Haute to Watch (Photo courtesy of Revelence )
Hey y’all, hey! Welcome back to According to Porsha, your go-to spot for culture, excellence and authenticity. This is Haute to Watch, where I tell you what deserves your screen time and what can stay sitting in the queue.
Let’s get into it.
First up is Love & Hip Hop: The Final Chapter, airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on VH1, BET and MTV.
Now, I did not even realize Love & Hip Hop was still going. After 15 years, the franchise is closing with a six-part retrospective featuring Joseline Hernandez, Yandy Smith, Rasheeda, Mimi Faust, Trina, Trick Daddy and more.
If I watch, Joseline is probably the reason.
Still, the bigger question is worth asking. Did Love & Hip Hop create opportunities for Black talent, or did it turn Black dysfunction into a television empire?
The franchise helped launch careers and businesses. At the same time, it made personal conflict part of the entertainment formula. That history deserves a closer look.
The Gospel of Christmas brings gospel royalty
Next, Tyler Perry brings The Gospel of Christmas to Netflix. Fantasia Barrino and Tank star as a couple trying to save a struggling church while holding their family together.
However, the supporting cast may be the biggest attraction. Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Fred Hammond, Shirley Caesar, Chanté Moore and members of The Clark Sisters all appear.
A Tyler Perry production featuring that much Black gospel history has my attention.
More picks for the queue
Netflix also has The Body, a horror story built around teenage girls, religion and unsettling visions after a Catholic-school dance-team initiation goes wrong.
Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns for season three on Prime Video. The first four episodes are streaming now, with additional episodes arriving Nov. 18 and Nov. 25.
I am also watching to see whether Sophia Nomvete, Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Ismael Cruz Córdova get more room to shape the story.
In theaters, How to Rob a Bank, starring Zoë Kravitz, Anna Sawai and Nicholas Hoult, arrives Nov. 13. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping follows Nov. 20.
And yes, The Gilded Age, All’s Fair and Reasonable Doubt remain on my current playlist.
Put Tupac on your radar
Finally, mark Nov. 27 for The Tupac Tapes with Angie Martinez on Netflix.
The project features portions of Angie Martinez’s 1996 interview with Tupac that she kept private for 30 years.
Tupac continues to draw attention decades later. This time, the appeal is getting closer to the person behind the mythology.
Happy watching. And remember, if it’s not haute, it’s not worth the watch.
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