The Reading Club (partially found WHUT talk show; 1999-2001)
The Reading Club was a public TV show that was made by Howard University Television, in cooperation with Dunbar Productions and WHUT, a local Washington, D.C. channel.[1] The talk show was hosted by former WCBS New York anchor Carol Martin.[1] Eventually, Renee Poussaint would take over as host for the show's second season after "working on a documentary about a meeting between historian John Hope Franklin and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa."[2] The first season of the talk show went on for 13 weeks.[3][4]
Premise
Allison J. Davis, one of the many executive producers of The Reading Club was inspired by her friends, to create and air a talk show on books.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000005-QINU`"' The series focused on serving "the African American community by educating, informing and inspiring individuals to broaden their horizons through more reading."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000006-QINU`"' Each episode had different "club members," which were various African American women.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU`"' In fact, these women were selected from actual book clubs across the U.S. Usually, they would discuss various topics in several books like self-discovery and love.
Availability
The lack of video footage is due to the fact that The Reading Club only aired episodes for a short time. Only 26 half-hour episodes were produced.[6] It is speculated that the series aired reruns until September 30, 2002 when the PBS Kids Bookworm Bunch block was airing, thus kicking the show to obscurity.
Television Station | Location | Date of Debut |
---|---|---|
WCEU | Daytona Beach, Florida | September 5, 1999 |
KNME | Albuquerque, New Mexico | September 6, 1999 |
WTBU | Indianapolis, Indiana | September 6, 1999 |
WTVS | Detroit, Michigan | September 6, 1999 |
WHUT | Washington, District of Columbia | September 7, 1999 |
KDTN | Dallas, Texas | September 8, 1999 |
WKMJ/KET 2 | Louisville, Kentucky | September 9, 1999 |
KLCS | Los Angeles, California | September 10, 1999 |
KLRU/2 cable | Austin, Texas | September 10, 1999 |
WNET | New York, New York | September 10, 1999 |
WPTO | Oxford/Cincinnati, Ohio | September 10, 1999 |
KRCB | Rohnert Park, California | September 12, 1999 |
WHUT | Washington, District of Columbia | September 12, 1999 |
WGVK | Grand Rapids, Michigan | September 13, 1999 |
KTCI | Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota | September 14, 1999 |
WHMG | Schenectady, New York | September 26, 1999 |
WLAE | New Orleans, Louisiana | October 1, 1999 |
Kentucky ETV | Statewide Kentucky | October 2, 1999 |
Mississippi ETV | Statewide Mississippi | October 2, 1999 |
Nebraska ETV | Statewide Nebraska | October 2, 1999 |
WXXI | Rochester, New York | October 4, 1999 |
WYIN/Channel 56 | Merrillville, Indiana | October 6, 1999 |
WKAR | East Landing, Michigan | October 18, 1999 |
WYBE | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | November 1, 1999 |
WIPB | Muncie, Indiana | January 9, 2000 |
Episodes
The series debuted on WCEU on September 5, 1999.[7]
Season 1 (1999-2000)
# | Book | Host | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lawrence Graham's Our Kind of People: Inside Americ's Black Upper Class | Carol Martin | Lost |
2 | Pearl Cleage's What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day | Carol Martin | Lost |
3 | Jill Nelson's Straight, No Chaser: How I Became a Grown-up Black Woman | Carol Martin | Lost |
4 | Benilde Little's The Itch | Carol Martin | Lost |
5 | Shireen Dodson's Mother and Daughter's Book Club | Carol Martin | Lost |
6 | Janet McDonald's Project Girl | Carol Martin | Lost |
7 | Iyanla Vanzant's Yesterday, I Cried | Carol Martin | Lost |
8 | Ralph Ellison's Juneteenth | Carol Martin | Lost |
9 | Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones | Carol Martin | Lost |
10 | Harriett Cole's How to Be: A Guide to Conscious Living for African American People | Carol Martin | Lost |
11 | Sister Souljah's The Coldest Winter Ever | Carol Martin | Lost |
12 | Myrlie Evers-Williams' Watch Me Fly | Carol Martin | Lost |
13 | Linnie Frank and Andria Hall's This Far by Faith | Carol Martin | Lost |
13 | Renita Weems's Listening to God | Carol Martin | Lost |
Season 2 (2000-2001)
# | Book | Host | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | The Color of Water by James McBride | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
2 | Diane McKinney's Blues Dancing | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
3 | Wilson Wesley's The Devil Riding | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
4 | Van Whitfield's Something's Wrong With Your Scale! | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
5 | Breena Clarke's River Cross My Heart | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
6 | Eric Jerome Dickey's Cheaters | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
7 | T.D. Jakes' Maximize the Moment: God's Action Plan for Your Life | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
8 | Douglas F. Greer's Blind Ambitions | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
9 | Shay Youngblood's Black Girl in Paris | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
10 | Tananarive Due's The Black Rose | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
11 | A'Lelia Bundles's On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam CJ Walker | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
12 | Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Talents | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
13 | Rene Swindle's Please, Please, Please | Renee Poussaint | Lost |
Gallery
This is the only video associated with the show to have been discovered.
External Links
- Official website (accessible via Wayback Machine) Retrieved 15 Feb '18
- A schedule page, mentioning The Reading Club. Retrieved 14 Feb '18
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Reading Club, Peabody Awards Collection, 2000049 PST 1 of 1, Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. Retrieved 13 Feb '18
- ↑ The Washington Times article about black history Retrieved 14 Feb'18
- ↑ The Washington Post article on The Reading Club. Retrieved 14 Feb '18
- ↑ A Chicago Sun-Times article on The Reading Club. Retrieved 14 Feb '18
- ↑ Black Issues Book Review article on the origin of The Reading Club Retrieved 14 Feb '18
- ↑ TV Guide page with a cast an inaccurate episode list Retrieved 14 Feb '18
- ↑ Official chart of when the series debuted across the U.S. Retrieved 15 Feb '18