THE ART OF THE ART
Wand catwalk comedy has hit a stumbling block and they want ABC to let them out of their deal. “We’re starting from scratch,” Johnson told us from her home in LA, following a standup tour to promote her new comedy record “Model Citizen.” According to Johnson, she got word in late June that ABC didn’t “have room” for her new show about a waning model on its fall schedule so now she, Sykes and cowriter are hoping to bring the sitcom to a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu. “We want to take it somewhere a little edgier,” Johnson told us, praising ABC for taking an interest at all. Deadline first reported the deal between Sykes’ Push It Productions and ABC in January. The program, simply titled, “Zainab Johnson,” is about a model who is “aging out” as her 30th birthday grows near. That means taking on gigs that are less than ideal for a fashionista who once dreamed of being on the cover of Vogue.
“(One episode) was me having to do a boat show and the model that’s coming up to replace me is there to buy a boat,” Johnson laughed. “And I’m standing there with a sequined gown on looking like I’m about to tell you what you won on ‘The Price is Right.’”
Johnson says the sad reality for aging models is that, in addition to being humbling, less prestigious gigs take up more time and pay little money.
“You have to do 10 boat shows to make up for a MAC lipstick campaign that would only take a few hours,” she said.
Being 5-foot-11 and gorgeous, Johnson, has had opportunities to model, but only “dibbled and dabbled” as she puts it. “Last year at Fashion Week,
booker asked me to walk (in a runway show) when I was leaving the gym in SoHo,” she said. “I said, ‘No thank you, I’m not a model.’”
ABC declined to comment. The Art Students League of New York, whose alumni and teachers include Norman Rockwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, will open an exhibition on Sept. 8 at the school’s gallery on W. 57th St. Among the artists featured will be painter whose controversial painting “Pence On Earth” depicts the Vice President dressed as the Pope. Others taking part in the show include and