'Straw' Hits 2025 High for Netflix Weekly Movie Streams; Viola Davis to Join TV Academy Hall of Fame; 'Amen' in the CIC Classic TV Series Spotlight
Top Story: ‘Straw’ Sets Netflix Weekly Views Mark for a 2025 Original Movie
Tyler Perry’s drama film Straw set a 2025 Netflix record for weekly views as it continues to attract viewers.
During the week of June 9, the psychological thriller starring Taraji P. Henson drew 48.9 million views in its second week, nearly doubling the 25.3 million views generated in its premiere week. Straw’s second week views mark the most in any week this year for an original, English-language movie on the streaming service, according to Netflix.
Henson stars as a single mother who is confronted with a series of unfortunate events that push her to an act of extreme desperation. Along with Henson, the movie stars Teyana Taylor, Sherri Shepherd, Rockmond Dunbar, Sinbad, and Glynn Turman.
Stories You May Have Missed This Week:
Viola Davis Inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame
Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis will be inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame during an August ceremony. Among her many career achievements, Davis was the first Black actress to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015 for her role in How to Get Away with Murder. According to the TV Academy, the Hall of Fame honors performers who have made outstanding contributions to the arts, sciences, or management of television over a lifetime career. Others joining Davis in the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 include Ryan Murphy, Conan O’Brien, Mike Post, Henry Winkler, and the late Don Mischner.
`Forever,’ `Abbott Elementary’ Earn Multiple Black Reel Television Awards Nominations
Netflix’s drama Forever drew an industry-high 12 Black Reel Television Awards nominations, spotlighting the best in Black excellence across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, per Deadline. ABC’s Abbott Elementary was second with 11 nominations, followed by Peacock’s Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist with eight nominations. The winners will be announced on August 18 during a live streaming event. A list of nominations can be found here.
‘Black-ish’ Star Marcus Scribner Joins ‘Boston Blue’ Cast
Black-ish and grown-ish star Marcus Scribner has joined the cast of CBS’ Boston Blue drama series. Scribner will play a rookie cop from a family of law enforcement professionals, including his mother, Boston District Attorney Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben), and his sister Lena (Sonequa Martin-Green), a detective. A spinoff of CBS’s Blue Bloods, the new series stars Donnie Wahlberg as he reprises his role as NYPD officer Danny Reagan, who joins the Boston PD. Boston Blue also stars Ernie Hudson.
TV Celebrity Birthdays (June 14-20)
June 14: Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons, 227). June 15: Ice Cube (Are We There Yet?). June 18: Jeffrey Sams (Law & Order). June 19: Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show), Zoe Saldana (Lioness). June 20: Tika Sumpter (One Life To Live, The Haves and the Have Nots), Serayah McNeill (Empire).
CIC Classic TV Series Spotlight: ‘Amen’
Series Debut: September 1986
Number of Seasons: 5
Series Stars: Sherman Hemsley, Clifton Davis, Anna Maria Horsford, Roz Ryan, Jester Hairston.
Series Synopsis: Amen focused on Ernest Frye (Hemsley), a deacon of the fictional First Community Church in Philadelphia. A widower, he lived with his daughter Thema (Horsford) and interacted daily with the church’s staff, including its pastor, Reverend Reuben Gregory (Davis), elder church board member Rolly Forbes (Hairston), and church secretaries Amelia (Ryan) and Casietta Hetebrink (Barbara Montgomery). Throughout the series, Frye and Rev. Gregory often butted heads over issues surrounding the church. At the same time, his daughter romantically pursued Rev. Gregory before the two were married in season four and had a child in the show’s final season.
Awards/Acknowledgements: Amen was part of NBC’s slate of successful comedies featuring predominantly Black casts during the late 1980s and early 1990s, which included The Cosby Show, A Different World, and 227. The series also served as Hemsley’s return to television sitcoms after his successful, 11-season run on The Jeffersons. The series was one of the first TV sitcoms to take a humorous, light-hearted approach to religious themes and the inner workings of a Black church.
What’s New On TV:
June 24: Ironheart (adventure drama), Disney Plus
Disney Plus’ latest Marvel Studios original series follows genius teen inventor Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) — first introduced in the 2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever film — as she builds her legacy in her hometown of Chicago. Her uncanny ability to make iron suits draws the attention of a mysterious character, dubbed “The Hood” (Anthony Ramos).