New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted -- especially since he's paid a drug kingpin to kill the witness.
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She would soon become a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, best remembered for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But even as she gained renown in the Harlem literary circles, Hurston was also discovering anthropology at Barnard College with the renowned Franz Boas. She would make several trips to the American South and the Caribbean, documenting the lives of rural Black people and collecting their stories. She studied her own people, an unusual practice at the time, and during her lifetime became known as the foremost authority on Black folklore.
It's the lawless future, and renegade biker Harley Davidson and his surly cowboy buddy, Marlboro, learn that a corrupt bank is about to foreclose on their friend's bar to further an expanding empire. Harley and Marlboro decide to help by robbing the crooked bank. But when they accidentally filch a drug shipment, they find themselves on the run from criminal financiers and the mob in this rugged action adventure.
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harlem—is arrested, Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson takes over the business and must resist an invasion from a merciless mobster.
In this remake of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol", a cold-hearted superstar singer gets a reality check when she meets three Christmas spirits who would change her miserly ways for the better.
A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.
Successful New York journalist and single mom Julie Davidson's six-year old son Jake is acting up, so she finds his sperm-donor father Paul Cooper, who's a struggling actor and law-school drop-out.
Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's turn sour when sisters Teri, Bird and Maxine start bringing their problems to the dinner table in this ensemble comedy. When tragedy strikes, it's up to grandson Ahmad to pull the family together and put the soul back into the family's weekly gatherings.
In 1995, ABC presented a telemovie version of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie produced by RHI Entertainment. It starred Seinfeld's Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams of Desperate Housewives. While this version remained mostly faithful to the original musical (Michael Stewart remains the only credited author of this version), several songs were added and re-arranged, and dialogue was slightly rewritten to smoothly facilitate the musical changes. The musical revolves around an Elvis Presley-type rocker who's about to join the Army. To mark the occasion, his manager's secretary arranges for him to kiss a random fan goodbye on The Ed Sullivan Show. Bye Bye Birdie earned four Tony awards in 1961, including Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical for its original star, Dick Van Dyke. In addition to Alexander and Williams, ABC's production starred Tyne Daly, George Wendt, Chynna Phillips and Mark Kudisch.
"My Brother" is an inner city story of two impoverished boys, Isaiah and James. James is developmentally disabled. Their mother, L'Tisha, finds herself in a tragic situation. Dying of tuberculosis, she desperately tries to get her two boys, eight and eleven at the time, adopted together. Finding that only Isaiah can be adopted. L'Tisha makes the only choice she feels she can make; creating an unbreakable bond of love between the boys, and hoping that bond will get them through life. Her prayers are answered as the boys overcome impossible odds on their way to adulthood, staying as close as ever as young men dealing with life's obstacles.
Elmo loves his fuzzy, well-worn blue blanket more than anything in the whole world. However, when Elmo's blanket gets sucked through a colorful, swirling tunnel into Grouchland, the yuckiest place on earth, Elmo goes on an adventure to Grouchland to retrieve his prized possession.
In the not too distant future, a new deadly sport is the only way to stop a war that will kill millions. Fix is the creator of the sport, but the spotlight has always been on Ramzey. Now this hothead must use the game to stop the Revolution.
Enter the colorful world of Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated Patricia Field, the costume designer behind Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Ugly Betty, and The Devil Wears Prada. A queer, first-generation Greek-American, this fiery redhead defied the odds to become a fashion icon. Features interviews with Kim Cattrall, Lily Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael Urie, and more.
Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.
A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.
Enjoy a revue of milestone Broadway shows and songs from 1973 to 2023 hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster. Features performances by André De Shields, Chita Rivera, Vanessa Williams and more from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.
When Miley Stewart (aka pop-star Hannah Montana) gets too caught up in the superstar celebrity lifestyle, her dad decides it's time for a total change of scenery. But sweet niblets! Miley must trade in all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood for some ol' blue jeans on the family farm in Tennessee, and question if she can be both Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana.
