MAKING THE CUT

Except for 'Enterprise', UPN has been , for me, mostly a network out of sight and out of mind. I'm just not the targeted urban audience demographic to whom most of their other shows cater.

But as bruising as it might be for my ego, just because I don't watch the shows, that doesn't mean they aren't popular. And one of them, 'One On One' starring Flex Alexander, has proven to be so popular that it has spawned a spin-off.

'Cuts' is set in a Baltimore barber shop which has Tiffany Warner as the new manager after her hair-care mogul of a dad buys the place. Determined to change the place into a day spa for women, Tiffany goes toe-to-toe with Kevin Washington, the guy who used to run the place, until they make a compromise so that the workplace becomes both a barbershop and a day spa.

Apparently, hilarity will ensue.

I thought this was going to prove to be an easy write-up, but as I'm doing my research, it appears I jumped to conclusions.

According to the two episodes of 'One On One' that launched this series, Kevin is the brother of Mark Washington, a sportscaster in Baltimore. I don't think we had seen Kevin on the show before because he had been a "hairdresser to the stars" out in Hollywood. But now that he'd fallen on hard times, he came back thinking he could run the old family business of the barber shop.

But now with the new show 'Cuts', Kevin's last name is suddenly "Barnes". And Jack Warner, the hair-care mogul, is no longer played by David Garrison, but instead by Corbin Bernsen. That at least was easy to splain away - Apparently a quantum leaper from the future must have leapt into his life long enough to alter Tiffany's life.

That's my splainin and I'm sticking to it.

As for the name change for Marques Houston's character of Kevin? I'll have to do more research on that. (The IMDb.com doesn't even have the show listed yet!)

Was he a half-brother, raised by a different mother? Was "Kevin Barnes" his professional name while out in Hollywood and so he decided to go back to using it?

I guess I really will have to pay more attention to this show after all.

Being a Caretaker for Toobworld ain't easy!

PS:
There's only been one other spin-off of note this year, but as I don't watch the show, I didn't feel it was right for me to bring it up before. That was Bravo's 'Queer Eye For The Straight Gal', the logical successor to 'Queer Eye For The Straight Guy'. I'm not sure if the Fab Five have made an appearance yet on the sequel, but that would certainly cement their induction into the Crossover Hall of Fame as a group.

I will give it props though, for its tag line on the subway posters:
"TWICE AS QUEER.... TWO NIGHTS STRAIGHT!"

BCnU!
Tele-Toby