• Kanye West does comedy, promotion with Absolut. Drink responsibly. [AHH]

• The Hughes brothers are trying to create the next big crime show on HBO now that The Wire is gone. [C&D]

• 50 Cent is not content to let Lil Wayne be the big seller of 2008. [MTV]

• Really, Lauren London? [SR]

• Tyler Perry vacations with Oprah and Gayle. [CL]

Time's annual list of the World's 100 Most Influential People is out, and Tyler Perry, Jacob Zuma (president of the African National Congress), Chris Rock, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Mo Ibrahim (Sudanese-British mobile communications mogul), Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey made the cut. Check out the full list here. Who do you think was overlooked? Who doesn't belong? All I know is, if one of the world's most influential people is also the sort of person who marries a two-bit comedic actor/rapper after knowing him for a month, then I'm scared for the world.

Behold a Hollywood double-standard (one of many):

To some degree, the numbers speak for themselves. After the $50 million take of "Diary," Mr. Perry returned with the $63 million "Madea's Family Reunion," the $31 million "Daddy's Little Girls," and last year's $55 million hit "Why Did I Get Married?," which gave top billing to singer-turned-actress Janet Jackson. In the case of "Married," its $21 million opening weekend was almost double that of the George Clooney vehicle "Michael Clayton," which opened the same weekend.

"If you look at the papers and magazines from that week, you'll see plenty of stories talking about George Clooney but almost nothing about Tyler Perry," the film critic Elvis Mitchell said during an interview at this year's Sundance Film Festival. "There's obviously something out of balance there, where all the attention is going to a movie that's only being seen by half as many people."

You can take race out of it and it kind of makes sense. George Clooney is George Clooney. Tyler Perry is a former playwright who dresses in drag and overacts. A no-brainer, right? You can add race back into it and it also kind of makes sense. Movie critics, the vast majority of whom are white, don't understand the Tyler Perry attraction at all. All they see is a mediocre movie with often-mediocre acting and a boisterous grandmother who sometimes seems out of place in otherwise serious storylines. They don't get the culture of it, the popularity of the plays on which the movies are based, and how desperate black people are to see themselves on screen as something other than criminals or cops.* Until they get that, they won't get Tyler Perry. Still, as they continue to give him thumbs down, he'll continue to rake in the cash. In the end, it more than evens out. [NYS]

*I might get it, but I still don't really like them. To each his or her own, though.

Tyler Perry's Madea character, whom he plays in drag, has been a wild success on the stage and big screen. Not satisfied with just entertaining adults with his love-her-or-hate-her Madea, Perry plans to create a cartoon about her.

"After receiving thousands of letters from parents telling me how much their kids love Madea and realizing that a lot of the plays were not kid friendly," said Perry, "I wanted to do something more appropriate, and this seems to be it. A 'Madea' animation looks like the best way."

The playwright-turned-filmmaker will create, write and executive produce an undetermined number of 22-minute standalone episodes and also provide the voice of Mabel "Madea" Simmons.

The cartoon will be completed before it's shopped around to networks or sold on DVD. With Perry's Midas touch, it shouldn't matter how he ends up distributing — he'll make a fortune. [EUR]

Jennifer Hudson has been tapped to join Sanaa Lathaan, Rockmond Dunbar, Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates in Tyler Perry's new film, The Family That Preys, which is Perry's first film featuring white main characters. The movie will start shooting March 2, directly followed by Madea Goes to Jail. Perry's Meet the Browns is in theaters on March 21. And Perry is rumored to have a role in the new Star Trek film. Busy man.

Just a few days after Marion Jones' six-month prison sentence for steroid use and fraud, a drug scandal playing out in Albany, N.Y. The district attorney there is on a mission to arrest doctors and pharmacists suspected of distributing steroids. The DA accuses a whole roster of celebrities, including Mary J. Blige, of getting performance-enhancing drugs from the targeted doctors. Interestingly, they're all black. Blige was the first to deny involvement. From the NY Daily News:

"Mary J. Blige has never taken any performance-enhancing illegal steroids," the singer's spokeswoman Karynne Tencer told the Daily News.

The R&B singer leads a roster of entertainers named in a probe by Albany County District Attorney David Soares, the Times Union reported.