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.
Nate Johnson, a Los Angeles man estranged from his wife and three children, decides to reconnect with his family by taking them with him on a road trip to Missouri for a big family reunion.
In 19th century New Orleans, creole Henriette must choose between love and devotion to the church. Neither choice is going to be easy, as there is great opposition to her ideas of breaking traditions.
Broadway royalty and Tony-winners Tommy Tune, Carol Channing, Robert Goulet, and Harvey Fierstein are your hosts for this third compilation of great musical performances from the archives of the Tony Award® broadcasts. Legendary stars from legendary shows strut their stuff in 23 performances that have become part of Broadway history.
Judith has known her husband Brice since they were children, but now their marriage is growing stale. Having just completed her graduate work in psychotherapy, she's eager to begin a career as a marriage counselor. She takes an internship at a matchmaking firm for millionaires and meets Harley, a charismatic billionaire investor who makes no effort to hide his attraction to Judith. Although quite resistant at first, eventually Judith succumbs to his charms, placing her marriage in jeopardy and forever altering the course of her life.
A high-priced call girl who has been secretly videotaping her rich clients is shot to death. An investigation of her murder ensues, bringing those involved into the underground world of pornography and prostitution.
When once-up-and-coming indie film starlet Halley Feiffer loses her boyfriend, her agent and her career in one fell swoop she finally realizes that something in her life has got to change... she has to become WAY MORE FAMOUS! Armed with a stolen script and two pitchers of sangria, Halley enlists the help of her brother Ryan and his boyfriend to make her own movie, starring herself (of course) as herself, and any A-list celebrity she can land along the way.
Terrorists release a deadly biological-warfare virus in the United States.
Adapted from the work of Miguel de Cervantes, this is the story of a hidalgo, fanatic for chivalry novels, who loses his sanity and believing to be a knight named Don Quixote de La Mancha, decides to go on imaginary adventures along with his friend, the simple farmer Sancho Panza, who becomes his squire. On their journeys, they rescue dames in distress in honorable acts and fight giants among other perils, with Don longing to be with the love of his life, lady Dulcinea, and Sancho waiting to be rewarded with an island where he's about to become a governor.
Story of the personal lives and careers of three female doctors, from different backgrounds and walks of life, who work at a San Francisco county hospital.
Aspiring chef Lizzy sets off with her three best friends in tow to compete in the prestigious Saucy Food Festival. What begins as a calculated career move quickly turns into a madcap misadventure full of food, fun and female bonding, where the girls learn that struggle can be the secret ingredient to success.
Support for the arts in America may be dwindling, but talent in our high schools isn't. Every year a group of the country's most gifted 17-year-old performing and visual artists - singled out among thousands of their peers - share a week of dreams as they learn from mentors like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Vanessa Williams, Jacques d'Amboise, Michael Tilson Thomas... and from each other. For seven transformative days, the passionate young artists revel in the support, encouragement and attention they have earned.
Regina Reynolds is a strong black woman in the truest sense -- but her taste for the good life doesn't necessarily include her husband, Marcus, or her daughter, Monica. It's going to take a mother's unconditional love to pray Regina down to earth.
Carrie Watts begrudgingly lives with her busy, overprotective son, Ludie and pretentious daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae. No longer able to drive and forbidden to travel alone, she wishes for freedom from the confines of the house.
George has been in a mental hospital for 3 years and is finally ready to go out into the real world again. Eddie Dash, a dedicated con-man, is supposed to keep him out of trouble, but when people begin to recognise George as a missing millionaire, Eddie wants to take advantage of the situation.
