97 Fun Facts About Black Sitcom

Which 1972 sitcom starring Redd Foxx as a Los Angeles junk dealer was adapted from a British comedy?

Sanford and Son remade the BBC's Steptoe and Son, and its name was personal: Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Sanford, and Fred was his brother's name.

Redd Foxx's junk dealer Fred ran his yard in which Los Angeles neighbourhood?

Watts was where Fred ran the yard with his grown son Lamont, clutching his chest in fake heart attacks and calling to his late wife Elizabeth when he wanted his way.

Which sitcom about the Evanses in a Chicago housing project was TV's first with a Black two-parent family?

Good Times lost its father after three seasons: John Amos had objected to the scripts turning J.J. into a clown, and James was killed off just as the family prepared to join him in Mississippi.

The Evans family's housing project was never named on screen, but was based on which real Chicago development?

Cabrini-Green was never named in the show, though the series was based on it; the last of its high-rise towers was emptied in 2010 and marked for demolition.

Which future pop superstar joined the Evans family sitcom in season five as Penny, adopted by Willona?

Janet Jackson joined as a child and stayed until the show ended in 1979, then acted in Diff'rent Strokes and Fame before her 1986 album Control made her a pop star.

On The Jeffersons, George and Louise moved on up to a Manhattan high-rise thanks to George's chain of what?

Dry cleaners made George a millionaire: his chain of Jefferson Cleaners stores paid for the move from Queens and for the couple's own wisecracking maid, Florence.

The Jeffersons' theme song says the family is movin' on up to which part of Manhattan?

The East Side: Ja'Net DuBois co-wrote the theme with Jeff Barry and sang the lead vocal herself, while also playing neighbour Willona on another Norman Lear sitcom.

On The Jeffersons, what was the job of Harry Bentley, the British neighbour who kept having the door slammed on him?

UN interpreter Harry Bentley sounded every inch the Englishman, but actor Paul Benedict was American: born in New Mexico and raised in Massachusetts.

Which 1968 NBC sitcom starred Diahann Carroll as a widowed mother raising her young son Corey?

Julia Baker was a Vietnam War widow: her husband, a captain, had been killed there, leaving her to bring up Corey on her own while working as a nurse.

Before moving on up to Manhattan, George and Louise Jefferson were the next-door neighbours of which sitcom character?

Archie Bunker first sparred with George's brother Henry, a stand-in written because Norman Lear wanted Sherman Hemsley for George and had to wait until he finished the Broadway musical Purlie.

What was Cliff Huxtable's medical specialty?

Obstetrician Cliff and his lawyer wife Clair headed a family so popular that the show lifted NBC from also-ran to first place in prime time.

Which Southern belle did Dwayne Wayne finally marry on A Different World?

Whitley Gilbert began as the spoiled snob Dwayne could not stand, and their slow turn from sparring classmates to newlyweds became the heart of the show once its original lead had gone.

Why was Denise Huxtable written out of A Different World after one season?

Lisa Bonet became pregnant during the first season, so Denise dropped out of Hillman and went back to The Cosby Show while new producer-director Debbie Allen reshaped the spin-off.

Which future Jennifer Lopez manager's teenage move into a rich Beverly Hills home inspired The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Benny Medina and Quincy Jones took the idea to NBC along with a broke young rapper, Will Smith, who had never acted but struck the executives as a star.

Which actress took over as Aunt Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air after Janet Hubert left?

Daphne Maxwell Reid played Vivian for the last three seasons after Janet Hubert's bitter exit; Hubert blamed Will Smith for it, and the two did not make peace until 2020.

Family Matters was a spin-off of which other ABC sitcom, on which Harriette Winslow ran the elevator?

Perfect Strangers ended up outlasted by its own spin-off: it bowed out after eight seasons in 1993, while the Winslows carried on for nine.

How was Steve Urkel originally supposed to feature on Family Matters?

As a one-time guest: Jaleel White's nerd was written for a single episode as a date for Laura, but proved so popular that he became the show's star.

Which Tyler Perry sitcom passed The Jeffersons for the most episodes of any Black-cast sitcom?

Tyler Perry's House of Payne looked finished when TBS ended it in 2012, but BET brought the Payne family back eight years later.

In which city was Martin set, with Martin Payne working as a DJ at station WZUP?

Detroit was home to Martin Payne, who went from radio host to fronting the TV talk show Word on the Street; Martin Lawrence also played Sheneneh, Mama Payne and Jerome himself.

In Living Single, what was the name of the magazine that Queen Latifah's Khadijah James published?

