Barbershop, based on the successful MGM feature films, was adapted for television by writer/director John Ridley ("Three Kings," "Platinum," "Undercover Brother"), who is very active in television and films, in addition to being a prolific novelist. Robert Teitel and George Tillman, Jr., who also produced both the "Soul Food" movie and the Showtime television series of the same name, are series executive producers along with Ice Cube with whom they produce the "Barbershop" films. Most of the characters from the popular "Barbershop" movies have been retained, headed by Calvin, the reluctant hero and neighborhood confessor who runs the barbershop he inherited from his father. A few new memorable characters have also been added to the world. The continuing comical exploits of these people will be explored along with contemporary issues facing them, set against the slowly gentrifying backdrop of this fictional Chicago neighborhood. Ten episodes have been ordered to be shot in Los Angeles,