It looks like we’re finally going to get our wish, and have a black queer series on our TV screens, the first since Noah’s Arc premiered on Logo back in 2005.
Deadline is exclusively reporting that Hosea Chanchez (The Game), Devere Rogers (My Spy), Griffin Matthews (The Flight Attendant) and Brandon Gill (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) have signed on to star alongside Bernard David Jones (The Mayor, Scroll Wheel of Time) in his pilot Remember, which has launched production after receiving a WarnerMedia OneFifty grant supporting the early stages of its development.
The series created, written and exec produced by Jones will be a dramedy following the forgetful millennial Jahi and his four best friends as they navigate queer love, rocky careers, and the ups and downs of friendship, while realizing that Jahi’s forgetfulness is more serious than imagined. Tosin Morohunfola (North of the 10), John Clarence Stewart (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Marcel Spears (The Neighborhood), Marcc Rose (Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.), Elise Eberle (Shameless), Christy St. John (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Joy Brunson (This Is Us) and Leon Fleisher (Flower) will also feature in its cast.
Jones is playing Jahi, who has decided to live his life as freely as he can, while struggling with his impending memory loss. Jahi loves his friends and desires true romantic love, but becomes his own biggest saboteur while pursuing it.
Chanchez will play Matias, an older friend of Jahi’s with years of experience in the queer world. He is openly bisexual, and has ended an 18-year marriage to a woman he truly loved. After being fired from a job he’s had for 22 years, he has to make a decision. Does he try to find another job, or does he follow his passion?
Rogers is portraying Alaska, who is confident and self-assured, and expects everyone to be the same way. They love to have fun, but struggle in the love department. Refusing to settle, Alaska can sometimes come off as self-righteous. They always lead with love, but that love can be a little tough.
Matthews will play Deacon, who’s the type of person that has already planned out his entire life. Successful husband. Check. Wealth. Check. On the outside, it looks like he’s very happy, but how happy can he be when he has no idea who he is? The façade may be more important than the truth.
Then, there’s Gill, whose character Niles is struggling with his identity. He believes that his same gender attraction can hinder his music career and has sacrificed his authenticity for the spotlight. His motto is “If I didn’t tell you I’m gay, then I’m not,” and he truly believes that he is hiding in plain sight.
Jones is producing the series with Chanchez and Gem Little, with Tari Wariebi serving as its director.
Said Jones: “I’m so excited to bring the story of Remember to the world. As a young queer black boy, I searched for characters in the media that looked like me…that felt like I did. From the very beginning of my career, I knew that I wanted my storytelling to change lives and to challenge what society deemed normal…be disruptive. Remember is a love letter to my community…my friends. This is bigger than just representation for diversity’s sake. This show is an opportunity for freedom, and for some, healing. This cast and crew are amazing! The director and the producers are the best emerging talent that I have ever worked with. Thank you Warner Media/ One Fifty for recognizing how important this story is, and giving me the opportunity to live out my dreams!”
“After reading the beautiful script REMEMBER, written by Bernard David Jones, I knew this was a story I wanted to tell as an actor and producer. It’s about the journey of a group of Black queer friends whose lives are forever changed when one of them receives a diagnosis that threatens their mortality and memory,” added Chanchez. “These are the stories that light my fuse as a filmmaker, things that everyday Black men and women go through that aren’t seen or talked about enough. It’s our job to shine a light on these characters and stories that are often deep in the shadows and bring them to the forefront. I can’t wait for the world to see what we’ve created.”
Based on the characters, and how the cast and creator are hyping up this show, I really hope it’s good. For a long time I have been yearning to see a QPOC-based series on TV (as well as the big screen).
I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished product, and fingers crossed that once the show is successful that it will usher in a flood of projects featuring not just queer black stories, but stories of different ethnicities of color who happen to be queer.