Buppies

BET.com is set to launch its first web series, "Buppies", on Tuesday, November 24. The online show chronicles the relationship dramas of a group of dysfunctional yet inseperable group of friends living in glitzy Black Hollywood. Part of the appeal of the show is that "Buppies" brings a professional cast of black actors with a "Sex and the City" flavor.

The show does not come without drama behind the scenes which involves its star, Tatiyana Ali of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" fame and her former Harvard compadre, Julian Breece, who is the show's creator, writer, and director. Ali and her sister Anastasia Ali, invested $45,000 into the project which they claim was money lost before production of the pilot even began. The Ali sisters were also seeking rights to the series that were promised but never delivered.


Last year on her MySpace page, Tatiyana explained her reason for taking on this project and bringing it to the web:

"This is a project that has been three years in the making. The writer/director Julian Breece is a college friend who shared the idea with me about three years ago. Putting a project like this onto the TV air space was difficult. It’s a very different kind of show, a comedy/ drama that talks about everything from life and love, fashion, sexual orientation, pregnancy… basically all the things young adults are really going through.

My sister Anastasia Ali and I started a production company about a year and a half ago with the purpose of making high end urban content. BUPPIES made alongside friend and producer Aaliyah Williams is our company’s first effort. With the advent of the webseries and the recent lack of African American original programing on TV these days we thought the series would really be well suited for internet broadcast. -- Tatyana Ali"

Ali's character, Quinci, is a 26 year old Publicist who recently lost her father, a Hollywood celebrity, and was dumped by her fiance. She experiences the perks and pitfalls faced by LA's young black power elite.

The supporting cast include Ernest Waddell who plays Shaka, a Corporate Attorney by day and rapper by night. Robin These who plays Priscilla, a Magazine Editor. Preston Davis who has a recurring role on HBO's "Entourage" plays Eliot, a Sports Agent. And Chante Frierson who has played on "A Different World" and the Broadway production of "Rent". Chante's character is Kourtney, a 26 year old Musical Heiress.

Catch "Buppies" weekly starting this Tuesday, November 24 at 3pm at BET.com. It is scheduled for 10 episodes that will run for 10 weeks.