Kym Whitley, Tisha Campbell and Yvette Nicole Brown are set to star in “Act Your Age,” a multi-camera comedy series from MGM Television that is expected to premiere on Bounce in the spring.
Bounce, the digital multicast and streaming channel that targets Black viewers, has given the series a 16-episode order. It’s the third original scripted comedy series scheduled to join the Bounce lineup, on the heels of “Johnson” and “Finding Happy.” The show is also a notable new piece of business for MGM Television since the studio was acquired by Amazon earlier this year.
“Act Your Age” reads like a “Golden Girls”-esque ensemble for a new era. Whitley plays Bernadette, a successful, no-nonsense real estate developer. Campbell plays Keisha, described as “the wild card of the group who is always up to something.” Brown, who is billed as a special guest star, plays Angela, the former First Lady of Norfolk, Virginia, who is looking to redefine her life after the death of her husband.
Alyson Fouse (“Big Shot,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “The Wanda Sykes Show”) created “Act Your Age” and also serves as showrunner and executive produce along with MGM TV’s Mark Burnett, Barry Poznick and Bradley Gardner (“Hot in Cleveland”). Ken Ornstein (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is co-exec producer. The series is lensing in Los Angeles.
“The opportunity to do ‘Act Your Age’ with Kym, Tisha and Yvette on Bounce, a network that has made me feel so comfortable being my authentic self, means the world to me,” Fouse said. “We’ve built a world where the stories of Black women in the prime of their lives can be both funny and heartfelt; a world where individually they shine but they also show support for one another. ‘Act Your Age’ is a celebration of the Black women who have loved, raised, befriended and held me up through the years and it honors and salutes the ones who have inspired me.”
The series order for “Act Your Age” also reflects a stepped-up investment in Bounce content by E.W. Scripps Co. The TV station group acquired Bounce along with a handful of other digital multicast channels for about $300 million in 2017. That deal and others put Scripps in a good position to play in the realm of FAST (free advertising-supported TV) live streaming channels that are becoming a growing force in TV and advertising. Last last year, Scripps promoted Bounce veteran Cheryle Harrison as head of the channel.
Bounce’s “Johnson,” a buddy comedy revolving around four male friends in Atlanta, wrapped its second season in September. “Finding Happy,” which focuses on a 36-year-old woman who decides to change her life, also debuted in September. Both of those shows hail from A Bird and A Bear Entertainment, headed by producer Eric C. Rhone and Cedric the Entertainer.
“Partnering with MGM Television, working with top showrunner Alyson Fouse, and attracting immensely popular and talented actors Kym Whitley, Tisha Campbell and Yvette Nicole Brown are game-changing and huge steps forward for Bounce originals,” said David Hudson, VP of original programming for Scripps Networks.