Rappers 50 Cent, Timbaland and Wyclef Jean and actor Tyler Perry also allegedly ordered steroids or human growth hormone from doctors and pharmacists targeted in Soares' investigation, according to the paper.

Authorities have uncovered no evidence the celebrities violated any drug laws.

I don't know about Mary, Wyclef, or Tyler Perry, but the fact that Timbaland and 50 Cent's names have come up in a steroid probe is no surprise.

I always like to end the year on a high note. While 2007 definitely had its low points, it also had great moments, particularly in the realm of entertainment and politics. After the jump, let's celebrate the good things this year had to offer.

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• Patti LaBelle is the mother of all gays. Her words. [C&D]

• Lauren London and Lil Wayne are a match made in…I don't know. But definitely not heaven. [Bossip]

• Mannie Fresh's sister was murdered. R.I.P. [SP]

• Blah blah blah, Jay-Z's phony, blah blah blah. [NYMag]

• Are Will Smith and Tyler Perry smarter than you? It's very likely they're a lot richer. [EW]

Roger Ebert learned this lesson the hard way in 2005 — you mess with Tyler Perry, you mess with a lot of angry black folks. And although CW13 was really mainly messing with Janet Jackson when they asked her a stupid question about her wardrobe malfunction (if you click on the video, it now directs you to an apology), Tyler Perry was still present. That's all it took. CW13 now has a special message to handle all of the angry emails they've been getting from rabid Tyler/Janet fans. The "feedback" has forced them to "reassess" the anchor's approach.

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Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married finished it's debut weekend on top with $21.5 million at 2,011 theaters (number two was The Rock's Game Plan, which made $11.5 million at 3,128 theaters). Contrary to what some seem to believe, I didn't want this movie or Janet Jackson to fail. It's feels very good to see an all-black film bringing in this weekend's box office prize. Check out the stats after the jump.

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Dear Janet Jackson,

No reason. Just 'cause.

Well, that's a lie. You do have a movie coming out this weekend, and you've been making lots of headlines for your drastic weight loss (again! All that yo-yoing can't be healthy, J), and for putting out fires, and for promising she's not married to Jermaine Dupri (we've all heard that before, J), and for having an awkward interview on the CW, and — well, these sorts of things always occur when you have a movie coming out. Speaking of your movie, I hope it does well. We are seriously lacking in positive black films. Knowing Tyler Perry's history, I'm pretty sure it will.

Anyway, I guess I am just writing to say good luck — your career could use this pick-me-up, honestly. Oh, and you're really pretty in person, not all plastic-surgeried-looking like I expected.

Also, I hope your brother Jermaine gets his shit together. He was my first crush.

Love,

Lauren

Janet Jackson is a woman who saves lives. She can't be bothered with this frivolous Nipplegate shit. But I do have to commend those CW anchors on their interview techniques. Next time they have Vanessa Williams on to talk about her new projects, they should ask her about those nude pics she took in the early '80s. The public has a right to know!

[MG]

• It's really all Janet Jackson all the time around these parts. [BV]

• Wesley Snipes catches a break. Not a tax break, it's important to note. [SP]

• Will.i.am has trouble fielding the tough questions. [Bossip]

• This just really doesn't look like any check-up I've ever seen. [C&D]

• It's the old "wrong address" defense. Good one. [MTV]

When I hear the term "Family Values," I think of the Christian Right and Rev. Jerry Falwell, and I get all squirmy and want to run in the opposite direction. But Tyler Perry (seen here at yesterday's Why Did I Get Married? premiere) recently announced that he wants to launch his own network geared toward promoting family values. Thankfully, that probably doesn't include gay bashing and anti-abortion speeches. Plus, rumor has it T.P. is the last guy with any business spouting anti-gay invectives. If you catch my drift.

Perry says, "Our children and our families are falling apart because there's only one thing to see, there's only one place you can go for information, especially African-American people, and a lot of times it's very negative.

"There are a lot of horrible things going on when you turn on the television with sex and violence and everybody has become desensitized to it. I want to own a television cable network that will be all positive when you turn it on in the morning, it will inspire your children if they're watching cartoons or the prime time."

This sounds like a good idea for kids, even if it turns into a self-indulgent Madea-fest. It will definitely be better than what the kids are watching in the mornings now.

What are the kids watching in the mornings? I'm out of touch.

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