeners; and Comcast Corporation [NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK; www.comcast.com], one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services.