Flavor was the magazine Khadijah fought to make a success while looking for Mr. Right; in the final episode she walks out of the brownstone with him: Scooter, whom she has known since childhood.

Which R&B singer played the title teenager in Moesha, set in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles?

Brandy's sitcom was made as a pilot for one of the big networks, which turned it down; the fledgling UPN picked it up months later and it became a hit there.

Which Moesha spin-off followed Kim and her mother Nikki, played by Mo'Nique, to Santa Monica College?

The Parkers began when Nikki, who had given up on college to raise Kim, enrolled alongside her mortified daughter, once Moesha's best friend.

What did Bernie Mac call the TV audience when he broke the fourth wall on The Bernie Mac Show?

America was Bernie's name for the viewers he confided in from his armchair, in a sitcom spun from his own stand-up routine about taking in his sister's kids.

Everybody Hates Chris was set in which Brooklyn neighbourhood, where Chris Rock grew up?

Bedford-Stuyvesant is where Chris Rock spent the teenage years he narrates; the title is a jab at the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.

Who created Black-ish?

Kenya Barris built the show on Dre's fear that success in the suburbs had cost his four children their cultural identity; it ran for eight seasons on ABC.

What was the name of the Black-ish spin-off that followed Zoey Johnson to college?

Grown-ish was developed under the title College-ish and aired on Freeform rather than ABC; Mixed-ish, a prequel about young Bow, came later.

Which Quinta Brunson mockumentary sitcom is set at an underfunded West Philly public school?

She plays second-grade teacher Janine Teagues. The show won the 2023 Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series and Emmys for Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Which 1976 ABC sitcom followed Los Angeles teens Raj, Dwayne and Rerun?

What's Happening!! was inspired by the 1975 film Cooley High, and its cast reunited in the 1980s for a sequel series, What's Happening Now!!

Which NBC sitcom starred Marla Gibbs as Mary Jenkins, with Jackée Harry and a young Regina King?

227 began as a stage play set in 1950s Chicago; Marla Gibbs had starred in it on stage and helped bring it to television, where the building moved to Washington, D.C.

In Amen, Sherman Hemsley played a church deacon in which city, his real-life hometown?

Philadelphia was home turf for Hemsley, who spent his early years as a stage actor holding down a day job at the post office.

Sister, Sister starred Tia and Tamera Mowry as twins who had been what?

Separated at birth and adopted by different parents, Tia and Tamera meet by chance in a shopping mall; ABC dropped the show after two seasons and The WB ran it for four more.

The radio version of Amos 'n' Andy, which ran from 1928, was written and voiced by whom?

Two white actors, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, created and voiced the characters; when the show reached television in 1951, Black actors took over, with Tim Moore as Kingfish.

Which Martin co-star played Jay, the wife of Damon Wayans's Michael Kyle, on My Wife and Kids?

Tisha Campbell also went behind the camera to direct the series finale herself, an episode in which Jay orders Michael to get a vasectomy.

Which network aired The Wayans Bros., starring Shawn and Marlon alongside John Witherspoon?

The WB began life courting Black viewers that the big networks had neglected, and Shawn and Marlon's sitcom was one of the comedies it built that strategy on.

Kenan & Kel was one of three spin-offs from which Nickelodeon sketch show?

All That made sketch partners of Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, and its Good Burger sketch grew into a feature film.

In Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Mark Curry's substitute teacher had formerly been what?

An NBA player in his former life, Mark Cooper moved back to Oakland to teach and coach at his old high school; Oakland is also Mark Curry's real hometown.

In Diff'rent Strokes, Arnold and Willis moved from Harlem to a wealthy widower's home at which Manhattan address?

Park Avenue was home to millionaire Phillip Drummond, who took the brothers in because their late mother had worked for him; housekeeper Mrs. Garrett left for her own spin-off, The Facts of Life.

Which UPN sitcom created by Mara Brock Akil starred Tracee Ellis Ross as lawyer Joan Clayton?

Girlfriends followed Joan and her three closest friends in Los Angeles for eight seasons, moving to The CW when UPN shut down, and spun off The Game.

In Diahann Carroll's 1968 sitcom, her character worked as a nurse in the medical office of what kind of employer?

A large aerospace company's doctor, Chegley, gives her the job after a phone call in which she warns him she is Black and he drily asks whether she has always been, or is just being fashionable.

Which actress played lawyer Clair Huxtable, Cliff's wife on The Cosby Show?

