The New Edition Story
| The New Edition Story | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Biographical drama |
| Based on | New Edition |
| Written by | Abdul Williams |
| Directed by | Chris Robinson |
| Starring | Algee Smith Woody McClain Bryshere Gray Elijah Kelley Keith Powers Luke James Jahi Di'Allo Winston Tyler Marcel Williams Dante Hoagland Caleb McLaughlin Myles Truitt |
| Narrated by | Wood Harris |
| Theme music composer |
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Antonio Dixon James Harris Terry Lewis |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Ricky Bell Michael Bivins Bobby Brown Ronnie DeVoe Johnny Gill Ralph Tresvant Jesse Collins Stephen Hill Debra Lee Brooke Payne Valerie Bleth Sharp Chris Robinson |
| Running time | 360 mins. |
| Production company(s) | Jesse Collins Entertainment |
| Distributor | Black Entertainment Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | BET |
| Original release | January 24 – January 26, 2017 |
| Website | |
The New Edition Story is an American biographical three-part miniseries about the R&B group New Edition, from their rise to fame as a boy band from the Orchard Park Projects of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to becoming a successful adult act. It was originally broadcast on BET from January 24 through January 26, 2017, becoming the network's first scripted miniseries. All six members of New Edition served as co-producers.
Opening Sequence - Home Again Tour - New Mexico 1997
The first part of the mini-series opens with a narrator (narrated by Wood Harris) describing "New Edition" on tour, after they have already achieved success. Although the group performs together with all the current members on stage, they also perform as separate acts. Bobby Brown (one of the founding members of New Edition) is shown performing solo, while backstage the trio group, "BBD", is shown bothered by Brown's erratic behavior, his selfishness, and his over exposure, which they feel is stealing the spotlight from the other groups and is taking time away from the other acts to perform their sets. Two other solo acts, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant, are also shown in the wings of the stage chatting, while they await their opportunity to perform. Ronnie DeVoe (Keith Powers), member of BBD, decides to interrupt Bobby Brown's performance and orders the DJ to begin playing their set. BBD immediately begins to perform, enraging Bobby Brown. Chaos erupts on stage in the middle of the concert as several members of the competitive groups begin to fight one another. During the ensuing meltdown, a gunshot is heard. The narrator then begins to describe how a group that had become so successful could have gotten to this point in their careers, explaining that it was always ego, pride, and greed. The scene then rewinds back in time to show the group's founding in Roxbury, Massachusetts.
The rise of New Edition - Roxbury, MA - 1978-1983
It's a normal day for the people of Orchard Park Housing Projects (also called "O.P."), in Roxbury . A young boy named Ricky Bell (played as a youth by Caleb McLaughlin) (who goes by 'Slick'), fearfully asks his mother to go to a local talent show with a neighboring friend, Michael Bivins (nicknamed "Mike") (played as a youth by Dante Hoagland), which she immediately rejects by telling him he is a bad influence and tells him to stay away from him. However, Ricky finds a way to meet later that night outside with Mike, ignoring his mother's statements and asks him if he's still going to the show, so that they can support their other friend in the neighborhood, Bobby Brown (played as a youth by Tyler Marcel Williams), who is supposed to perform. They later head to the local talent show and are influenced by the sound of a vocal group called "The Untouchables". Bobby is called on stage to perform and has stage fright within the first few seconds he appeared on stage. The next day, Bobby tells them that he wants to try again, but this time, they should get on stage with him instead, which was his secret silent plot to get rid of his stage fright. They were at first unsure, but were convinced to be on board, as long as they were able to add another friend who could sing. Ralph Tresvant (played as a youth by Jahi D'Allo Winston) is a friend of the boys, who is down the block trying to impress a girl, since he's been trying to get her attention for a while. The boys meet at Ricky's house to practice with small discrepancies happening between them, as Ricky's brother and sister, Peanut (Bre-Z) both feel they need guidance if they're going to take it seriously and feel they should meet with Brooke Payne (Wood Harris), a guy who works with some top acts around Boston. The young boys sneak in the back alley of a club to convince Brooke to manage them. However, he wasn't interested until the boys insisted and broke out into an impromptu a capella version of The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back". Brooke then has a change of heart and told the boys to meet him at the neighborhood recreation center, first thing in the morning.
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