BET founder Bob Johnson takes a leap from cable to digital with a subscription-based streaming service, the Urban Movie Channel, offering a wide variety of exclusive content, comedy series, stage plays, Black films and never before seen footage of stars like “The Real” co-host Loni Love, Martin Lawrence and so much more.
Recently, rolling out had the opportunity to chop it up with comedy veteran, producer and host Doug Williams, who gushed over his excitement for the new project as well as his latest undertaking “Fall Out Fridays,” an epic comedy series aimed at helping people unwind after an eventful week.
In addition to the more than 150 titles in the UMC library, Williams says the unpredictability of the line-up but being ensured you’ll always see something you love, is what will keep you coming back for more. Check out his entire interview below.
What inspired “Fall Out Fridays”?
Well, you know, laughter is the best medicine. We have so much laughter to give the world. And given the circumstances in the country right now with everything going on, we felt like Friday would be the perfect day to launch comedies. Traditionally, Friday has been a day to wind down after a full week of work or what have you — We feel like “Fall Out Fridays” is the perfect match for the individual whose been out in the world, beat up, tired and just needs a release.
What impact do you hope to achieve with this new platform?
To give the world the best in urban entertainment. There’s a lack of urban entertainment right now throughout the industry including television, movies — it’s very limited in terms of seeing people of color in film, television and so forth. We feel like we’re opening up a new portal, a gateway if you will for urban entertainment. We feel like the country, the world as a whole is starving for something like this. And we plan at being at the forefront of giving them that.
How do you feel the Urban Movie Channel will stand out from other networks and streaming services?
It’s funny that you ask that because I feel like the pack is really thin right now. Where else can you go for urban entertainment or urban comedy right now? We’re the drum major of urban entertainment. We’re leading the way. This business is about supply and demand. Right now the supply (for urban ent.) is very low and the demand is very high.
This is the first and only digital streaming channel created by Bob Johnson and you know his resume. He created BET and you see what that became. So this is his new baby — urban themed features, specials, comedies and we go even a step beyond that by providing stage plays.
Bob Johnson has always had his hand on the pulse of urban entertainment and we see how big BET has become and like I said this is his new baby he’s given birth to and it’s going to be tremendous. And we’re asking everyone to get involved now. We’re offering a free 14-day-trail and a low introductory monthly fee of $2.99. You can’t beat that. So you get the test run first, because we’re sure that you’re gong to be excited about it.
What can fans expect from the monthly subscription?
I’m going to say expect the unexpected. Right now, we have Kevin Hart, Sheryl Underwood and other top names in comedy which you can catch on “Fall Out Fridays.” Then what I’m most proud of, we’ve got the 1st Amendment series that I created and hosted for five seasons. A lot of people don’t know this, someone pointed it out to me during Black History Month, but I’m the first and only producer of African American descent to ever have a show that was hosted, created and produced for five seasons in the history of television.
When the First Amendment series first came out, it was on Starz which was an unknown channel at the time. So when it first began running, a lot of people had no idea that the series existed. So for a lot of people, this will be their first experience with the 1st Amendment Stand-Up show with Martin Lawrence. We’re reintroducing the series to a generation that never knew it existed so that everyone can come in, see a few episodes and get real nostalgic about stars like Loni Love (“The Real”) Sheryl Underwood and others, all who kicked off their career on the show.
You spoke briefly about the diversity of the channel, saying it would offer movies, stage plays, comedy shows and more. Can you give fans an idea of what a typical line-up may look like?
There will be some exclusive content on the channel for sure; for example, there’s “Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand-Up.” Where Children Play will be released exclusively on UMC in September. Other titles include Blackbird, a sitcom titled “Things We Do For Love” starring Tamera Mowry, an underground comedy series, “Gary Owen: I Agree With Myself” and so much more.
We’re also going to feature never before seen footage and behind the scenes specials. Each week they can come and see something different on the network. I think what’s beautiful about UMC is it being unpredictable — not knowing exactly what you’re going to see but being ensured that you’re going to see something that you’ll love.
Now, you’ve been in the business for a very long time. Who would you say are the top three comedians that have influenced your career and what advice would you give aspiring comedians?
That would be very hard for me to narrow down to three people that have influenced my career but off hand, (there have been a lot of people that have influenced my career) Richard Pryor, Red Fox and I would say Chris Rock . Thahave played a vital role in my career. That’s not to exclude anybody because I know a lot of people and a lot of times when you make those kind of lists they go “hey well what about me?” (he laughed). So I want to make it clear that these are just three people that came off the top of my mind. That list could go on and on…
The best advice I would give any aspiring comedian is to just get up and perform. Stand up is just like any other job that you would aspire to have. If you want to play football, you have to go out and play. The same applies here.
What is the best advice you’ve been given on your rise to fame?
Never let success go to your head and never let failure go to your heart. I’ve really tried to live by that in this industry, because sometimes you’re high and sometimes your low. Along with that, staying spiritual and connected to God is the best advice that I’ve been given.
Where can fans keep up with all things UMC, Doug Williams and “Fall Out Fridays”?
Great question. I’m glad you asked that. Fans can follow me at @MrDougWilliams on Twitter as well as DougWilliams.net. Go to urbanmoviechannel.com to subscribe. You can also follow UMC at @WatchUMC on Twitter.
