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1964: Another World's Pat murdered Tom Baxter.

1967: Dark Shadows' Barnabas charmed Julia.

1995: Loving's Neil proposed to Kate.

2004: Gh's Jason begged Sam to live after they lost their baby."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1962: Joseph Allen, who played roles in CBS soap operas Love of Life (Miles Pardee) and The Edge of Night, died at age 44.

1964: On Another World, Frank Andrews (Peter Brandon) arrived home and found Pat Matthews (Susan Trustman) standing over the dead body of his roommate, Tom Baxter (Nicholas Pryor).

1965: On Days of our Lives second episode, Marie Horton...

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Ahead of the release of The Single Moms Club, a film written, directed, produced by and starring Tyler Perry, we thought it was worthwhile looking back on all the Tyler Perry Productions (Tpp) that came before it. In total, Perry has produced 16 films (including Smc) from the ongoing Madea franchise to stand-alones, such as Temptation and Why Did I Get Married? All of the films have been met with varying degrees of praise and success. But who has actually sat down and watched all of them? Inspired by that question, I decided to review all of Perry’s film in order to grade and rank each film.

To see how they fall in order (from worst to best), flip through the gallery above. For a more in-depth, critical analysis keep on reading!

(Warning: The films were not watched in order of release. In fact, if watched in...

Tagline: "Step into the darkness." Tunnel Vision is a revenge thriller from director Delila Vallot. This title has been in the production stage for over seven years as Vallot attempted to make a gritty urban tale. She accomplished this task by forgoing the usual CGI gore in favour of quick cuts and edits. Vallot used 16mm film, while draining some of the colour from the film. The film's trailer shows some of the graininess in the title as Tunnel Vision moves towards a looming release date. Osiris Entertainment will release this title on DVD January 22nd and Tunnel Vision has a thrilling story. This tale deals with a serial killer and a father seeking vengeance for the murder of his family. Gabriel (Cristos) must descend into a bleak world to find and capture this depraved murderer. The film's official trailer awaits below! Release Date: January 22nd, 2013. Director: Delila Vallot. Writers: Scott Barry and Cristos.

A Db is towed away in a car. Castle (Nathan Fillion) asks a reknown forensic pathologist, Clark Murray (Robert Picardo) to look into the death of Beckett's (Stana Katic) mother. He comments Castle usually contacts him to ask about a head in a microwave. It's a ten year old cold case. Martha (Susan Sullivan) asks what 'Dr Death' was doing here. Beckett doesn't know what he's doing and Martha tells him to drop it as it's Beckett's private business. Castle tells her there's no reason to say anything until he knows something for certain. It's not like he's snooping in her underwear drawer. Alexis (Molly Quinn) announces she's going to the Prom with Owen. Castle hasn't even met him yet. Beckett refuses to do a background check on Owen for Castle. Ryan (Seamus Dever) claims he should be more worried that Owen is a teenage boy. Esposito (Jon Huertas) wouldn't...

After Amy discovers why Ricky was denied acceptance into the nearby college, she makes it her mission to fix the matter, while Ben struggles with the idea of just being Adrian’s roommate, on The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, premiering on Monday, July 25 (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Et/Pt).

In the one-hour episode, “Cute,” Ricky confides in Amy why he was denied entrance to his college of choice. This infuriates Amy, who is determined to try and make it right. She ignores Ricky’s pleas to leave it alone and takes matters into her own hands, but can she really help? Meanwhile, Ben is unaware of Adrian’s secret plan, and while Grace tries to tell him what she knows, her efforts lead Ben to believe Adrian’s seeing another man.

The series cast includes Shailene Woodley, Ken Baumann, Mark Derwin, India Eisley, Greg Finley, Daren Kagasoff, Megan Park,...

Like him or not, Tyler Perry is a phenom to his audience, having amassed half a billion dollar in the box office, not counting his success in the stage circuit. Yet he is not without his fair share of detractors—from prominent African-Americans offended by Perry's stereotyping to film critics offended by Perry's aptitude.

Recently, Lionsgate released Perry's most successful films on Blu-ray, so we thought it'd be the perfect opportunity to reassess five entries from Tyler Perry's filmography, as well as the stage version of Madea's Big Happy Family, which Perry is already adapting into a film.

• • •

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

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You wouldn't be blamed if you thought Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman was about Madea, who features prominently on the cover. Instead, she's just a side character offering emotional support and helping the true titular mad, black...