A St. Louis cop, Mike Braxton (Sam Jones), receives an urgent call for help from his brother Tony (Nick Cassavetes), a small time thief in Los Angeles. Mike rushes to LA and finds that his brother has been murdered and his brother Tony's girlfriend gunned down right in front of him. Mike quickly learns Tony was a courier for an arms smuggler, Simon Stone (John Russell). When Mike meets Stone's lawyer, Samantha Richardson (Vanessa Williams), the two team up to bring down Stone's arms smuggling empire. However, Mike's infatuation with Samantha keeps putting them in greater danger.
Songwriter Noel is struggling to write a hit song, and so he takes his frustrations out on his family. His daughter Dakota is granted one wih for doing a good deed and she wishes that her daddy will write a hit song. There is a sub-plot about kindness to animals that has almost nothing to do with the main story.
On the surface, this collection of shorts by up-and-coming African American filmmakers arrived at a perfect time. The cutting-edge products of the New Black Cinema of the early '90s had disappeared, giving way to embarrassingly stereotypical, scatological fare such as Booty Call and Next Friday. This feature-packed compilation (which includes production notes, interviews with all of the filmmakers, and audio commentary by four) attempts to prove that African American cinema is intent on moving past the lowbrow humor, as six of the seven shorts steer clear of any comedy.
4 TV Executives attempt to make a television special to promote ...But Seriously. Mostly made of sketches this film includes a rap version of Don't Lose My Number and a country take on Separate Lives. Phil even attempts to be Elvis Presley while singing One More Night.
Based on ReShonda Tate Billingsley's novel of the same name, The Secret She Kept, a successful magazine executive marries a driven lawyer, who's on the cusp of a major promotion, only to discover that his wife is severely bi-polar. The movie explores the meaning of love and the vow of "in sickness and in health."
14,000-year-old "Man from Earth" John Oldman, now teaching in northern California, realizes that not only is he finally starting to age, but four students have discovered his deepest secret, putting his life in grave danger and potentially destroying the world's most popular religion.
VH1’s beloved Divas franchise made its return after a four-year hiatus with a holiday spin. The Unsilent Night special, airing on December 5, 2016, brought powerhouse vocalists like Chaka Khan, Mariah Carey, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams and Teyana Taylor together at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre for an hour-long extravaganza filled with Christmas tunes and sizzling performances despite the frosty weather.
An extraordinary program of holiday music featuring special guest appearances and musical contributions by Vanessa Williams, Michael McDonald, David Sanborn, and introducing the artistry of Rob Mathes
Perry Mason defends the husband of a famous rock singer who was found being killed after having had a tremendous discussion with her husband and her manager.
When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.
Harry J. Lennix stars as trailblazing and controversial African-American congressman and Civil Rights activist Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who started out as a preacher in Harlem and then went on to deal with such issues as the integration of schools in the 1940s and '50s. Vanessa Williams portrays his second wife, jazz singer Hazel Scott.
A deep look at the class warfare and the contradictions that African-Americans face within their own community when many of them are ostracized because they are “not black enough.” An analysis of the reasons behind these absurd acts of hatred.
Story of a woman who wakes up on the morning of her 35th birthday and decides she wants to settle down and get married, so she goes on a series of hilarious dating encounters only to realize that the most important thing is for her to be comfortable in her own skin.
The landmark musical brought vividly to life by the New York Philharmonic, with an all-star cast led by Vanessa Williams, Julian Ovenden, Lauren Worsham, Norm Lewis, Jane Alexander and Fred Willard.
47 minute comedic parody with Professor N. Likeflynn (Martin Keegan) offers dating advice on how to score with hot chicks and older women. Consists short clips of music videos, and examples of how to hit on women.
A struggling inner-city mother sacrifices everything to give her son a good education. Unwilling to allow her son to stay in a dangerous school, she launches a movement that could save his future - and that of thousands like him.
A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Williams traces the struggles and triumphs of the superstars of music and film. Among the many artists featured are: Whitney Houston, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald, and Little Richard, Also included are today's contemporary superstars: Snoop Dogg, Ice T, Quincy Jones, Spike Lee, Russell Simmons, and many, more! 80 minutes plus DVD bonus features.
