RAISING WHITLEY: MEET KIM WHITLEY {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere of this reality television show about actress and comedian Kym Whitley and her efforts to raise her adopted infant son.
Kym describes her upbringing and career as a Hollywood actress and comedian. She recounts that she started a mentorship program for girls, and one girl she mentored for many years gave birth to a baby boy in January 2011, naming Kym as the child’s legal guardian. Kym was informed that the girl had elected to leave the child with her in order to provide him with a better life than she could otherwise give him, and that if she refused he would be put into the foster care system. Ultimately she elected to take in the baby, named Joshua, and she was excited but felt unprepared for the task of caring for him. Several months later her mother suffers a stroke and passed away, inspiring Kym to gather a support network of friends and family (a “village” in her words) to help her care for Joshua. In the present day, Kym continues to raise Joshua and has a starring role in the NBC sitcom “Animal Practice;” Joshua goes with her to work in an on-set daycare center. She receives a call from Demetrius, her attorney, to inform her that “Animal Practice” has been cancelled; she is confused since none of the production staff informed her of any cancellation. The news leaves her concerned about finding a new acting job.
Her friend Rodney comes to visit her; he was once her boyfriend but their relationship didn’t work out, although Joshua refers to him as “daddy” and he hopes to be a positive influence in his life. However, Kym is concerned that Rodney has a key to her house and says they need to establish “boundaries.” Kym’s other friend Wendell, whom she calls her “Hollywood husband,” arrives as well. Wendell and Rodney do not get along with each other, and each of them tries to give Kym advice on how to raise Joshua. Wendell gives Joshua a gift in the form of a doll, which upsets Rodney since he does not feel that Joshua should be playing with dolls. Demetrius arrives along with Samantha, her personal trainer, who is dating Demetrius. Samantha is frustrated when Demetrius brings Kym donuts, describing Kym as an “emotional eater.” Kym sits them down while Rodney is out taking a walk with Joshua, explaining that her show was cancelled and that she wishes to have a “pity party” about it for the next two days. The others offer her encouragement and tell her not to overreact to the show’s cancellation. Samantha throws the donuts away, and she and Demetrius advise Kym to start exercising more often, making her upset. Demetrius also advises her to go back to her standup comedy career until she get back on television.
The next day her personal assistant Harold arrives to help her clean up her house. He is frustrated because she seems unwilling to throw anything away, clogging her house with all manner of bric-a-brac. He accuses her of being a “hoarder” and suggests that she get some therapy, although she does not react well to this suggestion. She proposes holding a yard sale to clear up space, but Harold points out that she has been saying that for years. Samantha brings over Kym’s friends Stacey and Val one night to try to cheer up Kym, and they all drink wine on her back porch. Kym notes that the three of them are highly opinionated, and keep telling her how to raise Joshua despite having no children of their own. Their discussion turns to Rodney and his exact relationship to Kym, and Samantha believes that Kym is obscuring her true feelings for him. Kym admits that her main concern at the moment is finding someone to take care of Joshua while she attends auditions and looks for a new job, although none of her friends volunteer to do so. The following morning, Kym finds that Harold has once again cleaned up her room, discovering a number of curios in the process. She performs standup at the Comedy Union, a local comedy club, and a number of her friends are in attendance. She is happy that they came to lend their support, and believes that if all else fails she will be able to support Joshua with her comedy. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: OWN
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:21:02
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 122013
- GENRE: Reality
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection; Reality
- SERIES RUN: OWN - TV series, 2013-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Craig Piligian … Executive Producer, Created by
- Kym Whitley … Executive Producer, Created by
- Melodie Calvert … Executive Producer
- Swaga Deb … Supervising Producer
- Katie Moran … Supervising Producer
- Jason Wright … Associate Producer
- Charlise Holmes … Segment Producer
- Heather M. Porter … Line Producer
- David Arnold … Consulting Producer
- Jamie Balthazar … Consulting Producer
- Jacob Isenberger … Field Producer
- Rob Marshall … Story Producer
- Vanacore Music Group … Music by
- Kym Whitley … Narrator, Interviewee
- Rodney Van Johnson … Interviewee
- Wendell James … Interviewee
- Samantha Cha … Interviewee
- Harold Bell … Interviewee
- Stacey McClain … Interviewee
- Val Chandler … Interviewee
- Betsy Sodaro
- Joshua Whitley