New show about ‘positive black family’
NEW ORLEANS – Actress Tempestt Bledsoe said she is excited to return to network television in a show that portrays “a positive black family” similar to the long-running hit sitcom she starred in for about eight years – “The Cosby Show”.
“That show was my childhood,” said Bledsoe, who plays middle child Vanessa Huxtable on the NBC show that also stars Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Lisa Bonet and Keshia Knight Pulliam. “It does a lot of things. It greatly influences the types of projects I do. It helps shape my core values, like my work ethic.”
Bledsoe and actor Anthony Anderson spoke Friday at the Essence Music Festival about their new show, “Guys with Kids,” which will premiere this fall on NBC.
In an interview after the appearance, the co-stars told the Associated Press that they were excited that the show would highlight a “positive black family on network television.”
“We don’t have that right now, not on network television,” said Anderson, who has two children of his own. “Like the Cosby Show, this will be an opportunity to see the love, support, humor and beauty of a black family on TV.” The show, produced by Jimmy Fallon, is about three fathers in their early 30s trying to hold on to their youth. “Guys With Kids” also stars Jamie-Lynn Sigler of “The Sopranos” and actors Zach Cregger and Jesse Bradford. One of the characters is a single father, another is a working father, and Anderson’s character is a stay-at-home dad raising four young boys.
Bledsoe, who plays Anderson’s working wife, exclaimed when talking about his character’s daily challenges with children, including twins under 2 years old.
