A heaping order of family and laughter are on the menu when TV One premieres its latest original scripted series Belle's, a new comedy centered around widower William "Big Bill" Cooper who owns and operates his family's upscale soul food restaurant, on Monday, January 21, 2013 at 10:00 pm EST on TV One. The half-hour series, co-created by legendary Emmy(R) Award-winning producer Ed. Weinberger (Taxi, The Cosby Show), features an all-star cast including Keith David (The Cape, Crash,), Elise Neal (All of Us, The Hughley's),Tami Roman (Vh-1's Basketball Wives), Ella Joyce (Roc) and Miguel Núñez (Juwanna Mann), and introduces young actress Nadja Alaya.
In addition to running the restaurant, Bill (Keith David) must deal with his two headstrong daughters: Jill (Elise Neal), the sensible hardworking manager of Belle's who also juggles being a single mom; and Loreta (Tami Roman), a stylish, self-absorbed prima donna whose ambitions alternate between a career in the music business and finding a rich husband. And if working with his daughters isn't challenging enough, Bill must deal with the temperamental chef at Belle's who also happens to be his - thorn-in-the-side sister-in-law, Gladys (Ella Joyce). Rounding out the family is cousin Maurice (Miguel Núñez), the irresponsible bartender and self-proclaimed ladies' man who is always in hot water; and Jill's savvy tween daughter Pam (NadjaAlaya), who seems to be the only one who has a handle on everyone and everything that happens in the family, and at Belle's.
Belle's takes a page from sitcoms of an earlier era by tackling hard hitting cultural issuesthrough the prism of comedy and laughter. In the premiere episode, Jill rents out the restaurant to the Crawford family to host their annual family reunion. Just as the Coopers get ready to celebrate their sudden windfall, Big Bill is tormented to discover the Crawfords' once owned his wife's family during slavery.
Comments