No matter how many times I watch an episode of”
Second Generation Wayans,” I just cannot get into it. The show’s wardrobe stylist dresses
Tatyana Ali like a soft porn star, most of the lines delivered by
George O. “Junior” Gore II defy the golden rule that good writing is showing, not telling (His lines are like, “I am opening a door. I am going to walk through it. Now I am closing it. I am so talented, and no one knows it.”). The
real Wayans are the most attractive, but least pungent characters and the general plot lacks the universal storytelling that makes a TV show a classic.
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The show is almost good, yet not quite–in a way that first sitcom that Bill Cosby created was almost good. But more on that later. ‘Second Generation Wayans” reminds me of how much I miss the days when there were black scripted shows that set the tone for “good” across the board. What’s not good? The show trying to be comedy and drama, when it reads like it wants to be just drama–which is a break from what you think of when you hear “Wayans.” It would be good if it leaned a little more toward “Entourage.” They could take a note from LMFAO, (Berry Gordy legacy) and be standout heirs that cue to youth trends.
We are so many years since the 1990s golden age of black television that it can seem that black viewers do not always notice the sharp decline in TV writing since “Family Matters,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Martin,” “Living Single,” “Sister, Sister” and “Girlfriends” aired on basic network television. Well, perhaps not. Neilsen reports that the top-viewed scripted shows by African-American viewers in February 2013 are “Scandal,” “Person of Interest” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Quality is noticed. “Scandal,” today’s goddess of scripted television, works hard on writing, acting, editing, styling and research and we as viewers appreciate the effort of quality. This show is halfway there.I never thought that we could be alive today and flip through channels and not see a Wayans production tag stamped all over the place the way the names Carsey/Werner popped up on everything in the 1990s. It is funny, because I believed in the supremacy of the Wayans family way more than I expected a black president.
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While cable channels are airing shows featuring Blacks in primary roles, I notice that Black-owned networks cannot compete in great comedy writing. While people like W. Kamau Bell, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are setting the comedic mean on other networks appealing to a cult segment, the black-owned legacy that was hinted at in the early era of Eddie Murphy, Robert Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans has not come into institutionalization. And that fact makes a show called “Second Generation Wayans” ironic.
Here are my five suggestions to how “Second Generation Wayans” could be way better:
1. Be a Black “Melrose Place”
Young Wayanses, everybody knows you each probably had stupid, crazy episodes on MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen.” Play up the fact that you are part of a family dynasty with a script that is a bit more “Dynasty.” The pilot would have been way more interesting if it had kicked off a mock series about black Hollywood kids navigating between excess and ambition. Have a context for your characters that the viewers can follow along with. The show can follow you all trying to be altruistic and self-made in a world where you can easily pimp cup through life.
2. Hire your funny peers to write for you
Issa Rae, Wyatt Cenac, Kenan Thompson, the dude who played Twofer on 30 Rock. Something is missing from the script, and it may be head writers who can vividly relate the the plot line about struggling in Hollywood while Black. You have a lot of experience on the current team, but the script is missing flavor. I think Cynac is the best bet because people like “Medicine for Melancholy,” and because he vibes on the new young Black influencer energy pretty well. Cynac could bring what works with shows like “Louie“(written by Louis C.K.whose credits include Chris Rock‘s “I Think I Love My Wife” and “Entourage.” There is still room for someone to king writing about today’s Black affluent lifestyle.
3. Un-complicate the storyline
There is so much going on with the characters that none of the characters shine, and the Wayans are the least interesting or understandable ones. The TV business is a hard business for audiences to get their heads around. “30 Rock” did a great job of creating a trimmed down storyline about the business in a way that “Living Single” made the magazine business a simple backdrop for the storyline. Have one place where the whole story unfolds. If the production office is basecamp, build the key scenes and characters there. And give each episode a theme instead of the approach of a broken storyline that plays better for webisode scripts.
4. Stop styling Tatyana Ali like a soft porn star
Seriously, it is weird, and it is so out of place. I think Maya’s character would dress really nerdy and asexual since the guys never flirt with her and because creative girls aren’t trying to dress like the center of attention, a la Issa Rae look.
5. Distinguish the main characters
Make Damien a caricature of self-centeredness. Make Craig more distinct from George by making Craig the very artsy, very sensual one, in a Maxwell way. Give Tatyana’s character a motivation outside of dressing like a soft porn star…yes, I am so stuck on that. Everybody likes romantic motivation, so perhaps playing up sexual tension between Craig and Maya would be awesome for the central plot. But George is not a believable romantic lead, so dash that from his persona. Give him over to the black nerd trend and build his character there. And figure out Maya…she is too random. Trim down the sidekick characters, including Marlon. Sorry to say that because I kind of love him.
But where I could focus on being condemning of “Second Generation Wayans,” I appreciate watching a first draft. Optimism for the future of the younger Wayans generation emerges from my late night viewing habits. “Second Generation Wayans” has so much potential and is on the right track for a generation where Black young professionals are second generational successes and most millennials are given to entrepreneurship.
Writing for television is not an easy formula. Richard Pryor‘s attempts at television didn’t work, and he is a comedic god with a show’s cast that included Tim Reid, Robin Williams, Sandra Bernhard, John Witherspoon and of course Paul Mooney. While Damien and Craig should not feel the pressure of the older generation’s shadow, they should feel the urge to correct the greatest miss of the Keenan/Damon/Kim/Marlon/Shawn era, which is impenetrable legacy building.
As content moves online and creativity is diversifying, the voice of today’s younger generation of the Black creative, should show a savvy direction of where Black storytelling is heading. They can start by anchoring their show to the core of what it means to be young, Black and affluent today with a more approachable, simple storyline. After all, masterminding where trends are going is what made Wayans magical in the first place.
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