Tichina who?
Yes, I know that comes to mind when you hear her name. Those of you who do know who I'm referring to know her as Rochelle Rock (Chris Rock's mother) on The CW's Everybody Hates Chris. Those of you who grew up between 1992 and 1997 couldn't go anywhere without seeing one episode of FOX's Martin (where she first became well known).
So why on earth should you give someone who has had only two television hits to her name a chance at her own movie? I'll put it to you this way and in three words: Paris Freaking Hilton. She's done a slew of bad performances in music and movies and yet still manges to get a ton of mention in the press.
We can argue about racial differences, variety of performances (Tichina is often known for playing the loud black woman), and the fact that she's been a supporting player in most of the movies she's cast in, but she's still someone you can point out—and sometimes like better than any of the main cast in just about most of the things she's in.
All I know is that when you look into those seductive eyes, you can see confidence, class—a soul.
She was close to having her own show on FOX. During the fifth and final season of Martin, a pilot was inserted into the pile of episodes which would put Pamela James (the character Tichina played on the show) into her own series. Sadly the show never went beyond that.
I'm sure FOX had the faith, but were just simply tired of black TV. You could see in the way they quickly annexed Living Single, Roc, and just about destroyed In Living Color. Martin just ended due to personal problems between Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, but the writing was on the wall at that point and they probably would have canned the show had the two stars gotten along.
That being said, why not cast Arnold as the next Doctor Who? I'm sure that would be a radical change from the ADD version of the character we've been getting with David Tennant and it would be a nice follow-up to the introduction of the first black actor as a co-star on the series since the show began. But you know some DW fans, they argue the same semantics.
And, perhaps, it's just too PC for their tastes.
Perhaps J.J. Abrams could even cast her as the captain of the next Star Trek series should the new prequel take off. If they can give a ship to Dr. Sam Beckett, then they should be able to give one to Pam James.
Alright, you're not convinced she deserves even a movie of her own, what about this?
I could be out of my mind for supporting someone out of the thousand of other qualified black actresses and actors that deserve equal praise. But like people always say, the answer is very simple:
There's just something about her.
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