Tuning In

Televised turmoil

Associated Press

Bobby Brown and his tumultuous life might be coming to the small screen.

The 35-year-old singer — who has been jailed twice just this year — is trying to sell a show about himself to a network, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Mr. Brown’s production company, B2 Entertainment, has been following him and his equally troubled wife, Whitney Houston, around the Atlanta area, where the couple resides, the newspaper reported Thursday.

If a network does pick up the show, there will be plenty of fodder. Mr. Brown — best-known as a member of the ’80s group New Edition and for solo hits such as “My Prerogative” — has a lengthy arrest record on charges ranging from drunken driving to drug use.

In addition, Miss Houston, who has acknowledged using drugs, recently checked herself into a rehabilitation center.

But her publicist, Nancy Seltzer, told AP on Friday that Miss Houston will not be central to any show.

’Redemption’ riles mom

Associated Press

A cable network plans to air a movie about an inmate who became an advocate for children while on death row, but a relative of one of the people he killed is protesting the decision.

The FX channel on Sunday is scheduled to air “Redemption,” a film that dramatizes the transformation of Stanley “Tookie” Williams, who co-founded the notorious Crips street gang more than 30 years ago in Los Angeles. Hundreds of spinoffs and copycat gangs have since emerged across the nation.

The film portrays Williams’ work writing children’s books and offering Internet advice on how to stay out of gangs. The series of children’s books earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

However, the stepmother of a man Williams was convicted of killing is “outraged and indignant” about the movie.

“I’m outraged they’d even call it ’Redemption,’” said Lora Owens, stepmother of Albert Owens, a 23-year-old convenience store clerk who was shot to death more than two decades ago.

Williams was sentenced to death in 1981 for Mr. Owens’ murder. He also was convicted of using a shotgun a few days later to kill two motel owners and their daughter during a robbery in Los Angeles. He has maintained his innocence.

A federal appeals court in 2002 rejected his legal arguments, but the judges took the extraordinary step of calling Williams “a worthy candidate for clemency.” His lawyers are asking the court to reconsider.

Director Vondie Curtis Hall has defended the film, which stars Jamie Foxx as Williams and Lynn Whitfield as Barbara Becnel, a woman who helps Williams with his advocacy work.

“You really have two points of view. I don’t know what the families of the victims would have to say, but it’s really Stan’s story,” Mr. Hall said. “Everyone who views it will view it from their own perspective.”

Masters honored

Black Entertainment Television’s BET Jazz trumpets National Jazz Appreciation Month with the first-ever broadcast of a major ceremony celebrating America’s music.

The 2004 NEA Jazz Masters Awards, airing today at noon and 8 p.m. and at midnight, features appearances by an array of jazz notables and past award winners. The lineup includes the Heath Brothers, with trumpeter Clark Terry; pianist, National Public Radio host and jazz educator Billy Taylor and his trio; saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera and flutist Hubert Laws with the New York Voices; pianist Dave Brubeck; and vocalists Jon Hendricks, Kurt Elling, Kevin Mahogany and Mark Murphy.

Each 2004 Jazz Master —guitarist Jim Hall, drummer Chico Hamilton, pianist Herbie Hancock, vocalist Nancy Wilson, music critic Nat Hentoff and the late arranger-composer Luther Henderson — received a $25,000 cash award. The ceremony and concert took place in New York City in January during the 31st annual International Association for Jazz Education Conference.

The two-hour special will be repeated Sunday at noon, and at 8 and 11 p.m.

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Jazz Masters program began in 1982.

Compiled by Robyn-Denise Yourse and Christian Toto from staff and wire reports.