NAACP-CBS Venture Sets Slate: ‘Soapdish’ Series With Whoopi Goldberg, Comedies Starring DL Hughley & Earthquake, Little Rock Nine Limited Series & More

deadline.com:

A year after NAACP’s production partnership with CBS Studios formally launched with the hire of Sheila Ducksworth as President, the venture has sold its first projects.

The five shows — spanning platforms (broadcast and streaming) and genres (drama, dramedy, comedy, limited series), include a reboot of cult 1991 movie Soapdish for Paramount+, with original co-star Whoopi Goldberg reprising her role and Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman co-writing the dramedy adaptation.Goldberg is one of three top comedians attached to star in NAACP-CBS Studios projects, with D.L.

Hughley and Earthquake set to headline comedy series in the works at Fox and CBS, respectively.Real people and events are the inspiration behind two dramatic projects, a limited series at Apple TV+ with Kapital Entertainment, which tells the story of the courageous Little Rock 9 Black students who helped end school segregation in the South, and drama Construction at Paramount+, inspired by NYC building magnate Cheryl McKissack for Paramount+.

CBS Studios is the studio on all projects except Little Rock Nine, which is an Kapital/Apple Studios co-production; Soapdish is a co-production with Paramount TV Studios.“This slate is highly indicative of the kind of fare that we’re looking to put forward, which is fresh and entertaining, with a strong point of view, and we have been very fortunate to have several attachments that we think will really propel our projects in a big way,” Ducksworth told Deadline. “We’re working with Whoopi Goldberg, we’re working with DL Hughley, we’re working with Earthquake, and we have several more projects in the queue that also have big talent attachments which we’re very excited about.