Male Call: Your cheatin' heart

BET to launch cable channel aimed at middle-aged African Americans

Call it the Obama effect or the Tyler Perry factor.

Is the hottest niche audience middle-aged African Americans? Viacom Inc. is betting yes as its Black Entertainment Television Group is launching Centric, a cable channel aimed at that demographic.

In making the announcement, BET Chief Executive Debra Lee said that because of the "historic change our country has experienced, this is the perfect time for BET Networks to reexamine where we are as a company and what we can be for our audience."

Of course, another factor might be TV One, the network already targeting that audience and majority owned by cable giant Comcast Corp. and Radio One that reaches almost 50 million homes. Time Warner's TBS has also grabbed a big chunk of that audience with its Tyler Perry shows "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns."

TV One, not surprisingly, said Centric was validation of its strategy.

"We've always said that the African American viewing community is so large and diverse that there is probably room for three or four cable channels in the space. I guess they were just waiting for us to prove the case," said TV One CEO Johnathan Rodgers.

BET said it expects to launch Centric in the fourth quarter in about 45 million homes. That is an ambitious number, and to get there BET will likely shutter its jazz channel BET J and replace it with Centric, although the Washington, D.C.-based company would not confirm that was the plan.

-- Joe Flint

Video preview of the must-see 'Chuck' finale

Monday's "Chuck" finale is, in a word, awesome. There's a hilarious performance from Jeffster! and so many other fun things in the Season 2 closer. I thought the show would have a hard time topping last week's episode, but they managed to do it. To get a taste of the episode, there are clips from the finale at the end of this post. Enjoy!

In this interview, co-creator Chris Fedak made this prediction about the finale's effect on "Chuck" fans: "They're going to burn their living rooms. They're going to destroy their television sets. There could be chaos across the country" if the show does not get a third season from NBC.  

All I can say to that is, Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Did I mention yes?

Regarding the show's uncertain status, Time critic James Poniewozik has a thoughtful column about how fans can show their support for the show. He contends that what will get NBC's attention is fan support of the show's advertisers.

"...network TV is still largely an advertising game," Poniewozik writes. "Plead as lyrically as you want; you ultimately keep a show on the air by assuring the network it will make money. And it does that by assuring its advertisers that they will make moneyâ€"that an ad or placement on Chuck will result in real people spending real cash dollars."  

I think he makes some excellent points (though I still advocate that fans make noise about their love for the show; for some ideas on how to do that, go here). And if Subway ends up thinking that they made a wise decision by buying product placement on "Chuck" and making a connection with fans who want to save the show, all the better. You know, I'm feeling a bit peckish myself. Perhaps a tasty sub is just what I need. (If you are on Facebook, you can find out more here about "Chuck" fans' "Finale and a Footlong" campaign" to get folks to buy Subway's Footlongs on Monday.)

Now, on to the fun stuff. Below are several clips from the season finale of "Chuck," which airs 7 p.m. Central on Monday on NBC. Tell a friend. Tell two friends. OK, tell all your friends.

Chuck makes a fateful Buymorian decision:

Chuck and Casey share a (what?!?) tender moment:

Chuck and Ellie:

Roark makes an appearance:

Chuck and Ellie again:

Visit the Chuck store on amazon.com

KayambaÂ's musical chairs
From the vibrant original Kayamba Africa, formed in 1998, there seems to be no end to the splintering of the group. After former members shipped out to form Kayamba Fiesta and Kayamba Roots, another outfit has emerged.
Male Call: Your cheatin' heart
Male Call offers some advice on what to do about cheaters and cheating.
Ruth Reichl Dishes Up Her Mother's Secret Desires

Gourmet magazine's editor in chief and food critic Ruth Reichl grew up in a house where mold-covered pudding was considered an adequate dessert. But Reichl doesn't begrudge her mother. In a new book, she thanks her.