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"Five" offers few great moments, but a few good performances

With products and football players awash in pink and pink ribbons, you've probably noticed that it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

"Five" (9 tonight, Lifetime) aims to raise awareness of the disease by focusing on the emotional issues surrounding the diagnosis, through five different stories, three directed by star names -- Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys and Demi Moore. The other two were handled by two women more experienced in the craft, Patty Jenkins ("Monster") and Penelope Spheeris ("Wayne's World").

The result is a well-intentioned, but uneven mix of tales, none with great moments of insight, but some with moments of grace and humor.

Tyler Perry tells TBS "Boondocks" isn't very funny

Turner Broadcasting is in hot water with mogul/Oprah friend Tyler Perry, according to the Los Angeles Times.

It all started when satirist Aaron McGruder came hard on Perry on the Father's Day episode of "The Boondocks," the cartoon that appears on the Turner-owned Cartoon Network, during its late night Adult Swim programming.

In the episode, a character very much like Tyler Perry offers the grandfather in "The Boondocks" a chance at fame. Winston Jerome is portrayed as a closeted cross-dresser who uses religion as a cover and a weapon. He's also a really bad writer. It's sometimes hilarious, sometimes homophobic and overall,  scathing. Naturally, Perry didn't like it one bit.

Raleigh native Emily Procter talks "CSI: Miami"

 

 

 

Tonight "CSI" Miami" begins its eighth season on CBS (10 p.m.) and even star Emily Procter, who plays Calleigh Duquesne, will tell you it's a year of change.

"That is an understatement," she says on the phone from Los Angeles. "They say everything changes every 7 years and that certainly applies to us."

If you haven't heard, Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) is leaving the show; he's scheduled to appear in about 10 episodes. (He's starring in the new Tyler Perry film "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" and has a role on "Ugly Betty.")

CNN explores being Black in America, again

Almost exactly a year ago, CNN presented Black in America, a 4-hour, 2-night documentary that aimed to explore African-American life. The first part focused on the black woman & family; the second, the black man. Soledad O'Brien did the reporting.

Touted by the network as 'groundbreaking', the series attracted a lot of conversation, not all of it good. Some African-American viewers thought it was simply a litany of black pathology, aimed primarily at explaining issues to a white audience.

Still, Black in America attracted 16 million viewers, so tonight and tomorrow CNN presents Black in America 2. And, as if in response to those negative criticisms, the 4-hour, 2-night sequel is about solutions. Tonight's episode at 9 p.m. (after the president's press conference) is Today's Pioneers. On Thursday, at 8 p.m. there's Tomorrow's Leaders. (At 7 p.m. tonight there is a live countdown to the show.)

BET & MTV Go Old School

 

A story in the New York Times says that Viacom, which owns BET and MTV, is forming a new cable channel for middle-aged African-Americans, that they'll call Centric.

They'll make the formal announcement today.

It's set to debut in October, and BET execs says it's meant to complement BET by appealing to an older and more affluent audience.

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