Source: Shutterstock

From Essence

Dear Dr. Sherry,

I am a 49-year-old woman who has been married for 28 years. I have devoted my life to my husband and my daughter. The moon rose and set on the two of them, and I had great faith in my husband and believed everything he told me as gospel until about five years ago. My husband had a 2-year relationship that almost tore our marriage apart. I asked him to leave and he move out. After three months, he said he had made a mistake and we reconciled. Fast forward to after the affair. I began to analyze myself. I had really neglected myself, to the point, I had gained weight, neglected to finish school and stop going out with my friends because as I was just too busy with my family. I gave up all my power as a woman to my husband. It was not his fault.

In 2011, I decided I needed a change. I had gastric bypass surgery and I’ve lost almost 70 pounds so far. I enrolled in college at my job and I’m almost finished and looking forward to my new career. I have also made new friends and go out at least once a week. I am having the time of my life! However, there are problems: My husband has been extremely resistant to my changes, I know he does not like it, and at this point his opinion no longer matters. Dr. Sherry, for the past three years my husband has been in the hospital because he refuses to take care of himself. He has a host of illnesses; diabetes, HTN, eye-problems, hearing problems etc., which all came about after the affair. Just recently, he lost his job, and then, for no apparent reason, stopped taking all of his meds. Last Thanksgiving he had a mild stroke, and my husband is only 52 years old. Also because of my husband’s last stint in the hospital and job loss, we are now behind in the mortgage payments and in foreclosure.

My husband is recovering from the stroke and has found a full-time job. We are now negotiating with the mortgage company. I’m tired and at the end of my rope. I’m tired of always having to run behind him and to put out the fires. My daughter is going off to college, and I no longer want to be married. I refuse to leave because he needs me, since he is still recovering from the stroke. Please help. What do I do? I love my husband, but I don’t think I’m in love with him anymore.

Signed,

Don’t Know What to Do

See what Dr. Sherry Blake has to say about this on Essence.com.

Source: Shutterstock

From Essence

Q: Dr. Sherry, I’m a 41-year-old mother of two who feels stifled. I’ve been married for 20 years and I made the conscious, yet difficult, decision to end my marriage after years of mental abuse and controlling behavior from my husband. I only have a high school education and I have a 19 and 17 year old. Can you please provide me with words of encouragement and empowering at this time? God bless!

See what encouraging words celebrity psychologist Sherry Blake has for this woman on Essence.com.

The judging panel of the “X Factor” will have a little less color next season as L.A. Reid has decided not to return to the singing competition. In an interview with Access Hollywood, he said:

“I have decided that I will not return to ‘The X Factor’ next year. I have to go back and I have a company to run that I’ve kind of neglected and it saddens me a little bit, but only a little bit.”

That “only a little bit” sounds like there may have been some sketch things going on — like Simon got on his nerves, like he eventually gets on all of the other judge’s bad sides but Reid said that’s not the case:

“I love Simon. We have a great relationship, we have fun together, we talk, we laugh, we do bad things, we’re friends. I owe so much to Simon. I really have a lot [of] respect for him and I always will. I support him, I support the show and I’ll always be in business with him.”

As for his feelings on getting back to the office and handling his business as chairman and CEO of Epic Records, Reid said:

“[X Factor] was a nice break, it was a nice departure from what I’ve done for the past 20 years, but now I gotta go back to work.

“I have a huge responsibility to a roster of artists and it’s kind of time for me to stop doing the ‘me’ show,” he said.

“I’m not ruling out ever coming back, but I’m definitely not coming back next year,” he said. “I have a job to do and once I get some work done and get some momentum then maybe I’ll revisit the idea a little later.”

Looks like “X Factor” is about to be on that “American Idol” scramble. Will you miss L.A. Reid?

