Sue's Morning Stretch: Chicago made Madea a Tyler Perry fixture

Tyler Perry’s popular character started in Chicago!

• The old Regal Theater was where Tyler Perry’s Madea first appeared. A performer didn’t show up for the show and so Perry added Madea to his performance, the director/actor told WGN’s Dean Richards. The audience went wild, which told Perry he’d hit on a winner. Perry’s on the talk show circuit right now talking up his latest film, “A Madea’s Christmas,” which opens Friday.
• Over on “CBS This Morning,” they were talking about the Republican Party’s efforts to reach more women, since females make up 54 percent of the electorate. They want to put a “human face” on their platform, which they are not changing. Remember, this is the party that on the state levels has been obsessed with women’s private parts. The party that opposes abortion AND then also opposes food stamps for impoverished children. And the party who when women think of GOP females first think of the very visible Michele Bachmann. They might need to make some REAL changes before they can make up that 10-point advantage the Democratic Party has with women.
• If it isn’t women picking on each other on the Hot Topics portion on “Good Morning America” it’s parents. Today moms and dads are horrified that Fisher-Price is offering a baby bouncy seat that has an iPad screen overhead the infant can look into as he or she bounces. Naturally they took to social media to blast the product, telling parents to talk to their kids (yeah, just like they were doing while on social media). Pediatricians aren’t crazy about it, either; says it’s crucial for babies to be spending time interacting with humans. So, probably best to skip the iPad, but a plain old bouncy seat? Get one of those new and parents-to-be. I gotta tell you, it was a lifesaver for us. He’d bounce, we’d get to eat dinner.
• Mercadito’s Patricio Sandoval was up making some yummy fusion potato latkes with shrimp and a little Latin kick on “You & Me This Morning.” The popular chef with the great hair will be giving lessons on Mexican holiday dishes at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Check it out. —Sue Ontiveros