Wanda at Large
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| Wanda at Large | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Lance Crouther Les Firestein Bruce Helford Wanda Sykes |
| Written by | Lance Crouther Barton Dean Les Firestein Jennifer Fisher Alyson Fouse Brian Hargrove Bruce Helford Jack Lugar Jack Kenny Patrick Meighan Sue Murphy Dino Shorte Wanda Sykes |
| Directed by | John Blanchard Gerry Cohen Leonard R. Garner, Jr. Katy Garretson Shelley Jensen< br>Bob Koherr Lee Shallat-Chemel |
| Starring | Wanda Sykes Phil Morris Dale Godboldo Tammy Lauren |
| Composer(s) | Mathematics |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 19 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Les Firestein Brian Hargrove Bruce Helford Jack Kenny Deborah Oppenheimer |
| Producer(s) | Michael Attanasio Jennifer Fisher Ernest Johnson Lisa Koontz Wanda Sykes |
| Editor(s) | Larry Harris |
| Cinematography | Gregg Heschong Julius Metoyer |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Mohawk Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Fox |
| Original run | March 26, 2003 – November 7, 2003 |
Wanda at Large is an American sitcom that ran for two seasons on the Fox network in 2003. The series was created by and stars comedian Wanda Sykes.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Sykes starred as Wanda Hawkins, an outspoken standup comic who is chosen to be a correspondent on a Washington, D.C., political talk show The Beltway Gang on WHDC-TV[1]. However, Wanda's mannerisms infuriate the show's moderators (Phil Morris and Ann Magnuson). At home, Wanda must manage her sister-in-law (Tammy Lauren), who is raising two children, Holly (Jurnee Smollett), and Barris (Robert Bailey, Jr.).
[edit] Reception and cancellation
Wanda at Large premiered on Fox on March 26, 2003, following American Idol. It gradually decreased in the ratings, premiering with 14.3 million viewers, and falling down to 10 million by the season finale. It still averaged 12.2 million for the six-episode season, however, making it the fourth highest-rated show on Fox that year out of 26, and leading Fox to renew the show. Its first-season finale aired in April 2003. In September, the show returned with new episodes in the Friday night death slot at 8:30, only to be canceled on November 7 along with the new show Luis.
During an interview with the Urbanite magazine at Georgia State University, Sykes explained that the show was only supposed to be on Friday night for an interim basis. According to Sykes, "We were told if the new night didn't work out, we would be moved to another timeslot. But, that's part of the game television execs play." She also admitted in a January 2004 interview that she wished that the series would have launched on UPN instead of Fox.[2]
[edit] Cast
- Wanda Sykes – Wanda Hawkins
- Dale Godboldo – Keith Townsend
- Phil Morris – Bradley Grimes
- Ann Magnuson – Star
- Tammy Laure – Jenny Hawkins
- Jurnee Smollett – Holly Hawkins
- Robert Bailey, Jr. – Barris Hawkins
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Season 1
| Series # | Season # | Title | Notes | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Stand-up comedian and actress, Wanda Sykes stars as Wanda Hawkins, a struggling comic living in Washington DC, who manages to land a job as an on-air news reporter at a local news station. In the series premiere, Wanda, through flashbacks, relates how she was hired and subsequently fired from her job when her liberal views clash with the conservative news anchors. | March 26, 2003 |
| 2 | 2 | "Death of a Councilman" | Wanda becomes enamored with her flirtatious interview subject Jonathan Lyles, the director of public relations at the Board of Health. Unfortunately, after she begins dating Jonathan, Wanda finds out that her crew has captured footage of major health violations - in the cafeteria at the Board of Health. She must decide whether to produce a great exposé, embarrassing Jonathan, or suppress the evidence in order to preserve her relationship. Meanwhile, when Wanda's nephew, Barris gets into trouble at school for cursing like Wanda, Jenny forces Wanda to accompany her and Barris to a conference with his teacher. | April 2, 2003 |
| 3 | 3 | "Wanda & Bradley" | Roger tricks a feuding Wanda and Bradley into attending a basketball game as a promotional stunt. | April 9, 2003 |
| 4 | 4 | "Alma Mater" | When Jenny, Barris, and Holly determine to throw Wanda a surprise birthday party despite Keith's warnings, he hides Wanda's keys to detain her, but then she thinks she's been robbed. | April 16, 2003 |
| 5 | 5 | "King Rat" | Wanda does an exposé on a crooked councilman, but when he dies unexpectedly before the piece airs, her boss edits it into a tribute without her consent, so she is invited to speak about the man at his funeral. | April 23, 2003 |
| 6 | 6 | "Wanda's Party" | Wanda and Keith are invited to receive honorary doctorates from the college they both attended—and from which they were expelled. Their differences of opinion on how they should conduct themselves at the ceremony result in a rift in their friendship. | April 30, 2003 |
[edit] Season 2
| Series # | Season # | Title | Notes | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Favor" | Wanda accepts a challenge from Bradley to get a famous, troubled athlete on her show for an interview. Although Keith doubts Wanda has the ability to accomplish the task, she is intent on proving him wrong. She figures out a foolproof way to get it done, but there's one hitch, she will have to reconnect with her ex-husband, Vincent. | September 19, 2003 |
| 8 | 2 | "Hurricane Hawkins" | Wanda makes a bad first impression on the new station manager, Max, and tries to reconcile with him by taking him out for drinks. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that Max is a recovering alcoholic. | September 26, 2003 |
| 9 | 3 | "Where's Roger" | Wanda is glad when Bradley's longtime best friend, Laven asks her on a date, not because she's particularly attracted to him, but because dating Laven would annoy Bradley. When Wanda and Laven persuade a very reluctant Bradley to visit a strip club with them, Bradley is mortified to be recognized and photographed. With Bradley's job as a respected newscaster in peril, Wanda realizes it's time to change her tactics. | October 3, 2003 |
| 10 | 4 | "Bradley Has a Friend" | Holly decides that she would much rather, live with her Aunt Wanda then with Jenny. | October 17, 2003 |
| 11 | 5 | "Leave Your Daughter at Home Day" | Wanda's piece is playing on the Beltway Gang, and as it's ending, Max is furious that Wanda hasn't arrived at work, and thus isn't there to sit on the panel. Viewers love it when she calls in to do the show from her car via cell phone, But later when Wanda shows up on time to do a piece about ATMs, she is just in time to get stuck in the middle of a bank robbery and forced to do some hard-core reporting from the scene, Wanda style. | October 31, 2003 |
| 12 | 6 | "Clowns to the Left of Me" | Wanda prepares for a visit from her demanding and overbearing mother, who much to the dismay of Wanda, takes an immediate shine to Bradley. | October 31, 2003 |
| 13 | 7 | "They Shoot Reporters, Don't They?" | Wanda does a controversial piece calling out Animal Rights organizations. The activists become furious and demand an apology from Wanda, who in turn is enjoying the publicity. That is until the station management considers firing her due to the bad public relations image that is being project from the incident. | November 7, 2003 |
| 14 | 8 | "Back to the Club" | Wanda returns to stand up after she gets into trouble with the station manager and is fired from the Beltway Gang. | November 7, 2003 |
| 15 | 9 | "Twas the Knife Before Christmas" | Wanda admits the dreaded "L" word to Bradley, after she reluctantly sees Keith's therapist. | Unaired |
| 16 | 10 | "Only Built for Cuban Wandas" | Wanda and Keith look forward to a Christmas full of drinking and partying that is until Wanda gets stuck with Jenny's kids as she has to have her appendix removed in emergency surgery. Holly gets suspended from school for fighting. | Unaired |
| 17 | 11 | "Plane Trip" | Wanda, Jenny and Keith place bets to see who can go out on a date one time only without getting attached. Unfortunately, everyone gets a date that is perfect for them and they have to play it off to win the bet. | Unaired |
| 18 | 12 | "The Unnatural" | Bradley comes to blows with a rap mogul, who's a last-minute replacement for the show's scheduled guest, Six Finga Assassin. | Unaired |
| 19 | 13 | "Did Wanda Say a 4-Letter Word?" | Wanda is mocking the expensive cost of plane travel and decides to pack herself in a trunk and fly cross country. Wanda is dating a doctor whom she thinks is the perfect man until she discovers he has a fear of flying. | Unaired |
* The unaired episodes were aired for the first time on TVOne on July 4, 2006 during the 4th of July launch marathon of the series.
[edit] Syndication
Reruns began airing regularly on July 5, 2006 on United States cable channel TV One. A marathon aired on July 4 as part of the channel's "Power to the People" July 4 weekend celebration.
[edit] Award nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | BET Comedy Awards | Nominated | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Wanda Sykes |
| Outstanding Comedy Series |
|
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| Satellite Awards | Nominated | Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical | Wanda Skyes | |
| 2003 | Teen Choice Awards | Nominated | Choice TV Breakout Star - Female | Wanda Sykes |
| Choice TV Breakout Show |
|
|||
| Choice TV Actress - Comedy | Wanda Sykes |
[edit] References
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. pp. 1280. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Huff, Dominique (2006-04-13). "Wanda does Urbanite". gsusignal.com. http://media.www.gsusignal.com/media/storage/paper924/news/2006/04/13/Urbanite/Wanda.Does.Urbanite-2014424.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
