Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Skewers Tyler Perry With Savage Parody — Plus, Who Is That Playing ‘Kirkwood Chocolate’?
Man, Atlanta got here proper after movie and TV mogul Tyler Perry with this week’s hilarious parody… and so they didn’t pull any punches.
Thursday’s episode finds Van driving along with her daughter Lottie to an enormous movie manufacturing complicated referred to as Chocolate Studios, run by the elusive Kirkwood Chocolate. (For the document, Tyler Perry owns a 300-acre movie manufacturing complicated in Atlanta referred to as Tyler Perry Studios.) On their approach in, they move a tour information who touts Chocolate Studios as “a studio for the tradition, and by the tradition.” The complicated consists of state-of-the-art soundstages, together with an ominous constructing that Mr. Chocolate has transformed into “a private workplace… Nobody’s allowed in, or out.” Van is there to shoot a scene on one among Chocolate’s sitcoms as a day participant; a good friend informed her about it, and she or he thought she’d attempt it. She admits, although, that she hasn’t watched a lot of Chocolate’s reveals or motion pictures. And he or she’s not alone: The lady doing her hair confesses, “I hate it, personally.” (Van additionally meets a upkeep man named Shamik, and so they appear to share a spark.)
Van shoots a scene on a brightly lit multi-cam sitcom, the place her character consoles a good friend having marital points. The good friend’s husband barges in indignant: “Didn’t I inform you you couldn’t have any pals?” The actors cease, although, when a faceless voice from an intercom interrupts, suggesting small tweaks to the scene, and the manufacturing employees rapidly obeys. After they attempt the scene once more, the husband yells at Van’s character to go away, and Lottie, standing off-camera, tells him to close up. Van scrambles to apologize, however the voice on the intercom desires to see extra of the lady. Lottie asks the place that voice is coming from, and it replies: “I’m all over the place, like God. I’m Mr. Chocolate.” He places Lottie within the scene telling the husband to close up — and when an assistant reminds him that Lottie wasn’t in any of the earlier scenes, he says merely: “We’ll repair it in submit.”
They ship Lottie to wardrobe, and the assistant reassures Van: “With the best way that Mr. Chocolate shoots, you’ll each most likely nonetheless be performed by lunch.” (For the document: Tyler Perry at present has eight TV reveals airing on varied networks, together with The Oval and Sistas, and has stated he doesn’t use a writers’ room, preferring to put in writing and direct each episode himself.) Whereas Lottie tries on outfits, Van confides in a kindly older lady, telling her she’s unsure about placing Lottie in a TV present. The girl quotes a Bible verse to say that an individual who’s not open to the enjoyment of a kid isn’t open to true happiness — and Lottie does appear glad. She shoots an entire new scene on the sitcom, and one other mother tells Van that Mr. Chocolate might be writing a child’s present for her proper now. (The mother even pitches her personal child to play Lottie’s “finest good friend who’s good at computer systems.”)
When Van appears to be like up, although, Lottie has vanished. An assistant tells her Lottie has already moved onto the subsequent scene — and she or he’s now been written into 14 extra scenes. (She’s quantity three on the decision sheet!) Van calls for to speak to Mr. Chocolate… however the assistant has by no means really talked to him in particular person herself. Shamik affords to take Van to the subsequent stage, although, and so they chat alongside the best way, with him revealing Mr. Chocolate gave him this upkeep job after he obtained out of jail, which provides him time to do crypto mining at night time. (He slips her his enterprise card, too.) On the soundstage, they’re capturing a drama the place Abe Lincoln is crying and a Black lady says to him: “You white piece of s–t. I hope you get shot in a theater.” Lottie’s not there, although; she’s already onto the subsequent stage. Van is fed up, however a girl there can’t assist her: “I’m directing two pilots and starring in one other… Mr. Chocolate is the one one who is aware of what’s occurring.”
Van insists on being taken to the place Lottie is now, and the girl complies, however she additionally says Van will probably be glad when Lottie “wins that BET Award.” By the point they get to the subsequent stage, Lottie is capturing a severe dramatic scene that ends along with her on-screen mom… consuming a crack sandwich? However as soon as the scene ends, Lottie disappears, with an assistant assuring Van she’s protected: “Mr. Chocolate is all the time watching, and he has plans for her.” Van loses it, asking in the event that they’re all in a cult, and tries to get a safety guard to assist — however he’s additionally simply an intern fetching espresso. She stares up on the intercom and orders it to offer her Lottie again, and after a pause, the voice replies: “No.” So Van marches over to Chocolate’s workplace constructing, the place two armed guards in navy garb cease her from getting into. The outdated woman from earlier comforts her as she cries to her about Lottie — after which the outdated woman pulls out a gun and shoots one of many guards within the foot! (The opposite guard says they had been simply holding pretend M-16s from one among Chocolate’s motion pictures.)
Van returns house with Lottie and apologizes to her, telling her she desires her to be sufficiently old to determine what she desires earlier than committing to one thing like that. She provides Lottie a giant hug and guarantees she’ll all the time be there for her. After Lottie runs off to her room, Van checks out Shamik’s enterprise card — and sees he wrote on the again: “Let’s have intercourse within the boiler room.” However nah: As an alternative, she tells Lottie she’s making mac and cheese.
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