R. Kelly is ending the year with a bang, having guest starred in a single by Lady Gaga and releasing his own album Black Panties December 10. However, the most exciting announcement from the R&B star has to be that new episodes from his ongoing hip-hopera Trapped In The Closet will air on IFC during 2014.
There hasn't been word from Kelly or IFC about how many new episodes we can expect, but we've seen 33 "chapters" so far and we haven't lost interest. IFC said in a statement that the new episodes will bring "intense drama, crazy situations and tumultuous relationships." As if fans of the show couldn't have guessed that on their own.
The saga, a series of three to eight minute videos detailing the soap opera life of protagonist Sylvester (Kelly) and a band of other cheating characters-which all began with Sylvester hiding from an angry husband in a closet-continues to get more convoluted in the best of ways. It's somewhat of a Mary Worth comic strip, which isn't boring as hell. The addition is a plus for IFC, which can jump on the trend of absurd television shorts. Fuse has found a surprisingly large audience for its ICP Theater, a bit where the members of Insane Clown Posse comment on hit music videos and movie trailers.
R. Kelly isn't stopping at television however. He's also recently announced that he's looking to adapt the Trapped In The Closet series into a live musical. There's no official word as to what stage in development this project is at, but Kelly hinted that he'd like to appear in at least a few productions.
"Some of the cities, I can't guarantee all of them, and that's what's being negotiated right now because it takes a lot of time to do these chapters," he said. "I'm the only one in the studio writing these chapters."
