Got 2B Real: The Diva Variety Show

Last updated
Got 2B Real: The Diva Variety Show
Also known asGot 2B Real
Genre
Created byAndrea Lee
StarringAndrea Lee
Jamaal D. Pittman
Terrivio-Wesley
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes15
Original release
ReleaseJuly 29, 2011 (2011-07-29) 
December 13, 2015 (2015-12-13)

Got 2B Real: The Diva Variety Show (often simply referred to as Got 2B Real) is an American parody reality television web series on YouTube created by and starring Andrea Lee. [1] The series was heralded as "hilarious", "genius" and "art." [2] [3]

Contents

Premise

A group of popular singers throw shade and read each other, reinvigorating past rivalries and discussing current events.

Characters and cast

Creator Andrea Lee (under her pseudonym "Patti LaHelle") voiced the following characters, all based on well-known music legends and performers:

Lee voiced additional guest appearances by Brandy, Diana Ross, Nene Leakes, Joseline Hernandez, Tami Roman, Iggy Azalea, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson, Erykah Badu, Tamar Braxton, Kandi Burruss, Barbara Walters, Nick Cannon, Lady Gaga, Iyanla Vanzant, Oprah Winfrey, Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim, Blu Cantrell, Jay-Z, Shaun Robinson, Celia Cruz, Cristina Saralegui, and briefly, Andy Cohen.

Additionally, several references to the British TV series “Downton Abbey” were made, to great effect, with Lee voicing the part of Maggie Smith’s character Violet Crawley. The premiere episode of season two had a “Harry Potter”-inspired plot, with Lee again voicing Maggie Smith, this time in her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall, as well as voicing Professor Dumbledore. Going with the “Potter” theme (where the boy attends a school for “witchcraft and wizardry”), the Divas instead attend an important meeting at a school for “bitch-craft” and “wiggetry”. This is the moment when, whether the Divas like it or not, they are separated into “Team Class” and “Team Sass”, apparently by Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. “The order is random,” McGonagall tells the ladies, “…like some of you here today.”

Other lead characters were voiced by Terrivio-Wesley (Dionne Warwick), Jamaal D. Pittman (Whitney Houston), Darcell Bios (Maya Angelou), and Samantha Johnson (Christina Aguilera).

Impact and legacy

The show was launched the same year as Issa Rae's Awkward Black Girl and the Tracie Thoms-starring Bandwagon, two other popular Black-centered digital series. G2BR immediately reached the very pop culture icons represented on screen. Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina tweeted that the first episode was funny, and Jackée Harry, Chaka Khan, and Patti LaBelle were confirmed viewers. [4] [5]

Lee followed up the series with a film finale, Got 2B Trill: The Untold Story in December 2015. She later wrote for the series Pretty Dudes . [1] In November 2020, the Patti LaHelle YouTube channel was deactivated, and all the original episodes were subsequently removed from the platform. But fans have since archived the videos and re-uploaded them on other channels, in addition to the Internet Archive.

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References

  1. 1 2 Allah, Amari (January 4, 2018). "What's Next For Andrea Lee, Creator of Got2BReal, Commonly Known as Patti LaHelle". Wherever I Look. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  2. "The Craziest And Shadiest Diva Moments From The "Got 2B Real" YouTube Series". Global Grind. August 15, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  3. Glazer, Eliot (23 January 2012). "Behold the Newest Installment of 'Got 2 B Real,' a Web Series That Dubs Over the Voices of R&B Goddesses". Vulture.
  4. @REALbkBrown (11 August 2011). "SOOO funny! Mom at the end- PRICELESS! LMAO (PARODY) Guess Who's Coming To [Patti's] Dinner - Episode 1 via @youtube" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  5. @JackeeHarry (14 December 2015). "Hung out with my girl @ChakaKhan last night & cackled over our appearances in #G2BReal movie, @_maleficentt!" (Tweet) via Twitter.