Chicago – Some studios slowly roll their catalog films out to Blu-ray as directors or actors release new films with which to tie-in but Lionsgate has decided that holiday season 2010 is the time to import most of Tyler Perry’s films to the HD format just as his “For Colored Girls” is turning out to be a critical and commercial disappointment. Catch up with five of his previously-released films along with the Blu-ray release of “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family: The Play.”

As far as a review goes, Lionsgate has always treated Tyler Perry fans well and these releases are no different. The HD video and audio are above-average and every film includes special features. As for the movies themselves, “Why Did I Get Married?” is easily the best (although the sequel is horrendous) and “The Family That Preys” has moments but I personally can’t stand anything...

Chicago – The Round-Up is back to provide our loyal readers with synopsis and feature details on a few titles that may have slipped on to DVD or Blu-Ray under your radar but might make the right purchase choice this holiday weekend.

It’s not that these title are any “lesser” than some of the biggies out there (one nearly made $100 million domestically and another is a Mel Brooks classic), but we can’t get around to a full-length review of everything that comes into the HollywoodChicago.com office and we want to keep you as informed as possible.

“Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” and “Spaceballs” were released on June 16th, 2009.

“The Education of Charlie Banks,” “Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season Two,” and “White Sox Memories” were released on June 30th, 2009.

“The Education of Charlie Banks”

Photo credit: Anchor Bay Synopsis: “Charlie Banks’ (Jesse Eisenberg) sheltered...

Where does Tyler Perry’s appeal lie? His films are horribly directed, have blatant racial prejudices and constantly revert back to the transvestite granny which gave him his first wild success. Madea may have had her time and place in the cultural spotlight, but since her direct-to-video debut in Madea’s Family Reunion she’s failed to change, grow or improve in any way, shape or form. The Madea franchise stagnated after the first film and yet Tyler Perry has pounded out at least eight Madea-infused productions since then. His latest, Madea Goes to Jail fails in every conceivable way.

Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke) has a promising career in law ahead of him – until his life goes off the tracks with the arrival of an old ex-girlfriend Candy (Keshia Knight Pulliam). Only, unlike many meetings between ex’s, Joshua finds Candy as a client of his firm trying to evade...

Heaven help me, this Madea character is starting to grow on me. In Madea Goes to Jail, Tyler Perry's latest adaptation of one of his innumerable stage plays, his giant, pistol-packing alter ego finally runs afoul of the law one too many times and finds herself in the big house (not Big Momma's House, the big house). As a character, Madea felt randomly assembled in Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion, but now Perry has grown her into a larger-than-life force of nature that is genuinely funny.

Madea Goes to Jail would be a lot better, in fact, if it were actually about Madea going to jail, or about Madea at all. But she's merely a supporting character in the film, which is really about a young lawyer and his shrewish fiancee dealing with elements from his past, with light Christian themes baked into the crust.

See from interview video clips, new clips, spots, trailers"Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail." Movie Jungle has interviews with Tyler Perry, Reuben Cannon, Derek Luke Robin Coleman, Tamela Mann, David Mann, Vanessa Ferlito, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Judge Mablean Ephraim, Judge Mathis, Ion Overman and Ronreaco Lea.   There are spots, trailers and clips from the film as well. All videos are within the same player for your embedding ease of use. Tyler Perry writes and directs the Lionsgate distributed comedy which comes out next weekend (February 20th).    ...

See from interview video clips, new clips, spots, trailers"Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail." Movie Jungle has interviews with Tyler Perry, Reuben Cannon, Derek Luke Robin Coleman, Tamela Mann, David Mann, Vanessa Ferlito, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Judge Mablean Ephraim, Judge Mathis, Ion Overman and Ronreaco Lea. There are spots, trailers and clips from the film as well. All videos are within the same player for your embedding ease of use. Tyler Perry writes and directs the Lionsgate distributed comedy which comes out next weekend (February 20th).

See from interview video clips, new clips, spots, trailers"Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail." Movie Jungle has interviews with Tyler Perry, Reuben Cannon, Derek Luke Robin Coleman, Tamela Mann, David Mann, Vanessa Ferlito, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Judge Mablean Ephraim, Judge Mathis, Ion Overman and Ronreaco Lea. There are spots, trailers and clips from the film as well. All videos are within the same player for your embedding ease of use. Tyler Perry writes and directs the Lionsgate distributed comedy which comes out next weekend (February 20th).

