Jenifer Lewis Movies

The couple that slays together stays together in this satirical suspense comedy about a bored husband and wife who accidentally discover that they're natural born killers. Brian and Tanya Diggs have always been the timid couple that is too self-conscious to cut loose and have fun. When therapy fails and all the passion in their relationship withers away, Brian and Tanya become convinced that they are destined to lead a life of stale repetition. But one night, when Brian becomes locked into a confrontation that calls for him to kill or be killed, he is shocked to discover that he takes great pleasure in murder. When Brian confesses his murderous crime in Tanya, the mousy housewife isn't quite sure how to react. Soon Brian is feeling better than ever, and eager to kill again. But the second murder doesn't go quite as smooth as the first, and when it begins to look as if Brian will end up on the wrong end of the knife Tanya rushes to her husband's aid. Now having officially claimed her first victim, Tanya realizes that she too has a taste for killing. Now, as the newly invigorated couple embarks on a murderous mission to rid the world of the worst that society has to offer, they realize that there's no problem a few butchers knives and a screaming victim or two can't make right. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Joining the cast of the Lifetime network doctor series Strong Medicine during its fifth season is Tamera Mowry as Dr. Kayla Thornton, new first-year resident at Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic. Though raised in a rural community, Kayla has returned to her home town of Philadelphia to pursue a medical career that was inspired by the tragic death of her brother. The arrival of Kayla proves to be a blessing for the clinic's male nurse Peter (Josh Coxx), who falls in love with the attractive resident--even though his feelings are not entirely reciprocated, at least not at first. Otherwise, Season Five picks up where Season Four left off, as Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi), one of Rittenhouse's two medical directors, falls in love with Ben Sanderson (Grant Show), the hospital's chief benefactor. Even so, Lu balks when Ben begs her to come with him when he is transferred to Hawaii. Meanwhile, Lu's partner Dr. Andy Campbell (Patricia Richardson) continues having issues with her daughters Jessie (Michelle Horn) and Lizzie (Morgan Flynn) over her divorce from her abusive husband Les. Andy tries to move on with her life by dating Dr. Milo Morton (Richard Biggs), but this proves difficult thanks to the resistance of her ex-husband. Tragically, Milo is slated to be killed by a drunken motorist, which is one of the motivating factors for Andy to consider giving up the clinic and lobbying for the position of State Attorney General (the other is the fact that she is denied the position of clinic chief of staff, a post recently departed by Dr. Paul Santiago [Philip Casanoff]). Meanwhile, Lu has problems of her own, beginning with the likelihood that her son Marc (Chris Marquette) has gotten a girl pregnant.On a more positive note, Lu enters into a relationship with Jonas Ray (Nestor Carbonel), a self-made millionaire from humble Cuban-refugee origins. Guest stars this season include Olympic athlete Keri Strug) and versatile actresses JoBeth Williams, Lynn Whitfield and Charlotte Rae. The series' 100th episode "Cinderella in Scrubs" manages to find roles for the likes of Fran Drescher, Camryn Manheim and Sara Gilbert. And in the 108th episode "First Response", the series' regulars are shunted into the background while the focus is on Nicole Hiltz and Lauren Velez as Kate and Vanessa, dedicated members of Rittenhouse's EMS team, and foster sisters (one white, one black) in the bargain. Can it be that "First Response" was intended as a spinoff for a new series? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fourth season of the feminist-oriented doctor series Strong Medicine begins with an immediate followup to the previous season's cliffhanger ending. As the firefighter boyfriend of the Rittenhouse Clinic's director Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) hovers between life and death after being shot by one of Lu's patients, Delgado's partner Dr. Andy Campbell (Patricia Richardson) makes the painful decision to separate from her abusive husband Les (Brian Kerwin), enraging her daughters Jessie (Michelle Horn) and Lizzie (Morgan Flynn) in the process. In later episodes, Andy begins a relationship with a Dr. Morton (Richard Biggs), but hesitates to introduce him to her daughters; Lu finds herself in a delicate situation when the man who raped her in Season Two comes back into her life--as a patient in desperate need of