''The Soul Man'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

created by

Suzanne Martin Suzanne Moore Martin is an American television producer and writer. She is best known for creating ''Hot in Cleveland'' (2010–15). Her writing and producing credits include '' Ellen'', ''Frasier'' and ''The Soul Man''. She also created the tele ...

and

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He hosted BET's ''ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' in 1995. He is b ...

. The series is a spin-off from ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's hig ...

'', in which Cedric guest starred in the 2011 episode "Bridezelka", the

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

for ''The Soul Man''. The series premiered on

TV Land TV Land is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its networks division. Originally a spinoff of Nick at Nite consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the channel now airs a combination of recent and cl ...

on June 20, 2012 with a 12-episode order. On December 13, 2012, TV Land picked up ''The Soul Man'' for a second season of 10 episodes with Yvette Lee Bowser replacing Phoef Sutton as showrunner. The second season premiered on June 19, 2013. On December 4, 2013, ''The Soul Man'' was renewed for a third season that consisted of eight episodes. Season 3 premiered on March 26, 2014 with a special live episode. On August 4, 2014, TV Land renewed ''The Soul Man'' for a 12-episode fourth season. The fourth season debuted on March 18, 2015 with the series' second live episode. On July 28, 2015, ''The Soul Man'' was renewed for a 12-episode fifth and final season, which premiered on March 30, 2016 at 10:30 PM ET/PT. The series aired its final episode on June 22, 2016.

Synopsis

The series follows R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballantine (

), who was living the high life in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

at the top of the music charts when he got "the calling" and decided to relocate to St. Louis with his family to become a preacher in his father's church. However, his family members — including wife Lolli ( Niecy Nash), daughter Lyric ( Jazz Raycole) and younger brother Stamps (

Wesley Jonathan Wesley Jonathan Waples is an American actor best known for his starring role as Jamal Grant on the NBC Saturday morning comedy-drama series ''City Guys'' (1997-2001), Gary Thorpe in the sitcom '' What I Like About You'' (2002-2006), Sweetness in ...

) — are not exactly eager to give up the fabulous superstar life for their new humble one.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Reverend Sherman Boyce Ballentine, a former R&B singer turned minister. "Boyce" was the maiden name of Cedric's real-life mother. * Niecy Nash as Lolli Ballentine, Boyce's wife, a

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is a ...

owner *

as Fletcher Emmanuel "Stamps" Ballentine, Boyce's carefree younger brother. He was Boyce's tour manager in the music business, but now struggles to find employment. * Jazz Raycole as Lyric Ballentine (main cast season 1, recurring seasons 2–3), Boyce's daughter, who is adjusting to her father's new lifestyle * John Beasley as Barton Moses Ballentine (main cast season 1, recurring seasons 2–5), Boyce's and Stamps' father, a retired minister who now serves on the church Board of Elders, often to Boyce's annoyance

Recurring cast

Gary Anthony Williams Gary Anthony Williams (born March 14, 1966) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He voiced the character of Uncle Ruckus on '' The Boondocks'', and a number of video game characters. He also appeared on the television series '' Weeds'' ...

as Lester, member of the Ballentines' church who serves the church in various capacities, including choir director * Hattie Winston as Sister Coriann Pearly (seasons 1–4), member of the Ballentines' church * Kim Coles as Wanda (season 1), member of the Ballentines' church *

Cedric Yarbrough Cedric Percelle Yarbrough (born March 20, 1973) is an American actor and comedian who stars in series '' Reno 911!'' as Deputy S. Jones and as Kenneth on the ABC sitcom '' Speechless'', as well as voicing Gerald Fitzgerald on the Netflix comedy ...

and

Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the AB ...

as Paul and Robyn (seasons 1–3, 5), the Ballentines' bickering former neighbors from Las Vegas * Kellee Stewart as Kim (seasons 1–4), Lolli's younger sister who is an

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicin ...