    Movie Jungle has new clips in from the Lionsgate distributed "Madea Goes to Jail," directed and written by Tyler Perry.   The comedy stars Tyler Perry, Derek Luke, Vanessa Ferlito, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Sofia Vergara, Drew Sidora, David Mann, RonReaco Lee and Tamela J. Mann.   Although not to everyone's taste, Perry films tend to bring in a decent amount for the studio. Release date is on February 20th.   What's it all about?   At long last, Madea returns to the big screen in Tyler Perry'S Madea Goes To Jail. This time America's favorite irreverent, pistol-packin' grandmomma is raising hell behind bars and lobbying for her freedom...Hallelujer!After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea (Tyler Perry) in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail. A gleeful Joe (Tyler Perry) couldn't be happier at Madea's misfortune. But...

The folks over at Movieweb have unveiled four new character posters for Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, the third feature film based on the comedic grandmother. Along with Terry, the film stars Derek Luke, Vanessa Ferlito, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Benjamín Benítez, Tamela J. Mann and RonReaco Lee. It opens February 20. The official plot synopsis, along with low quality versions of the posters can be found below. Click here to see them in better quality. Official Synopsis: After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea (Tyler Perry) in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail. A gleeful Joe (Tyler Perry) couldn't be happier at Madea's misfortune. But Madea's eccentric family members the Browns (David and Tamala Mann) rally behind her, lending their special "country" brand of support. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Hardaway (Derek Luke...

Madea is back, and it appears she's still in a great shape. Only, this time, she's off to jail!

As you can see in the new trailer after the jump, the crazy grandma still got the moves and the attitude. Whether she's still as funny remains to be seen.

After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail.

But Madea's eccentric family members the Browns rally behind her, lending their special "country" brand of support. During her stay in prison, Madea also befriends and protects a former drug addict.

"Jail" opens Feb. 20, 2009. Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, David Mann, Tamala Mann, Ronreaco Lee, Ion Overman, Vanessa Ferlito and Viola Davis co-star.

The folks over at Blackvoices have your first look at the teaser poster for Tyler Perry's upcoming comedy "Madea Goes to Jail," which will hit theaters Feb. 20. 2009.

Yep, the crazy grandma is back in action. After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail. A gleeful Joe couldn't be happier at Madea's misfortune.

But Madea's eccentric family members the Browns rally behind her, lending their special "country" brand of support. During her stay in prison, Madea also befriends and protects a former drug addict.

Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, David Mann, Tamala Mann, Ronreaco Lee, Ion Overman, Vanessa Ferlito and Viola Davis co-star.

Click here for a bigger look at the poster.

The first poster is up for the next installment in the "Madea" series from Tyler Perry. Check out the onesheet from "Madea Goes to Jail." Well-designed poster cleverly brings out dramatic elements of the Perry comedy. The Atlanta-based filmmaker markets his name more than any I've seen with Tyler Perry ahead of every single film. Since "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," the films have being bringing in a hefty sum from low budgets and familiar names for the most part. This time America's favorite irreverent, pistol-packin' grandmomma is raising hell behind bars and lobbying for her freedom...Hallelujer!   After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea (Tyler Perry) in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail.  A gleeful Joe (Tyler Perry) couldn't be happier at Madea's misfortune.  But Madea's eccentric family members the Browns (David...

Writer-producer Larry Wilmore is moving in front of the camera with a co-starring role in CBS' untitled Port/Weisman comedy pilot. Meanwhile, Alicia Witt, who had been cast as the lead in Fox's comedy pilot More, Patience, has left the show. In other pilot castings, Matthew Glave has joined CBS' comedy pilot The Angriest Man in Suburbia, Amy Carlson is rounding out the cast of ABC's drama pilot Drift, Sam Page has come on board CBS' drama pilot Shark, and Ion Overman has been added to NBC's comedy pilot Andy Barker, P.I.

Shannen Doherty is in final negotiations to play the title role in UPN's comedy pilot Wingwoman. In other pilot casting news, Jeremy Howard has landed the lead in NBC's comedy The Dennis, Life on a Stick star Rachelle Lefevre has been added to the cast of Fox's comedy Pool Guys, John Marshall Jones has joined Fox's untitled Oakley-Weinstein comedy, Reagan Gomez-Preston and Ion Overman also have been cast in Wingwoman, and Elaine Hendrix has come aboard the WB Network's comedy Bow. Wingwoman, from Littlefield Co., Evolution Entertainment and Paramount Network TV, centers on a single woman (Doherty) who helps her male clients find their soulmates. Gomez-Preston plays the woman's longtime friend, co-worker and roommate. Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed alum Doherty, who most recently starred on Fox's drama series North Shore, is repped by Endeavor, manager John Carrabino and attorney Adam Kaller. Gomez-Preston (Love Don't Cost a Thing) is repped by Ryan Daly and Mara Santino at Kazarian/Spencer & Associates and attorney Michael Fuller.