Phylicia Rashad was billed as Phylicia Ayers-Allen until she married sportscaster Ahmad Rashad during the show's run; her sister Debbie Allen went on to run the spin-off A Different World.

Which Fresh Prince character was named after a friend of writer Andy Borowitz, a future Lost showrunner?

Carlton took his name from Borowitz's college friend Carlton Cuse; Borowitz modelled the cousins on Quincy Jones's children and says the pilot was written and taped in about three weeks.

Family Matters moved from ABC to which network for its ninth and final season in 1997?

CBS lured Family Matters and Step by Step away from ABC to build a Friday family line-up of its own against TGIF, and the show ended after that single season.

Living Single's creator complained in 1996 that Warner Bros., the studio behind both, gave a far bigger push to which NBC sitcom?

Friends also followed six young New Yorkers, and Yvette Lee Bowser pointed out that her show had been on the air first; Fox had just moved it to Thursdays, directly opposite its newer rival.

Which former child star played gossip-loving Regine Hunter on Living Single?

Kim Fields's Regine spent the series hunting for a rich husband and finally found one: in the last season she got engaged to millionaire Dexter Knight and moved out of the brownstone.

Everybody Hates Chris was originally developed for which network before landing at UPN?

Fox developed the series first but passed, fearing Chris Rock would drift away after the pilot; UPN picked it up, and Rock stayed on as its narrator.

What mob-inspired name does Chris's mostly white school carry on Everybody Hates Chris?

Corleone Junior High lies two bus rides away in an Italian neighbourhood; his mother sends him there, the school's only Black pupil, insisting that white kids get an education.

Which Everybody Hates Chris star plays teacher Gregory Eddie in Quinta Brunson's school sitcom?

Tyler James Williams says a producer on Everybody Hates Chris told him he would probably never work again; Gregory Eddie has since won him a Golden Globe.

Which real-life hip-hop partner of Will Smith played Will's best friend on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

DJ Jazzy Jeff and Smith had already won the first rap Grammy ever presented, in 1989. On the sitcom he played a character simply named Jazz.

Which child actor played nerdy next-door neighbour Steve Urkel on Family Matters?

Jaleel White also played Urkel's suave alter ego Stefan Urquelle and cousin Myrtle. The character grew so popular that he got his own breakfast cereal, Urkel-Os.

On Kenan & Kel, which drink is Kel Kimble so obsessed with that he keeps taking it from Rigby's store?

Orange soda is Kel's great love, and store owner Chris is forever annoyed that he takes it without paying. One episode reveals it has turned his insides bright orange.

Which child star played Arnold Jackson, one of two Harlem brothers adopted by a rich widower, on Diff'rent Strokes?

Gary Coleman earned $100,000 an episode at the height of the show's fame. He was cast after his work in a pilot for a Little Rascals revival caught an executive's eye.

Which future Disney Channel star joined The Cosby Show at age three as Olivia, Denise's stepdaughter?

Raven-Symoné had auditioned for a Bill Cosby film and was judged too young for it, but he liked her so much that he found her a part on his sitcom instead.

Which rock star's mother, Roxie Roker, played Helen Willis in a pioneering interracial marriage on The Jeffersons?

Lenny Kravitz is Roker's son. Her Helen and Franklin Cover's Tom were among the first Black and white married couples to be regular characters on prime-time TV.

Which rapper starred in In the House as Marion Hill, a broke former football pro renting out rooms in his home?

LL Cool J played the cash-strapped landlord for five seasons, surviving two network cancellations before a final year in first-run syndication.

Which sitcom starred Tahj Mowry, younger brother of Tia and Tamera, as T.J. Henderson?

Smart Guy sent Mowry's T.J. Henderson from fourth grade straight to tenth, into the same Washington, D.C., school as his older brother and sister.

Which actor both executive-produced Black-ish and played Earl 'Pops' Johnson, the father of Anthony Anderson's Dre?

Laurence Fishburne, best known as Morpheus in The Matrix, joined in the recurring role of Pops. A spin-off built around him and Jenifer Lewis's Ruby was planned but never made.

Which former NFL player played Julius, the penny-pinching father working two jobs, on Everybody Hates Chris?

Terry Crews was an NFL defensive end and linebacker before he took up acting, and he returned as Julius in the animated revival Everybody Still Hates Chris.

Which actor, the cartoon voice of Ninja Turtles villain Shredder, played Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

James Avery made Philip Banks the 34th greatest TV dad of all time in TV Guide's ranking. Before acting, he served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War.

A Different World followed the students of which fictional historically Black school in Virginia?

