When you see the offspring of well- known celebrities prosper, you can’t help but think their parents had something to do with their success.
The onus is on these children born with a silver spoon in their mouths to prove that they deserve to be hailed as talented, regardless of their family background.
You may be thinking about Will Smith’s kids, right? Only time will tell if, indeed, his kids are worth adding to the Academy Award and Grammys nominee lists.
A local lass who is doing well on the house music front, Bongi Dube, for the longest time disassociated herself from her legendary reggae musician father, the late Lucky Dube, as she wanted a fair assessment from the media and her fans. This worked well for her as she got the breakthrough she needed by working hard and by the time we heard about her big secret, she was a household name.
Though Tracee Ellis Ross never hid the fact that the Motown singer and actress Diana Ross was her mother, or that actor and musician Evan Ross is her half-brother, she worked hard to ensure those facts would not influence how people judged her. Most of us know her from her role as Joan Clayton in the hit sitcom Girlfriends, which ran for eight seasons. She has juggled TV with film, featuring in Daddy’s Little Girls, where she shared the screen with Gabrielle Union and Idris Elba.
But I will not be focusing on her history. I will talk about the next place you will see her showing off her talents in comedy.
Introducing Reed Between the Lines, a sitcom about an affluent family who navigate through life’s challenges without too many reservations. Regardless of what life throws at them, the family of Dr Carla Reed (Ross) all find ways to look at the situation in a humorous way.
She is a successful psychologist whose challenge is to keep her business running while still pay-ing attention to the people at home. We also get to know about the secret family Reed’s father has been hiding and any further explanation will spoil it for you.
Ross, as usual, rises to the occasion, using eyes that sometimes make her look like a character out of an episode of the Simpsons. Her effortless portrayal of Dr Reed will almost make you forget the sweet Joan she played on Girlfriends.
Then again, on Reed Between the Lines, you’ll only see her for the first season, as it was announced she would not feature in the next season. So don’t get too attached to her, but appreciate how talented she is, even if it is for only a season.
• Comedy Central (DStv channel 122) hosts Reed Between the Lines on Tuesdays at 7pm.