*Roller skating has long been deeply rooted in the Black community so Disney Channel hit up former “black-ish” actress Marsai Martin and asked her to develop a series about it.
The result is “Saturdays,” a coming-of-age comedy that only takes place on the best day of the week…Saturday!
At the heart of the show is the Black girl magic being served up by Danielle Jalade (“Yes Day”) as Paris Johnson, Daria Johns (“Nappily Ever After”) as Simone, and Peyton Basnight (“Sudden Sisters”) as Ari. Per the official synopsis, “Saturdays” follows 14-year-old Paris Johnson and her best friends, Simone and Ari, who hone their roller skating skills on the cool parquet floor of Saturdays, a local skating rink in Chicago. Together they form the We-B-Girlz skate crew and are determined to show and prove they have the hottest skate routines on the planet!
Martin, 18, serves as executive producer on the show along with creator Norman Vance Jr. (“Girlfriends,” “Roll Bounce”). “Saturdays” is set on the South Side of Chicago and was shot at the famed Markham Roller Rink.
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As Deadline reports, Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said “We know that audiences will fall in love with Paris, her friends and her family as they share in the love, laughter and music in this fun-filled world of roller skating.”
“For me, I always watched Disney Channel and all different other type of networks growing up, and there weren’t a whole lot of shows showing Black friendship dynamics and Black family and Black culture,” Jalade told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Added Johns, “I feel like this show is really going to have a large impact on the Black community. Not just for skating, not just for its hair and makeup and what it brings to the culture, but the people in it. We have Mr. Omar Gooding, we have Miss Golden Brooks, we have Yo-Yo … like come on now, this is for the culture.”
We spoke to Jalade, Johns, and Basnight as well as their co-stars Jermaine Harris and Tim Johnson Jr. about what they’re more excited about viewers experiencing when this new series drops on Friday. Peep what they had to say in the clips below.
“Saturdays” premieres March 24th on Disney Channel. Episodes one through six will be available the next day on Disney+.
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