Tracy Oliver’s (Girls Trip, The Sun is Also Star) comedy at Amazon Prime has added two actresses for recurring roles. According to Deadline, Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost, The Stand) and Jasmine Guy (Dead Like Me, The Quad) have joined the series, Harlem. The single-camera comedy follows four black female friends traversing love, life, and careers in the New York borough.
According to Deadline, Goldberg will play Dr. Elise Pruitt, the new department head at Columbia University. Her unpredictable disposition will pose a challenge for the show’s character Camille, played by Meagan Good (Death Saved My Life, Cousin Skeeter). Camille is a professor of anthropology at the university specializing in love and sex. Unfortunately, Camille struggles to heed her own advice when it comes to relationships.
Guy will portray Patricia, the mother of Grace Byers’ (Empire, The Gifted) Quinn. The wealthy mother has fueled her daughter’s livelihood, even her lofty career as a fashion designer. But now she wants Quinn to take a step back and settle down.
The other cast members include Shoniqua Shandai (Bodied, Miss Arizona) as Angie and Jerrie Johnson (Mother’s Milk, Good Trouble) as Tye. Angie is described as a free-spirit who will try anything once. The aspiring singer also lives as Quinn’s roommate rent-free. Tye is a successful tech developer whose alpha attitude bars her from getting too close to any of the women she dates.
According to Deadline, Oliver will write and executive produce along with Amy Poehler (Baby Mama, Parks and Recreation) and Kim Lessing (Moxie) via their Paper Kite Productions. Dave Becky (I Love You Daddy, Rough Night) will produce through the production company, 3 Arts. Universal TV and Amazon Studio will also produce.
Oliver has stayed booked with both TV and film deals as of late. She is behind the First Wives Club reboot at BET+ starring Jill Scott (Why Did I Get Married, Black Lightning), Michelle Buteau (Always Be My Maybe, Tales of the City), and Ryan Michelle Bathe (Sylvie’s Love, All Rise). It has been renewed for a second season. She also has a comedy feature with Sony entitled Homecoming with Kevin A. Garnett (Dynasty, Kicks) and Dewayne Perkins (Brooklyn-Nine-Nine, Saved By the Bell).
Goldberg can be seen daily as a host for ABC’s long-running daytime talk show, The View. She recently held a role in the CBS All Access limited series The Stand, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel.
Guy is best known for her role as Whitley Gilbert from NBC’s 90s HBCU sitcom, A Different World. She was recently seen in a recurring role on ABC’s medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, according to Deadline.
Harlem is one of two new comedies centering on black women’s friendship and life in New York. Starz’s Run the World is written and created by Living Single’s Yvette Lee Bowser. It is set for a 2021 premiere.