Cbs

Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson are joining Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr in the latter pair’s CBS family comedy.

The untitled project, which picked up a pilot order in February , has also set Andy Ackerman as director and exec producer of the pilot.

It centers on a legendary talk radio host and happily divorced “Poppa” (Wayans) who has his point of view challenged at work when a new female co-host is hired, and at home where he finds himself still parenting his adult son (Wayans Jr.), a brilliant dreamer who is trying to pursue his passion while being a responsible father and husband.

Atkins plays Dr. Ivy Reed, an intelligent, savvy and bold, Ivy is the host of the “Ask Doctor Reed” radio show where she gives helpful advice to listeners with a modern approach on life. When the network wants to modernize Poppa’s outdated routine, Ivy joins him as a co-host; she quickly dismantles his old-school arguments, and a new rivalry is instantly born.

Jackson plays Nina, Junior’s loving, real and detail oriented wife. She is his biggest supporter, but his biggest motivator as well. She doesn’t want Junior to give up his dream, but hopes he can focus more on work in the meantime – she’s already raising two kids and can’t have him acting like a third. Even with all the distractions and family drama, Nina and Junior always make a great team.

Atkins is currently recurring on the BET+ series First Wives Club and ABC’s Milo Ventimiglia new series The Company You Keep. She previously starred for two seasons opposite Marlon Wayans in NBC’s Marlon . She is repped by Buchwald and Kathy McComb Management.

Jackson is currently recurring on Freeform’s Good Trouble and for the past two seasons she had been recurring on ABC’s Home Economics. She is represented by BRS-Gage and The Priluck Company.

Wayans, Kevin Hench and Wayans Jr. executive produce. CBS Studios, where Wayans Jr.’s Two Shakes Entertainment has been based since its launch, is the studio. Kameron Tarlow, VP Productions, will be overseeing the project for Two Shakes.

Oprah Winfrey’s “sparse” response when asked about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a TV appearance last week may signal a desire not to be seen as their “unofficial spokesperson” and to protect her own star status, Newsweek ‘s The Royal Report podcast has heard.

The TV veteran has been linked with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since she attended their wedding in 2018 . In 2021 the couple sat down with Winfrey for a bombshell interview about their decision to step down as working royals.

During a recent CBS interview with Gayle King , a mutual friend, Winfrey was asked for her opinion on whether or not Harry and Meghan should attend the coronation of King Charles III in May.

“Oprah must get asked about Harry and Meghan all the time since the interview in 2021, and you could forgive her for getting a bit fed up of it,” chief royal correspondent Jack Royston said on the latest episode of The Royal Report .

In the interview with King, Winfrey replied: “I think they should do what they feel is best for them and their family. That’s what I think. That’s what the bottom line comes down to. What do you feel like is the right thing for you?”

She added: “They haven’t asked me my opinion.”

Royston said this somewhat “sparse and pared-down” response suggested that the star is wary of being seen as a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan.

“This is obviously a slightly cagey response,” he said. “I don’t know whether Oprah didn’t want to be asked or whether she just feels she’s not in a position to say. It certainly doesn’t sound like she’s got Harry and Meghan on speed dial right now—certainly not anymore, anyway.”

Royston went on: “Another possibility, though. I feel like maybe Oprah must know there’s a risk of her being viewed as a kind of unofficial spokesperson for Harry and Meghan if she gives her opinion too readily and if she’s always popping up, articulating what they might think and feel without them having to speak for themselves.”

Winfrey has a long-established career of her own and “an absolutely glittering reputation,” Royston pointed out.

“She is perhaps as close as America gets to royalty and that reputation long precedes the interview of Harry and Meghan,” he said.

“So, maybe the sparse, pared-down response she gave is also just about preserving her own status as a star in her own right, rather than somebody who’s in orbit of Harry and Meghan.

“In fairness, who can blame her? From the point of view of American society, she’s the royal in the room.”

Newsweek has approached representatives of Oprah Winfrey via email for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

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