BET Brings New Edition to a New Generation

For those who are unfamiliar New Edition is a fiveman band from Boston that paved the way for other groups including New Kids on the Block Namp8217Sync Backstreet Boyz and Boyz II Men Its original members were Ricky Bell Michael Bivins Ralph Tresvant Ronnie Devoe and Bobby Brown Part one of the miniseries follows the group from its inception in 1978 through the guysamp8217 formative talent show days and up until just before the events leading to Brownamp8217s departure in 1984It opens on Brown Woody McClain being interrupted during his performance of amp8220My Prerogativeamp8221 by Bell Biv Devoe a group comprised of three of his exbandmates It seems heamp8217s gone well over his allotted time something he was apparently prone to do A fight ensues both on and offstage A gun is pulled then fired and before we can see what happens weamp8217re rolled back to 1978 where it all beganThis kind of storyamp8217s been told and all the familiar elements are there the impromptu audition for their first manager the training montage the early seeds of dissent the labels not paying them etc The real draw of this miniseries is the attention it pays to authenticity Every New Edition alumnus is credited as a coproducer This tells me that unlike posthumously made biopics the depicted events and their details come straight from the horsesamp8217 mouths as opposed to the usual move of relying on old footage and third party interviews for accuracyNow even though Iamp8217m speaking as someone whoamp8217s just young enough to have missed the wave I still understand the dedication of true fans and this series is definitely for them The hits from both the original group and all its variations are a character in this story that shares as much of the limelight as the drama and the multitalented cast that brings it to lifeSpeaking of casts this one has its fair share of familiar faces Adult Michael Bivins is played by Bryshere Y Gray also known as Hakeem on Empire Young Ricky Bell is played by Caleb McLaughlin whose claim to fame is a starring role in Netflixamp8217s Stranger Things Adult Ronnie Devoe is played by Keith Powers who recently played Dr Dreamp8217s younger brother in Straight Outta Compton Michael Rapaport plays the groupamp8217s second manager and Wood Harris plays their first Comedian Faizon Love also makes an appearance as Maurice Starr the man who first signed the kids to a label Pictured below left to right Executive producers Jesse Collins and Chris Robinson with stars Luke James Woody McClain Elijah Kelly Algee Smith and Keith Powers promoting The New Edition Story at the Winter 2017 Television Critics Association tourSpecifically my favorite two cameos so far are La La Anthony and Yvette Nicole Brown who play DeVoeamp8217s and Bivinsamp8217 mothers respectively La La is recognizable from her career as a radio personality and exhost of MTVamp8217s TRL and as far as Brown goes sheamp8217ll always be Shirley from Community to me which is funny considering her characteramp8217s name is Shirley in this as well The rest of the cast although not as well known does collectively hold credits from various on and offscreen productions that include the likes of 30 Rock Everybody Hates Chris Black Nativity Earth to Echo The Lion King and Urban Holiday Soup among othersThis miniseries is entertaining as hell as well as educational It gives someone like me who had little to no prior knowledge going into this a crash course on the lives and music of this legendary group Plus as wholesome and innocent as their beginnings may have been the boys do eventually grow up and Iamp8217m eager to see the real life drama that caused New Editionamp8217s many infamous issues play out Way to grab me for six hoursThe New Edition Story premieres on BET January 24 at 9 pm ETClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160

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BET Brings New Edition to a New Generation

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Ainsley Andrade

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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BET Brings New Edition to a New Generation

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Ainsley Andrade

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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