emergency heart surgery; the clinic's handsome-hunk male nurse Peter (John Coxx) unexpectedly lodges a protest when a chimpanzee is slated to be used for an experimental transplant procedure. Guest stars this season include Diahann Caroll,Shelly Long and Laila Ali, not to mention Grant Show, who in the season's concluding story arc makes three appearances as Ben Sanderson, a wealthy benefactor to the clinic. Because he is not open and above-board in his dealings, Ben incurs the rath of the combustible Lu. The tension reaches the breaking point in the season finale "Quarantine", in which an epidemic forces Lu and Ben to share some extremely close quarters--with astonishing results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second season of Lifetime's feminist medical series Strong Medicine begins with the episode "Donors", which includes a characteristic ethical clash between Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic directors Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) and Dr. Dana Stone (Janine Turner) over treatement of a girl who tries to pay for her eduction by selling her eggs to a fertility clinic, and a tense confrontation with a husband who'll stop at nothing to find a heart donor for his ailing wife. Elsewhere, the romantic relationship between Dana and egocentric resident Dr. Nick Biancavilla (Brennan Elliott) hits the first of several snags, culminating with a "big chill when Nick balks at the notion of marriage, just as Dana suspects that she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Lu has a fling with Harry (Don Michael Paul), who says he's divorced but isn't. In other developments, Lu's son Marc is booted out of school after he is caught cheating; Rittenhouse chief of staff Dr. Jackson (Philip Casnoff) begs Dana to give his wife preferential treatment when a new, experimental anti-MS drug is made available; Dana discovers that her ex-fiance has terminal cancer; Lu has a violent run-in with radio shock jock over medical ethics, and later faces the loss of her license when she inadvertently makes public the plight of a staunch pro-life advocate who is faced with the choice of saving her own life or that of her unborn child; and long-hidden hostilities are yanked kicking and screaming into the forefront when Rittenhouse's nurses go on strike. The last three episodes of the season comprise a tense story arc in which Lu is raped by a trusted colleague, surgeon Rand Kilner (Gregory Harrison), who claims that he'd merely indulged in consensual sex. The residue of this incident culminates in Lu's son Marc swearing vengeance, Dana being forced to deal with the devil when she needs Kilner for a particularly delicate operation, and an emotional tailspin for Lu that very well may cost her her job. Guest stars during Season Two include real-life MS victim Teri Garr as a good-humored woman who is diagnosed with the disease in the episode "Control Group"; and singer Mary J. Blige as "herself" in "History", wherein Lu flashes back to the establishment of her own storefront clinic with her colleagues, receptionist Lana (Jenifer Lewis) and male nurse/midwife Peter (Josh Coxx). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reggie Rock Bythewood makes his directorial debut with this sharp comedy-drama about love, compromise, and TV. The film opens with the parallel childhoods of Tomasina "Tommy" Crawford (Nicole Ari Parker) and George Washington (Isaiah Washington). Both were utterly shaped by television -- watching Roots was one of the few times that Tommy's parents stopped fighting long enough to sit on the couch together, while George was traumatized by being banned from TV for a month after swiping some church donation cash. As adults, George is a programming executive at the WPX network where fledgling writer Tommy tries to pitch shows. On the strength of both her passion for her craft and her striking good looks, George decides to champion her show called "Just Us," a serio-comedy about a juvenile offender adopted by a judge. They shoot the pilot, the network greenlights the project, and eventually they fall in love. Even though Tommy longs to present her characters in an uncompromised, unvarnished manner, pressure from network execs and advertisers forces her to water down the plot. