TV Land now officially announces that it ha picked up The Soul Man for a second season; plus, they've brought on Yvette Lee Bowser to take over as showrunner as well as executive producer of the series.
Ms Bowser is probbly best known for writing and producing for A Different World as well as Living Single – a show that she created, which made her the first African American woman to develop her own prime-time series.
The full story via press release from TV Land below:
TV LAND EXPANDS ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING AGENDA AND PICKS UP SECOND SEASON OF "THE SOUL MAN" AND THIRD SEASON OF "THE EXES"
Yvette Lee Bowser Joins "The Soul Man" As Showrunner
New York, NY – December 13, 2012 – TV Land has ordered a second season of "The Soul Man" starring Cedric "The Entertainer" and Niecy Nash and picked up a third season of "The Exes," it was announced today by Larry W. Jones, president of TV Land. "The Soul Man," which debuted in June of this year, was the channel's second highest rated original series premiere following only the series launch of "Hot in Cleveland" in June 2010.
"The Soul Man" posted a 3.6 rating among African American Adults 25-54 and averaged 1.4 million total viewers per week. "The Exes," which averaged 1.2 million total viewers per week, stars critically-acclaimed actors Donald Faison ("Scrubs"), Wayne Knight ("Seinfeld," "Hot in Cleveland"), David Alan Basche ("The Starter Wife"), Kelly Stables ("Two and a Half Men") and Kristen Johnston ("3rd Rock From The Sun"). Both shows will return on-air in June 2013 with 10 episodes each. (Source: Nielsen, All data is Live + 7).
"We are so proud of these series and passionate about the characters," said Jones. "These shows, like our other originals, meet at the crossroads of humor, heart and second chances, making them uniquely suited for the TV Land brand."
"The Soul Man" revolves around R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballentine (played by Cedric). Once living the high life in Las Vegas at the top of the music charts, Boyce relocated to St. Louis with his wife, Lolli (Nash) and went from soul singer to soul saver. "The Soul Man" is a spin-off of TV Land's hit sitcom "Hot in Cleveland." Cedric and Suzanne Martin ("Hot in Cleveland") are executive producers of the sitcom, along with Eric C. Rhone and Emmy(R) Award-winner Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions, who also executive produce "Hot in Cleveland." Yvette Lee Bowser ("Living Single") is joining "The Soul Man" this season as showrunner and executive producer. Lynda Obst also serves as executive producer and Larry W. Jones and Keith Cox are executive producers for TV Land.
"The Exes" follows ladies' man Phil (Faison) and couch potato Haskell (Knight) living with clingy and recently-divorced Stuart (Basche) – a third roommate recently forced upon them by their landlord/divorce attorney, Holly (Johnston). Luckily, Holly is there to help avert any disasters – or in some cases, cause them. Meanwhile, Holly's assistant, Eden (Stables), doesn't exactly let professionalism get in the way of prying into her boss's personal life. Mark Reisman ("Frasier") is showrunner and also serves as executive producer along with Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis ("Reba," "Titus"), and Franco Bario is co-executive producer. Larry W. Jones and Keith Cox serve as executive producers for TV Land.
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