; she later becomes Stamps' girlfriend * Malcolm Barrett as Bird (season 2), co-owner (with Boyce) of Bird's, a bar & grill that the Ballentines frequent *Malik S as Curtis (seasons 2–5), Stamps' friend who has spent time in prison *

Sherri Shepherd Sherri Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, author, broadcaster, and television personality. She currently hosts the daily syndicated daytime talk show, '' Sherri''. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the da ...

as Nikki (seasons 1 & 4), Boyce's irritating cousin from Chicago, who later becomes the new church treasurer *Nyima Funk as Terri (season 4), a church member and Lolli's friend *

Aloma Wright Aloma Wright (born March 10, 1950) is an American actress, widely known for her roles as Laverne Roberts on the NBC/ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), Maxine Landis on the NBC daytime drama series ''Days of Our Lives'' (2008– ...

as Shirley (seasons 4–5), a church member who serves as the church secretary *

Missi Pyle Missi Pyle (born November 16, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in a number of successful films, including ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), '' Big Fish'' (2003), ''Bringing Down the House'' (2003), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog ...

as Alicia (season 5), Boyce's campaign manager in his run for Mayor of St. Louis

Episodes

Syndication

The Soul Man aired on NickMom from August 17, to September 27, 2015 and aired on

BET Her BET Her (formerly Centric) is an American basic cable television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. The network is a spin-off of BET with a focus on general entertainment targeting African-American women. The channel originally launched ...

for a period of time

Home media

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 on July 8, 2014. Season 2 was released on October 21, 2014.

Development and production

On April 18, 2011, it was announced that

would guest star in a season 2 episode of ''

'', as a minister that gets caught up in the girls' problems. The episode served as a

for a spin-off series to star Cedric. The episode entitled "Bridezelka" was written by ''Hot in Cleveland'' creator

and aired on August 24, 2011. In November 2011, it was that announced that Niecy Nash was cast the female lead opposite Cedric. The two had previously worked together in the 2007 film '' Code Name: The Cleaner''. John Beasley,

, and Jazz Raycole, were then cast, with Beasley playing Boyce's father; Jonathan playing Boyce's brother; and Raycole playing Boyce's daughter. Suzanne Martin and Cedric wrote the pilot and are executive producing with

Sean Hayes Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is best known for playing Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, and one American Com ...

and Todd Milliner. The pilot was filmed on December 2, 2011. On January 12, 2012, TV Land officially picked up the pilot to series, under the title ''Have Faith'', and set the first season at 12 episodes. On March 11, 2012 it was announced that the series' title was changed from ''Have Faith'' to ''The Soul Man''. For the first season, former ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'' writer/producer

Phoef Sutton Robert Christopher "Phoef" Sutton (born September 11, 1958) is an American writer and producer. His film credits include '' Mrs. Winterbourne'' and '' The Fan'', both released in 1996. Phoef — the first name that he uses both personally and prof ...

was hired as the

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

Stan Lathan Stan Lathan (born July 8, 1945) is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of BET's ''Real Husbands of Hollywood''. He has produced and directed numerous stand-up comedy specials st ...

, who previously directed Cedric in every episode of ''

The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996, to February 17, 2002. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan. Synopsis Steve Hightower ( Steve Harvey) is a 1970s funk ...

'', served as the director of the first season.

Anthony Anderson Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and game show host. He is best known for his leading roles in drama series such as Marlin Boulet on '' K-Ville'', and as NYPD Detective Kevin Bernard on the NBC crime drama ' ...

Tamar Braxton Tamar Estine Braxton (born March 17, 1977) is an American singer and television personality. Braxton began her career in 1990 as a founding member of The Braxtons, an R&B singing group formed with her sisters. The Braxtons released their debut a ...

, Trina Braxton,

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...

, Cee Lo Green,

Tim Reid Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...

and

all guest starred during the show's first season.

Reception

The series has received generally positive reviews from critics, with an initial score 65 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

.The Soul Man: Season 1
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soul Man, The 2010s American black sitcoms 2012 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings American television spin-offs English-language television shows Religious comedy television series Television series about families Television series by Endemol Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Hazy Mills Productions Television shows set in St. Louis TV Land original programming