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Watch My Show: The Soul Man's Phoef Sutton Answers Our Showrunner Survey
In the past few years Phoef Sutton served as a consulting producer on the critically acclaimed FX series Terriers — and the not-so-critically-acclaimed CBS sitcom Rob. Now the Cheers alum is executive producing The Soul Man, a Hot in Cleveland spin-off (Wednesdays, 10/9c on TV Land) starring Cedric the Entertainer as an R&B star who takes over as the preacher of his father's church and Niecy Nash as his wife, Lolli. Sutton took our showrunner survey to explain why he's praying for success. TV Guide Magazine: My DVR is jam-packed. Why should I add The Soul Man to my queue?Phoef Sutton: Because really, how many repeats of Law & Order does one person need to DVR? Why not give something new a try? Maybe something funny and spiritual...
In the past few years Phoef Sutton served as a consulting producer on the critically acclaimed FX series Terriers — and the not-so-critically-acclaimed CBS sitcom Rob. Now the Cheers alum is executive producing The Soul Man, a Hot in Cleveland spin-off (Wednesdays, 10/9c on TV Land) starring Cedric the Entertainer as an R&B star who takes over as the preacher of his father's church and Niecy Nash as his wife, Lolli. Sutton took our showrunner survey to explain why he's praying for success.
TV Guide Magazine: My DVR is jam-packed. Why should I add The Soul Man to my queue?
Phoef Sutton: Because really, how many repeats of Law & Order does one person need to DVR? Why not give something new a try? Maybe something funny and spiritual.
TV Guide Magazine: What happens if we don't watch your show?
Sutton: You will experience a deep longing in your life that you will not be able to explain.
TV Guide Magazine: Give us an equation for your show.
Sutton: The Soul Man = The Sopranos minus virtually every element of The Sopranos.
TV Guide Magazine: What's the best thing anyone has said or written about your show?
Sutton: "That's the most I've ever laughed in church."
TV Guide Magazine: Cedric the Entertainer has a pretty cool stage name. Give another cast member a nickname as well.
Sutton: Niecy "The Khaleesi" Nash. (Only Game of Thrones fans will get that.)
TV Guide Magazine: How are you using your power of TV for good?
Sutton: We're bringing a fun show to TV that does not involve three judges.
TV Guide Magazine: Let's scare the network. What idea didn't make it out of the writers' room?
Sutton: Cedric and Niecy have sex in the church... a lot.
TV Guide Magazine: What credit of yours would you prefer we forget?
Sutton: I Was A Teenage Werewolf's Preadolescent Brother and Rob.
TV Guide Magazine: If you could steal a character from any other show on TV and incorporate them into the The Soul Man world, who would they be, and what would they do?
Sutton: The One Armed Man from The Fugitive, to give Cedric something to always be searching for.
TV Guide Magazine: How does The Soul Man compare to the 1986 movie Soul Man, the 1997 Dan Aykroyd sitcom Soul Man or 2008's Samuel L. Jackson/Bernie Mac movie Soul Men?
Sutton: It's identical to all of those.
TV Guide Magazine: Fill in the blank: If you like _______, you'll love The Soul Man.
Sutton: Peanut butter.
TV Guide Magazine: What's an alternate title for your show?
Sutton: Seinfeld in Church