Source:missexpose.com

If we think back a couple of seasons, the only reason “The Game” made it to BET was because fans petitioned for a revival of the show after it was booted from the CW. That moves speaks very highly to the power of the viewers and the same people who fought to bring the show back are now pushing for BET to get a clue and improve the series’ story lines—even if there’s no Melanie or Derwin. In an open letter to BET, Akil Productions, and Deborah Lee, fans say the entire network should be ashamed of what they’ve put out the past two seasons:

We created a Facebook page awhile back about the direction of The Game since its return on BET. We strongly believe that Akil productions and BET used the show as a stepping stool for other projects and ventures. The Akils to become a “well -known” production company and BET to develop better programming. Since the signing with BET, the Akils have produced Jumping the Broom and Sparkle and paid very little attention to the current state of the show. This ultimately lead to what we believe is the demise of the show. Yes, its just a tv show, however its bigger than that. BET lacks integrity and fails to provide a positive representation for the African American community. Since the show returned to BET, we’ve seen a “ghetto” Brandy, a gun toting, kush smoking, sex addicted, angry black woman in Tasha, a drunk in Malik and a marriage that seems to have an issue every other week with Melanie and Derwin. Not to mention the sudden exit of the only white cast member -Brittany Daniels, which is questionable. We received sloppily written story lines that lack continuity, bad lighting and poorly directed episodes. This is sad as television shows on a whole are on a decline especially shows that are a reflection of our community. The show declines in viewers every week, now averaging 1.9 million viewers, down from 7.7 million in two seasons. Both BET and the Akils should be ashamed in their selfish plot, after we the fans fought for the shows return. We’ve reached out to both BET and the Akils on Twitter and Facebook in the past, which resulted in us being blocked, along with anyone that posted constructive criticism of the show. BET, Deborah Lee and the Akils along with any other future production company should pay attention to the fans, and the quality of programming they provide, if not, this will not be the last show that will quickly fail under BET’s umbrella.

Signed-

Game fans
www.facebook.com/savethegame
Twitter-Sabercountryfb

You really can’t argue with anything they say. We all should’ve known there would be ratch on top of ratchedness when Brandy’s character was named Chardonnay but eventually the other problems with the show overshadowed that name flaw. I don’t think the Akil’s are unique in their sloppy story lines just from looking at other television programs but that’s a problem in itself. We’d like to be able to see a black sitcom/drama/comedy/etc. written by us that isn’t predictable with stereotypical plots and that hasn’t happened with “The Game” and honestly it probably won’t. If producers and writers didn’t think to do it right the first time, they probably won’t bother much at this point for what will likely be the final season of the show.

Do you think it’s time to mourn the loss of “The Game” or should fans still hold out for improvement?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: myjet247.com

The story that Melanie and Derwin would be no more on BET’s “The Game” is no longer just a rumor. Tia Mowry confirmed her exit last night on Twitter and her on-screen husband Pooch Hall is definitely leaving with her.

“Just wanted to let all my fans know that I will not be returning to The Game for season 6,” Tia tweeted. “It was an incredible run and I had lots of fun.”

The obvious question of why, along with how the heck is the show going to go on without the two main characters, hasn’t been answered yet, but it appears both actors have moved on to bigger, and perhaps better, things.

Pooch already a new gig as a series regular on Ray Donovan, a new Showtime pilot which was picked up. From most of your comments, HBO and Showtime are the route to go if you want to have a good role on TV so Pooch might be on the come up. As far as Tia, she just released a new book on motherhood, Oh Baby!, which hits stores today, and the second season of her and Tamera’s reality TV show on the Style Network will be coming back soon. I doubt she’s going to make a full career out of reality TV but at least the checks will still be rolling in.

Some reports have said the actors will be back to wrap up their story lines and TV Overmind says Pooch will still have a recurring role next season, much like Coby Bell’s Jason Pitts. I haven’t been watching the show consistently, but after last night’s episode it seemed Melanie might be moving to DC, so they could easily make her character disappear that way. We’ll have to see what goes down in the season finale June 5.

Does Tia and Pooch leaving ruin any chance of you watching next season?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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