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of a two-part story, Tess (Della Reese) pays a visit to the Greene family, the protagonists of the Touched by an Angel spinoff series Promised Land. She informs Joshua Greene (Austin O'Brien) that God has reserved a special purpose for him, specifically act as the "eyes" for the temporarily blinded Monica during her next assignment. Hitching a ride with one Michael Burns (George Newbern), Joshua and Monica end up in a rundown Denver neighborhood, where Michael's grandfather runs an inner-city mall. Here the travellers befriend lunch-counter owner Mary Harding (Esther Rolle) and her grandchildren Calvin (Sean Nelson) and Chanice (Myriah Darden), and also beauty salon proprietor Queenie (Jenifer Lewis). Unfortunately, the neighborhood is rife with tension over a dangerous band of "taggers" who have covered the walls with gang graffiti--and just before the episode ends, tragedy strikes one of the principal characters. Though the concluding half of this story originally aired as an episode of Promised Land, it is currently included in the Touched by an Angel syndication package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Chandler's (Matthew Perry) friends have issues with his smoking habit, which has resurfaced after a traumatic experience. Monica's new boyfriend, Alan (Geoffrey Lower), is popular with everyone -- except Monica (Courteney Cox). And try as she might, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) can't divest herself of a huge amount of excess money (actually two huge amounts) that she doesn't feel she deserves. ("What is up with this universe?") A certain urban legend figures largely in this episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dean Davenport (Jenifer Lewis) assigns her students to write a hypothetical conversation between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Unfortunately, Terrell (Patrick Y. Malone) lowers the level of the assignment several degrees when, as a result of a previous run-in with a gang of punks, he brings a gun to class--and is nearly expelled on the spot. Elsewhere, Kim (Charnele Brown) hesitates at accepting Spencer's (Michael Ralph) marriage proposal (even though we've already seen her accept in an earlier episode). This final network telecast of A Different World was originally scheduled to air in February of 1993, then reshuffled to June and finally July. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vivian (Daphne Maxwell Reid) digs a rather sizable hole for herself when she promises both of her sisters that each will named as baby Nicky's godmother. Meanwhile, Will (Will Smith), not wanting to be outclassed by his cousins' expensive christening gifts, rashly promises that the singing group Boyz II Men will appear at the ceremony. Told in a rare "flash-forward" format, this episode is highlighted by the inevitable musical performance at the finale--not to mention Will's outlandish Santa Claus disguise! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After making a few stupidly sexist remarks at a Halloween party, Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) has a dream in which all the candidates in the 1992 Presidential race are female: Georgia Mush, Rose Godot, et. al. In the episode's most memorable (and, as it turns out, most forward-looking) sequence, candidate "Jill Blinton", aka Whitley (Jasmine Guy), must deal with the sexual peccadilloes of her husband "Hilliard", aka Dwayne. This is one of the few episodes in which star Jasmine Guy is heard using her own, very lovely singing voice, instead of the tone-deaf caterwauling of her "Whitley" character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

New student Charmaine (Karen Malina White) is so overbearing in Dwayne's statistics class that someone slaps a sign on her back reading "Digit Ho." Convinced that punkish Terrell Walker (Patrick Y. Malone) is the guilty party, Charmaine files a formal complaint against him. Taking on the task of defending Terrell in Student Court, Freddie (Cree Summer) realizes anew that in certain cases, everyone is a little bit guilty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Six of A Different World opens with the first episode of a two-part story, in which newlyweds Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) and Whitley (Jasmine Guy) regale their friends with their recollection of the chaotic events surrounding their honeymoon. No sooner has the couple set foot in Los Angeles than the city is thrown into a frenzy over the Rodney King verdict. Trapped in the middle of the city-wide riots, the newlyweds are separated and Dwayne ends up in jail for no reason whatsover. And back at Hillman, incoming law-school student Freddie (Cree Summer) surprises one and all with her "new look"; Kim begins her first year in med school; and Lena has turned into a social activist, accusing practically everyone of selling out. New regulars include Cosby Show alumnus Karen Malina White) in her familiar role as garrulous Charmaine Brown; Bumper Robinson as goofy freshman Dorian Heywood; Patrick Y. Malone as punkish student Terrell Walker; and Jenifer Lewis as Hillman's dean Dorothy Dandridge Davenport. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide