Comedy Central has called on the entertainment masterminds Russell Simmons and Stan Lathan for a dose of stand-up comedy with hip-hop flavor for its network.  We all know Simmons and Lathan as the producers of the HBO hit show, Def Comedy Jam which aired throughout the 1990's.  Def Comedy Jam was responsible for launching the careers of comedians such as Martin Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Bernie Mac, and David Chappelle.  Comedy Central has ordered six half-hour episodes of the new series.  Simmons and Lathan have already discovered some new talent and each episode will feature three comics.  The show will be hosted by JB Smoove with music by DJ Cassidy. 

"Def Comedy Jam made a significant contribution to American pop culture by introducing so many superstars," stated Simmons. "Now, with Comedy Central as our new partner, we're poised to present the next generation of star talent."  

Just me:  Comedy Central is so in need of some urban flavor since they lost David Chappelle and David Alan Grier's show doesn't look like it's returning.  My only concern is the comedians being somewhat censored since it's on network television instead of HBO.  It's always great to see comedians do stand-up in raw form.  But I'm sure it will still be entertaining.

So......

I was flipping through channels two days ago and came across Centric.  It's a new television station targeting Black people (excuse me, African Americans) between the ages of 25-54.  I can't remember exactly what show was playing that made me stop on this channel.  But I got so excited when I realized their was a new channel for Black people on television as opposed to BET.  So I performed my usual web surfing and came across an article on Multichannel News that pretty much crushed me.  Apparently, Centric is owned by Viacom.