Hillman College was introduced in the third-season finale of The Cosby Show, an episode that was essentially a pilot for the spin-off.

Which 2013 hip-hop dance craze was inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, a character Martin Lawrence played on Martin?

The Nae Nae came from the group We Are Toonz, who cited Sheneneh as their inspiration. She was one of several extra characters Lawrence played, including Martin's own mother.

Which stand-up comedian starred in a self-titled sitcom as a 1970s funk star turned Chicago high-school music teacher?

Steve Harvey played Steve Hightower, a faded funk legend whose school's budget cuts force him to teach drama and art as well.

Which 1980s sitcom starred Emmanuel Lewis as an orphan adopted by his NFL-pro godfather and a socialite?

Webster gave Lewis two on-screen parents, Alex Karras and Susan Clark, who were married in real life and ran their own production company.

On Black-ish, Andre 'Dre' Johnson is a wealthy executive in which industry, at the firm Stevens & Lido?

Advertising made Dre rich, while his wife Rainbow is an anesthesiologist. He frets that an upper-middle-class suburban upbringing will cost his children their Black culture.

Which comedy superstar co-created The PJs and voiced its housing-project superintendent, Thurgood Stubbs?

Eddie Murphy's stop-motion sitcom took over two months to make per episode. Actor Phil Morris has said he voiced Thurgood on days when the star did not turn up.

Which Girls Trip star played Nekeisha, the estranged wife of Lil Rel Howery's Bobby, on The Carmichael Show?

Tiffany Haddish spent three seasons as Nekeisha before films made her famous. The sitcom followed a fictional version of comedian Jerrod Carmichael's own family.

Which sitcom starred Cedric the Entertainer as auto-shop owner Calvin Butler, opposite Max Greenfield as Dave?

The Neighborhood ran for eight seasons from 2018. It opens with Dave, billed as the nicest man in the Midwest, moving his family to Pasadena, next door to an unimpressed Calvin.

Which Disney Channel cartoon follows teenager Penny, her overprotective father Oscar and grandmother Suga Mama?

The Proud Family first ran from 2001 to 2005, with Kyla Pratt as the voice of Penny and comedian Tommy Davidson as her embarrassing, entrepreneurial father.

Which adult animated sitcom, based on Aaron McGruder's comic strip, follows the Freemans in the suburb of Woodcrest?

The Boondocks won a Peabody Award for an episode in which Martin Luther King Jr. scolds a modern crowd. Ten-year-old Huey, the family's voice of reason, is voiced by Regina King.

On Sister, Sister, where do teenage twins Tia and Tamera first run into each other in the pilot?

At a mall, the girls bump into each other while shopping in the same clothing store. Tamera's father then invites Tia and her mother to move in with them.

Keshia Knight Pulliam became the youngest-ever Emmy nominee for playing which Huxtable child on The Cosby Show?

Rudy, the youngest Huxtable, earned Pulliam a supporting-actress nomination at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. She later played the character on A Different World too.

Which star of the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls played Dee Mitchell, the title character's stepmother, on Moesha?

Sheryl Lee Ralph, a Tony nominee for Dreamgirls, played the vice principal at Moesha's own high school, whose marriage to her father the teenager resented.

Which future Oscar winner played Maggie Lauten, Denise Huxtable's roommate, in season one of A Different World?

Marisa Tomei got the part only because Meg Ryan, originally cast, left to pursue films. The producers released her when the series was reworked for its second season.

Will Smith auditioned for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at a house party thrown by which music producer?

Quincy Jones handed Smith a script at the December 1989 party and challenged him to audition on the spot for NBC's boss. The first contract was drawn up that night in a limo outside.

Which Howard University graduate was hired after season one to revamp A Different World, directing 83 episodes?

Debbie Allen, famous as the dance teacher in Fame, was brought in because the first season was not accurately portraying life on a historically Black campus.

Which NBC sitcom starred Broadway's Nell Carter as housekeeper to a widowed police chief and his three daughters?

Gimme a Break! made a sitcom star of Carter, who had already won a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin'.

Which actor was dismissed by producer Norman Lear as James Evans, father of TV's Chicago-project Evans family?

John Amos was let go after three seasons for criticising the scripts, and his character was killed off. He was less than eight years older than the actor playing his eldest son.

Roc, starring Charles S. Dutton as a Baltimore garbage collector, aired its whole second season in what unusual way?

Performed live, the whole second season followed one successful live episode in 1992. The four leads were accomplished stage actors who had met doing plays on Broadway.

Which actress, earlier Pam Tucker on The Cosby Show, played attorney Maxine Shaw for five years on Living Single?

