BET staple '106 & Park' turns a corner with 2,000th episode
By Steve Jones, USA TODAY

BET's influential fan-voted video countdown show, 106 & Park, celebrates its 2,000th episode tonight (6 ET/PT) with guests who include Jennifer Hudson, T.I., LL Cool J and Keyshia Cole.

Since its introduction in 2000, the hip-hop/R&B-oriented show has become a cultural touchstone for fans and a launching pad not only for music but also for movies. Terrence (Terrence Jenkins) and Rocsi (Raquel Roxanne Diaz), the upbeat hosts of the daily live show, routinely greet such stars as Jay-Z, Madonna, Snoop Dogg and Mariah Carey before an enthusiastic audience.

The program scored a coup last September when Kanye West and 50 Cent appeared on the eve of their ballyhooed album release showdown. And just last week, Tropic Thunder stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. were on the set.

"It's for all youth, not just urban youth," says Stephen Hill, BET's executive vice president of music, programming and talent. The show is introducing an online social community, 106 & Park Connect, that will make the already interactive show more accessible.

Hill says he still has the celebratory Champagne bottle from July 2001, when the show's weekly average viewership surpassed that of MTV's Total Request Live. Now, 106 & Park's 6 p.m. airing averages 575,000 viewers, compared with 300,000 for TRL at 3:30.

Rapper/actor Bow Wow, known as Mr. 106 & Park for his frequent visits, says his relationship with the show has been mutually beneficial.

"I was one of the first artists to make a buzz about 106 & Park," says Bow Wow (Shad Moss), 21, who appeared at 13. "If it wasn't for that show, I wouldn't be the entertainer that I am today."

The show's highest ratings came after Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001. "That show wasn't about celebrity (guests)," Hill says. "It was a memorial service for fans."

Terrence says his biggest surprise is that stars he grew up watching now watch him. "Will Smith told us, 'Every time I walk past the TV, I see my kids watching you.' "

Hill laughs at how 106 & Park, named for the New York cross streets where the show originally had its studio, almost had the wrong title.

"Stupid me thought it was at 106 and Lexington," he says. "I was frantically calling and telling them that I had it all wrong."


Counting 'em down: Rocsi and Terrence have co-hosted the live show since 2006.

http://www.usatoday.com/l...park_N.htm

BET should be congratulated for 2000 hours of public service announcements.

If listening to the hosts of these episodes butcher the English language cannot scare kids into staying in school, nothing will.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I can't stand to listen to anything Rocsi says. It's just plain awful listening to these two, especially her.

I feel the love already!

sextonseven said:

2000 episodes and I've never watched five minutes of one, let alone a complete episode. When I'm surfing with my remote and see the show on the air, I push the button real quick so I won't have to hear even a second of that bullshit.

vainandy said:

After 2000 episodes, The Funk is nowhere to be found. How come Prince was never asked to perform on the show?!?
[Edited 8/21/08 9:04am]

That idiot should get strangled with that Malcolm shirt. Malcolm forbes, maybe.

I used to want Prince to go on 106th and Park. Now I'm kinda glad he didn't. 106th and Park sucks donkey ass. I can't bring myself to watch it anymore, especially since Free and AJ left. Everything about BET is shit and it pains me to say that cause I grew up on it when it was the bomb, the 80-early 90's.

purplecam said:

I liked Video Soul with Donnie Simpson a lot better than 106th & Park.

purplecam said:

I liked Video Soul with Donnie Simpson a lot better than 106th & Park.