Good Morning POU!
In the 1990s, newer networks such as Fox, The WB and UPN, anxious to establish themselves with a black audience, featured black sitcoms such as Martin and Living Single, which drew high ratings among black households and were profitable even with a limited white viewership.
Though there were some black sitcoms successful with white audiences in the 1990s such as Family Matters, Moesha and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the number of new programs continued to decline. However, for many black households, these were the glory years of black television.
Living Single is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 22, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.
Throughout its run, Living Single became one of the most popular African-American sitcoms of its era, ranking among the top five in African-American ratings in all five seasons. Newspaper critics contrasted Living Single with Friends, which aired the following year. Living Single had successful Black characters including an attorney, a stockbroker, and a business owner, in contrast to Friends which featured white characters including a waitress, a folk singer, and an unemployed actor and no lead characters who were people of color. Bowser was disappointed that Warner Bros. did not promote Living Single nearly as much as it did its other show, Friends.
Martin is an American television sitcom that aired for five seasons on Fox from August 27, 1992, to May 1, 1997. It starred Martin Lawrence as Martin Payne, Tisha Campbell as his girlfriend and eventual wife Gina, Thomas Mikal Ford as Tommy, Carl Anthony Payne II as Cole, and Tichina Arnold as Pam. Lawrence also played several other characters.
Martin wins the lottery (one of the funniest episodes ever)
Reflecting the rising popularity of the Fox network throughout the 1990s, Martin was one of the network’s highest-rated shows during the sitcom’s run.
Moesha aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, a high school student living with her family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was originally ordered as a pilot for CBS‘ 1995–1996 television season but was rejected by the network. It was then picked up by UPN, which aired it as a mid-season replacement. It went on to become the biggest success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits over the course of the network’s entire run.
The show focuses on the life of an upper-middle class African-American family through the eyes of a typical girl named Moesha. Her father Frank, a widower and Saturn car salesman (and later owner of his own dealership, Brothers Saturn), has married Dee, the vice principal at Moesha’s high school, much to Moesha’s disapproval. The series was created by Ralph Farquhar, along with the writing team of Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The settings for the show include the Mitchell household, the teen hangout, The Den, and in some cases, Crenshaw High School, Moesha, Kim, Niecy, and Hakeem’s high school.
Family Matters is an American television sitcom that originated on ABC from September 22, 1989 to May 9, 1997, before moving to CBS from September 19, 1997 to July 17, 1998.
A spin-off of Perfect Strangers, the series revolves around the Winslow family, a middle-class African American family living in Chicago, Illinois.[1] Midway through the first season, the show introduced the Winslows’ nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel (Jaleel White), who quickly became its breakout character and eventually the show’s main character
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom television series created by Quincy Jones, Andy and Susan Borowitz, that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his wealthy uncle and aunt in their Bel Air mansion after getting into a fight in his hometown. In the series, his lifestyle often clashes with the lifestyle of his relatives in Bel Air.
Will’s working class background ends up clashing in various humorous ways with the upper class world of the Banks family – Will’s uncle Phil and aunt Vivian and their children, Will’s cousins: Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley.
The premise is loosely based on the real-life story of the show’s producer Benny Medina. (cont’d)