In “The Ms. Pat Show,” Patricia Williams tells her own story. The BET+ series was created and executive produced by Jordan E. Cooper and Williams, known in the comedy world as Ms. Pat, as a…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
In “The Ms. Pat Show,” Patricia Williams tells her own story. The BET+ series was created and executive produced by Jordan E. Cooper and Williams, known in the comedy world as Ms. Pat, as a show heavily based on her own life and family. According to Williams, who also stars in the series, the two developed the series as a throwback to Black family sitcoms of old, albeit with a modern edge perfect for the Ms. Pat sensibility.
“I grew up watching ‘The Jeffersons, Good Times.’ I never wanted to be like anybody, because I know my mama act like me. They wasn’t allowing Black women to say, ‘Sit your Black ass down’ on national TV. They wasn’t allowing us to be the way we really grew up,” Williams said in the Variety Streaming Room presented by BET+. “I definitely wasn’t Clair Huxtable, but that’s the figure that they put in front of us. That’s the biggest figure as a Black mom they put in front of all of us, but that wasn’t my mom. So when Jordan created ‘The Ms. Pat Show,’ this what I was used to… It didn’t matter what color or walk of life you came from, everybody had an aunt, a mama, a cousin like Ms. Pat. So finally, I got to see somebody that represents me on TV, which was me.”
Williams was joined by Cooper and her co-stars, Tami Roman and J. Bernard Calloway, for a conversation moderated by Variety senior entertainment reporter Angelique Jackson. The group discussed creating the show, their memories from shooting the first season last year and what’s to come in the upcoming second season.
Although “The Ms. Pat Show” is styled after classic sitcoms, it also features very raunchy, adult humor, complete with explicit swearing. While discussing shooting the show’s pilot, Cooper said that he purposefully began the show with a swear word, in order to demonstrate to the audience the type of humor they would see throughout the show.
“I remember when we shot that pilot, it was like a big experiment for me. I was so excited because I wanted to hear the first laugh, because I couldn’t remember a time where a show like this existed where you say ‘motherfucker,’ you know what I mean? I was like, ‘Are they going to laugh?'” Cooper said. “And literally, that’s why I wrote the first line of the pilot as, ‘Any of you motherfuckers ever been shot before?’ Because I wanted them to know right off what they getting, as soon as they press play, this is what you getting into.”
“The Ms. Pat Show” is currently streaming on BET+. Watch the full conversation above.
