Feel Perry's 'Payne'

TV sitcom adds to the playwright's rags-to-riches story

By Mekeisha Madden Toby
The Detroit News
June 5, 2007

PHOTO: (TBS) "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," debuting Wednesday,
follows an African-American family that uses laugher to deal with tragedy.

Filmmaker and playwright Tyler Perry's transition to television is the stuff of legend.

With a ready-made comedy in his pocket, Perry approached several major TV networks about doing his own sitcom. While they liked the idea, they all wanted to shape the finished product and inject unwanted token characters and hackneyed punch lines.

As he did with his plays and later his movies, Perry, 37, stood his ground. On his own, he tested the show in 10 markets across the country, and his commitment and convictions paid off when cable network TBS approached him soon after with an offer that included the promise of complete creative autonomy.

Couch potatoes will get to see the finished product when "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" debuts Wednesday night on the network. The family sitcom follows an African-American clan that finds strength in laughter after one of their own falls prey to drug abuse.

"I knew I had to find a way to do it on my own, and after I tested it, TBS picked it up," Perry says in a phone interview. "I wanted to be with a network that understood the artist's experience, and TBS offered me the free-est rein. Plus, it was a natural progression because we're both here in Atlanta."

Later this month, Perry will launch TPTV, a 24-hour broadband network on his Web site, tylerperry.com. Eventually, he plans to spin the broadband upstart into a cable TV network Perry has in the works. All the while, he's fighting to keep fans happy.

None of these are small triumphs for a man who, more than 15 years ago, was a struggling artist in New Orleans. After tuning into the "The Oprah Winfrey Show" one day, Perry was inspired to chronicle the anger of an impoverished and physically abusive childhood in the pages of his journals. Those entries later became fodder for his first play, "I Know I've Been Changed," which centered on surviving abuse.

PHOTO: Tyler Perry (Stephen Shugerman Getty Images)

Perry saved $12,000 doing odd jobs and took the play to Atlanta, where it bombed.

With no money left, Perry became homeless and worked odd jobs for money. Eventually, he staged the play in 1998 at the House of Blues there and later the city's legendary Fox Theatre, with both venues packing in sellout crowds. Two plays later, he slapped on a wig, some makeup and a dress, and became the wisecracking matriarch "Madea" for the play "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." It's a role Perry has played since 2001.

On the big screen

"Tyler has a vision and sometimes you have to just stand back and admire what this brother has done," says Idris Elba, who starred in Perry's film "Daddy's Little Girls" earlier this year. "He is a nouveau Oscar Micheaux (the 1920s' African-American film pioneer)."

With his following growing by the production, three years ago Hollywood approached Perry about bringing "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" to the big screen.

The film grossed more than $50 million in 2005 at the box office. That success led to the film version of another play, "Madea's Family Reunion." It's his biggest moneymaker yet -- at $63 million -- a year later.

In February, Perry released "Daddy's Little Girls," a movie about a father's custody battle, starring Elba ("The Wire") and Gabrielle Union ("The Honeymooners").

"Tyler Perry is a smart man who will be around for awhile," says Mike Paul, president and senior counselor of MGP & Associates PR, a reputation management firm in New York. While Paul does not manage Perry, he has been observing his career from afar.

"He went from rags to riches and took a risk by putting his own money behind his work, and his success made the big bosses sit up and pay attention. For him to have this much control over his own sitcom is highly unusual for anyone, black or white. The only other person who has had this kind of autonomy and control was Bill Cosby, and that was after years and years of being in the business."

Critics on both sides

Of course, Perry's ascension has also been pockmarked with knocks from movie and cultural critics alike, who describe his movies as amateurish. Others discredit Perry's artistic contribution, calling it a "modern-day minstrel show."

"He's been very successful for himself, but his success does not translate beyond that," says Todd Boyd, critical studies professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts and university chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture.

"I find his work to be quite stereotypical and ultimately a rehash of some of the worst images of African Americans in history. He is of no interest to me."

Perry's frequent rebuttal to such barbs is that he does not make plays, movies and now a TV show for critics, but for his fans.

Cassi Davis, one of the co-stars on "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and several of his plays, is one such fan.

"Everybody isn't going to like everything," Davis says in a phone interview last week from Atlanta. "If Tyler can help one somebody, then he has done his job.

"It tickles me that sometimes we educate ourselves out of reality. Everyone doesn't have a college degree. Tyler is reaching the masses. Don't forget we're looking at a self-made black man who is doing something. What are these critics doing to reach people?"

Not all critics are bashing the fruits of Perry's labor. Marc Berman, a TV analyst with the entertainment industry publication Mediaweek magazine, says he enjoyed "Tyler Perry's House of Payne."

"What I like about 'House of Payne' is it is reminiscent of 'The Cosby Show,' " Berman says. "It's a good, old-fashioned sitcom with lots of kids, and that is easy to relate to."

The larger question is if Perry's core fan base will be keeping their eyes on the sitcom.

Although he used fan comments and suggestions to alter and perfect the sitcom, the show strays from Perry's gospel/moral play beginnings. Meanwhile, his beloved creation, Madea, is hardly a fixture in the show. In fact, Perry says he anticipates very few Madea cameos.

"The old broad needs a break," he told reporters in a teleconference last month.

Retiring Madea?

PHOTO: Tyler Perry brings Madea(center) to the new TBS show.

Easier said then done. For proof, just compare box office receipts. This year's "Daddy's Little Girls," which didn't feature Madea, pulled in $31 million, less than half of what his top-grossing "Madea's Family Reunion" made.

Based on those numbers and experience, image consultant Paul says Perry might want to rethink this decision to retire Madea.

"Look at Eddie Murphy," Paul says. "He said he wasn't going to do standup anymore, and what is he doing now? He's going back to standup. When fans love you for something they demand that something. I know Tyler wants to grow in other areas but he has to be very careful.

"He can do other things, but he will always be expected to come back with Madea."

You can reach Mekeisha Madden Toby at (313) 222-2501 or mmadden@detnews.com.