During a press junket, last week, comedian and radio host, Rickey Smiley talked about family, friends, and the permanence for his televised program that's airing tonight at 8:00 pm ET on TV ONE.
Of course, the interview wouldn’t be complete without a rundown from the shows Executive Producer, Roger Bobb.
“We’re on season four; and in this season, we’re all about bigger, better, and growing.”
Roger Bobb elaborated by saying that from the first show until now, there’s growth and expansion with all the cast members whether personal or professional. He also talked about the new member, Ed Lover, as well as Rickey’s plight to find that leading lady in his life now that his kids are somewhat grown.
Rickey is building an empire and he is very vocal about starting from the ground up. Per Roger Bobb, Rickey is spinning his own game show. He promises that we, the viewers, will get to see the evolution of that.
Roger Bobb touched on a tender subject about Rickey’s friend being diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, which will feature on tonight’s episode. Though the private screening allowed media to latch onto Rickey’s gravity as he listened and consoled his friend… Although a dismal situation, Rickey knew just what she needed to shake her out of an earth-shattering funk.
“It’s just bigger and better this year… I’ve given you a lot to think about, but we just got so many story-lines, and as a producer I have to say that one of the hardest things cause we have such a huge cast in this show, is trying to put everything together in the way that our audience would like, in terms of a balance of comedy and drama—and we think we’ve achieved that this season.”
Roger Bobb hit the nail on the head—Rickey Smiley For Real is a beautiful balance of comedy and realism that’s not overcooked with exaggerated story-lines and occurrences.
For instance, in tonight’s episode, Rickey learnes that his daughter is no longer in college. Yes, she ditched the books for the semester and picked up a side job at a hookah lounge. Now, you know darn well, there were consequences waiting as soon as she let that information slip out.
As a single father in addition to being a doting friend and businessman, Rickey has his hands full with his troupe of children.
Ricky said that he was looking forward to the newest season.
“I’m really excited about season 4 and the growth; and to see Brandon finding his way through life, and Craig graduating from high school, and just the growth of the children. It’s a big difference from season 1 because they are really growing up fast, and turning into young adults… just all the fun-filled, love and hate drama with the morning show and all of our adventures. I’m just really excited about season 4. We have a lot of good scenes, a lot of funny, funny, stuff. I know for the past two weeks—the last two weeks, we got some really good content.”
Rickey stated that the clips are so memorable that viewers will probably make a few of those clips go viral.
Out of thoughtful curiosity, it was fair to ask Rickey how he balances his time between his career and children. Not to mention how he makes each child feel as though they are a priority because he’s so busy building his kingdom.
Realistically, it’s easy for kids to embrace a little hostility towards their parents and even their sibs because the parent isn’t concentrated on them. Maybe one child requires more attention due to school or personal issues, and the other doesn't get that smothering treatment. Who's to say how that time is spent.... Rest assured that Rickey cleared that up quickly.
“Well, the first thing is… I have a good relationship with their mothers, with all my nieces and nephew’s mothers, and all my kid’s mothers. If anything gets serious and they are ever in need, I will stop what I’m doing, step out of a room and take a phone (call), you know. They can reach me anytime and we get it handled."
Rickey also remarked that they go to the lake, have dinner, cookout while some of the children swim in the pool. To him, that is a day well spent.
“We have a genuine, awesome, good time. We have enough videos and stuff from days at the lake and in the kitchen at Christmas time, and doing stuff with the Rickey Smiley Foundation, and Community Service, to last a lifetime. So, yeah—we definitely get that time in and we make time.”
The humble comedian thanked everyone from TV One for giving him the platform to reach millions with natural family values, without dogged expressive.
Speaking of sensitivity, even Hip Hop Artist, DaBrat grasped a solemn moment. Apparently, people who are released from Federal Prison, they aren’t allowed the opportunity to go back and speak or mentor other detainees, even after they’ve transformed lives for the betterment.
Because of TV ONE and Rickey Smiley, Da Brat got that opportunity.
“Roger Bobb and the production company actually made it possible for me to go into an actual facility in Georgia, and talk to some women, and it was incredible for me. It was something that I always wanted to do. I’ve been out since 2011 and I finally got a chance to do that. It touched my spirit. I connected with those women [and] I knew what they felt like. The sleeping conditions and just having to be forced, to be like, in a cage with so many other women, and having no options. Yeah, we all make mistakes… I just know—we hope that me talking to these women help them and encourage them the way I helped and encouraged them when I was incarcerated myself.”
DaBrat converged with the women because she wanted to, not because it was a requirement, which is another beautiful element to the show, Rickey Smiley For Real. The cast uses their prominence for humanity and not self-gain.
Rickey Smiley’s son Brandon also dole out a few sentiments. He said that the show is therapy for them so it helped bring them together more than anything which is the opposite conclusion for many reality presentations.
The conspicuous success for Rickey Smiley and his entire outfit is conclusive—its growing and will continue to progress rapidly.
"After each episode, check out Gary with Da Tea’s behind-the-scenes insights on the network’s YouTube Channel and website at www.tvone.tv. Viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@tvonetv) using hash tag #RICKEYSMILEYFORREAL
For more information on Smiley’s personal and professional background, please visit: http://therealrickeysmiley.com/ and http://rickeysmileymorningshow.com/.
Rickey Smiley For Real concluded its third season with a finale that was up +15% to 289K viewers vs. the season 2 finale among P25-54. The third season overall, posted +18% gains among P25-54 vs. its premiere season.
Additionally, Adult Male (P18+) viewership showed consistent growth season over season – up 3% to 110K for Season 3. During Season 3, Males 25-54 increased +14% over prior season – with the finale up +68% over the Season 2 finale among M25-54."
ABOUT TV ONE
Launched in January 2004, TV One serves 59 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies and music designed to entertain and inform a diverse audience of adult black viewers. The network represents the best in black culture and entertainment with fan favorite shows Unsung, Rickey Smiley For Real, Fatal Attraction, The Manns and The NAACP Image Awards. In addition, TV One is the cable home of blockbuster drama Empire, and NewsOne Now, the only live daily news program dedicated to black viewers. In December 2008, the company launched TV One High Def, which now serves 14 million households. TV One is solely owned by Urban One, Inc., formerly known as Radio One, Inc. [NASDAQ: UONE and UONEK, www.urban1.com], the largest African-American owned multi-media company primarily targeting Black and urban audiences.