Erika Alexander's Max was Khadijah's best friend from their student days at Howard University, forever raiding the fridge and sparring with stockbroker Kyle.

Which Haitian-born actress played Fancy Monroe, the front-desk clerk pursued by Jamie King, on The Jamie Foxx Show?

Garcelle Beauvais played the co-worker whose suitor's advances mostly went unanswered. She later joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Which R&B quartet sang the first-season theme of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper alongside two of its actresses?

En Vogue shared the vocals with series regulars Holly Robinson and Dawnn Lewis. The quartet also sang the theme song of another early-1990s sitcom, Roc.

Benson, starring Robert Guillaume as the head of a governor's household, was spun off from which ABC comedy?

Soap introduced Benson as the wisecracking butler to the dysfunctional Tate family. Guillaume won an Emmy for the character on each series, in 1979 and 1985.

Which member of the Winslow household was written out of Family Matters after season four as if never born?

Judy, the younger Winslow daughter, was dropped without a word of explanation, and the series carried on as if Carl and Harriette had never had her.

Which comedy writer created The Bernie Mac Show and won an Emmy for writing its pilot episode?

Larry Wilmore based the series loosely on Mac's stand-up act. He later hosted The Nightly Show and was an executive producer on Black-ish.

Which cable network revived The Game in 2011, after The CW dropped Mara Brock Akil's pro-football comedy?

BET brought the series back to 7.7 million viewers, then the most-watched sitcom premiere in cable television history, and kept it running for six more seasons.

On One on One, bachelor Flex Washington suddenly has to raise his teenage daughter Breanna while working as what?

A sportscaster in Baltimore, Flex becomes a full-time father when his ex-wife takes a job abroad. Until then he had seen Breanna for only two weeks a year.

Which civil rights organisation formally protested the 1950s TV version of Amos 'n' Andy almost as soon as it began?

NAACP leaders published a bulletin in 1951 arguing that the series should be taken off the air. Its reruns were finally withdrawn from syndication in 1966.

Which Netflix sitcom starred Mike Epps as an Indianapolis garage owner and Wanda Sykes as his wife's older sister?

The Upshaws, co-created by Sykes, ran for five seasons about a working-class family struggling to make ends meet while chasing the American dream.

Florida Evans, mother of TV's Chicago-project Evans family, was first seen as a housekeeper on which 1970s sitcom?

Maude employed Florida as Maude Findlay's housekeeper in Tuckahoe, New York. When she got a series of her own, the producers rewrote her family's history.

Which rapper starred as Miami fashion designer Shelly in a UPN sitcom that was simply named after her?

Eve led an ensemble cast for three seasons from 2003, playing a designer whose career is thriving while her love life lags behind.

Which comedian and film director created and starred in The Parent 'Hood, a sitcom first titled Father Knows Nothing?

Robert Townsend, the maker of Hollywood Shuffle, also directed episodes. The working title was a parody of the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best.

Which Saint Lucian-born British actor played Geoffrey, the sarcastic butler, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?

Joseph Marcell moved to Britain at the age of eight and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company before he ever served the Banks household.

Which actor played Lamont, the long-suffering son and partner of Redd Foxx's Los Angeles junk dealer Fred?

Demond Wilson was a Vietnam veteran, wounded while serving with the 4th Infantry Division, before he found fame as the junkman's son.

Redd Foxx suffered a fatal heart attack in 1991 while rehearsing which sitcom, co-starring Della Reese?

The Royal Family was meant to be a comeback for Foxx, who played an Atlanta mail carrier looking forward to retirement. Its working title had been Chest Pains.

Which 1950 ABC series, with Ethel Waters in the title role, was the first sitcom to star a Black actress?

Beulah, about a housekeeper and cook for the Henderson family, was also ABC's first hit sitcom, though it drew criticism for its caricatures.

Which actress, Willona Woods on another 1970s sitcom, co-wrote and sang the theme of The Jeffersons?

Ja'Net DuBois went on to win two Emmy Awards decades later, for her voice work on the animated sitcom The PJs.

Which actor played police officers both as Sergeant Al Powell in Die Hard and as Carl Winslow on Family Matters?

Reginald VelJohnson's Carl is the only character to appear in every single episode of Family Matters.

Which actor played Dwayne Wayne, whose flip-up sunglasses became a trademark, on A Different World?

Kadeem Hardison's character was so tied to those glasses that basketball star Dwyane Wade wore a flip-up pair at the 2012 Finals in tribute.