Good Morning POU!
The first decade of the new millennium saw more sitcoms based on every facet of black life as black audiences proved to be a formidable force in television watching.
The Bernie Mac Show aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister’s three kids: Jordan, Vanessa, and Bryana.
Much of the humor in the show was derived from Mac’s continual adjustment to and his unique take on parenthood. A frequent motif of the show was the juxtaposition of Mac’s acerbic comments, such as his threats to “bust the (children’s) heads ’til the white meat shows,” and the deep parental affection he felt towards the trio, which often brought him to the verge of tears during happy moments. Towards the end of the series, Bryana’s long-lost father (Anthony Anderson) returns and drops by from time to time to help Bernie and Wanda with the kids.
All of Us premiered on the now defunct UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. On October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by the merger of UPN and The WB (whose sister company Warner Bros. Television produced this series), where it aired for one more season before being cancelled on May 14, 2007.
The series, which was loosely based on creator and executive producers Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith‘s own blended family, revolved around Robert James (Duane Martin), a divorced television entertainment reporter with a young son, Robert “Bobby” James, Jr. (Khamani Griffin), and his fiancée, Tia Jewel (Elise Neal), a kindergarten teacher who helped him through the breakup of his first marriage.
Robert shares custody of his son with his ex wife Neesee (LisaRaye McCoy), with whom he shares a tenuously friendly relationship for the sake of their son.
Eve was created by Meg DeLoatch which originally aired for three seasons on UPN from September 15, 2003 to May 11, 2006. Featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Eve, Jason George, Ali Landry, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Brian Hooks, and Sean Maguire, the show revolves around two sets of male and female friends attempting to navigate relationships with the opposite sex.
The series was developed as a vehicle for Eve under the working title The Opposite Sex; UPN executives approached the rapper about a television project after the success of fellow musician Brandy in another of the network’s sitcoms, Moesha. Eve’s series was created as part of the network’s attempt to appeal to a younger demographic. After being picked up, the show was renamed Eve to attract the rapper’s fans.
Half & Half is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from September 23, 2002, to May 15, 2006. The show focuses on the lives of two paternal half-sisters in their twenties who were estranged throughout their childhood, and are finally developing a close relationship. The series is set in San Francisco.
It was the second-most-watched show on UPN’s Monday night line-up (next to Girlfriends) and fourth overall on the network.
One on One is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from September 3, 2001, to May 15, 2006. The series stars Flex Alexander as a single sportscaster, who becomes a full-time dad when his ex-wife decides to accept a job out of the country and his teenaged daughter Breanna (Kyla Pratt) moves in with him. The series was based in Baltimore for the first four seasons before changing settings to Los Angeles for the final season.
Girlfriends premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN’s successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008. When Girlfriends returned in fall 2007 for its eighth season, it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on network television that was on air during that time.
It was one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African-American adults 18-34, including its spin-off The Game.
The Game is an American comedy-drama television series created by Mara Brock Akil. Premiering on October 1, 2006, the series debuted as the only new comedy series chosen for The CW‘s primetime schedule.
With the growing success of the UPN sitcom Girlfriends, that show’s creator and producers decided to create a spin-off series. On April 17, 2006, a Girlfriends episode called The Game focused on a young woman who decides to put her pending career plans on hold for the rising success of her star athlete boyfriend. The character, Melanie Barnett, was introduced in the episode as the first cousin of Joan Clayton, Girlfriends’ principal character.
Everybody Hates Chris is an American period sitcom that is based around the troubled experiences of comedian Chris Rock as a teenager. The show’s title parodies the popular CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and is set from 1982 to 1987.
The show was created by Rock and Ali LeRoi. It originally aired on UPN for its first season in 2005, but later moved to The CW, where it aired its remaining three seasons.
My Wife and Kids is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001 to May 17, 2005. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. It starred Damon Wayans as Michael Kyle, the patriarch of a semi-dysfunctional upper middle class African-American family who rules his household with a unique and distinct parenting style. As he teaches his three children some of life’s lessons, he does so with his own brand of humor. Wayans and veteran television writer/producer Don Reo co-created and co-produced the series.
The Parkers aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A spin-off of UPN’s Moesha, The Parkers features the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo’Nique) and Kim Parker (played by Countess Vaughn).
The series centers around a mother and daughter who both attend Santa Monica College. Nikki Parker was forced to drop out of high school when she discovered she was pregnant with daughter Kim. After Kim reaches adulthood, Nikki decides to go back to school. Kim is initially mortified with this decision, but eventually accepts the situation. Nikki and Kim’s mother-daughter relationship evolves as roommates and as students. Nikki adjusts to the fact that her daughter is old enough to live on her own, while Kim realizes that Nikki has more going on than just being her mom. (cont’d)