A mysterious new villain known only as Hush uses a gallery of villains to destroy Batman's crime-fighting career as well as Bruce Wayne's personal life, which has been further complicated by a relationship with Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
An extremely unique celebration of Christmas for the young and hip and the young at heart.
Directed by Michael Stevens. With Michael McDonald, Phil McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Ruben Studdard.
After releasing a mythical monster upon the islands, a group of three young friends must use local legends to restore peace to their home.
The Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia was held on June 9, 1998, in support of the War Child charity, specifically to benefit the orphans of war-torn Liberia. The concert was directed by Spike Lee and featured guest performances by Stevie Wonder, Celine Dion, Jon Bon Jovi, Spice Girls, Trisha Yearwood, Natalie Cole and The Corrs.
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline, Esther and Alice struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming of stardom, riches and happiness. By night, they dance their troubles away at the famous Savoy Ballroom. But when World War II appears on the horizon, the girls find their fortunes unfolding too unevenly to reconcile, and they inevitably begin to drift apart.
In 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.
Join us for a livestream concert series featuring singer and actress Vanessa Williams. Streamed live from New York’s Shubert Virtual Studios, the show will feature a mix of Broadway show tunes, pop songs, and personal stories from the Williams' life.
In this sentimental holiday tale, a young boy is taken away from his loving, adoptive household when his new mom is killed in an auto accident and his traveling musician dad is deemed unfit to care for him, being on the road too much. Now, the only thing that can help is if a cold, bureaucratic adoption agency caseworker sees the error of her ways and allows them to be together.
Amanda Waller's top-secret "Task Force X" — consisting of Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, and Copperhead — is on a mission to retrieve a mystical object so powerful that they're willing to risk their lives to steal it. However, the Suicide Squad isn't the only group of villains seeking to possess the object. It's a race for the golden prize, and second place isn't an option if they want to stay alive.
Inspired by the O. Henry short story "Gift of the Magi", Gift for the Living is a story about a grandmother and her granddaughter who, without the other's knowledge, sell their most treasured possession in order to buy the other a birthday gift. In the granddaughter's quest for the perfect gift, she discovers her grandmother's rich and unique history, a history her grandmother never spoke of. Gift for the Living is a story about love, friendship, loss and sacrifice.
An evening of celebrated stars performing the titles songs from Broadway’s best.
The film examines the "who" and "why" of women and girls in beauty pageants, emphasizing the #MeToo era. It examines the good (pageants for the disabled), the bad (exploitive pageants), and the really ugly (child pageants).
In commemoration of the 100th birthday of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, performers present classic Hammerstein songs.
A documentary that chronicles the journey of L.A.’s “Best in Drag Show” to support the Alliance for Housing and Healing. The event, which started as a spur-of-the-moment spoof of Miss America thrown by a few twenty-something friends in a tiny West Hollywood apartment in 1990, grew to become L.A.’s longest-running drag benefit, including appearances by A-list actors, playing before thousands of people and grossing over $6 million to help those living with HIV/AIDS. With humor and heart, director John Carlos Frey takes us through an emotional journey of queer life and activism from the 90s to today.
Come one, come all for Sesame Street's 35th anniversary musical gathering! Is there one song the whole world can sing together? Find out when Super Grover embarks on an outrageous mission. There's musical mayhem when Oscar the Grouch gets a song stuck in Big Bird's head and our yellow-feathered friend begins his own search for someone to help him name that tune.
Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade is a live television special.
A look back at 75 years of Disney magic on the silver screen and a look ahead to the all-new animated adventure comedy, "The Princess and the Frog." Host Vanessa Williams is joined by some of the brightest stars of television, movies, music and sports, who share their favorite memories of Disney animation.
Hybrid documentary about one of the most successful shows in Puerto Rican television history: ‘No te duermas’