Living Single
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Living Single | |
|---|---|
 Cast of Living Single |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Creator(s) | Yvette Lee Bowser |
| Starring | Queen Latifah Erika Alexander Kim Coles Kim Fields John Henton Terrence 'T.C.' Carson |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 118 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | August 29, 1993 – January 1, 1998 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Living Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the FOX television network from August 1993 until January 1998.
The series was produced by Yvette Lee Bowser in association with Warner Bros. Television. Friends, a similar series also from Warner Bros. Television that premiered a year later in 1994, gained greater fame and popularity than Living Single. Regardless, Living Single remains popular courtesy of syndication and cable television airings.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Living Single centers on six African-American twenty somethings (later thirty-somethings) consisting of four women and two men living in a brownstone in the heart of Brooklyn, New York.
The series focuses on two different households in one brownstone (although, as the later seasons revealed, there are more apartments in the building): one shared by a trio of upward-mobile women and another shared by a pair of male friends who have known each other since they spent their youth in Cleveland, Ohio. Khadijah James, a hard-working editor and publisher of the fictional urban independent monthly Flavor, shares an apartment with her sweet but naïve cousin Synclaire (originally the role of Synclaire was to be played by British rapper, Monie Love, a long-time friend and music collaborator of Queen Latifah), an aspiring actress who works as Khadijah's receptionist and has an affinity for Troll dolls; and her childhood friend Regine Hunter, an image-conscious boutique buyer who became a costume assistant for a soap opera called Palo Alto with a fondness for gossip and wigs. Maxine "Max" Shaw, a sharp-tongued attorney and Khadijah's best friend, stops by frequently to share her unique insights and make sure the girls' refrigerator isn't overstocked.
Living in the apartment above are Overton Wakefield Jones, a friendly handyman who holds deep affection for Synclaire; and Kyle Barker, a handsome funds manager whose constant verbal sparring with Max does little to mask their obvious sexual attraction.
Kyle and Max, like Ross and Rachel of Friends, maintained an on-again/off-again relationship that was a constant storyline that began at the end of the first season and continued until the end of the series.
[edit] The final season
The final season of Living Single saw the departure of Kyle and the introduction of a new male roommate for the ladies after Synclaire and Overton got married at the end of the fourth season and moved into their own apartment in the brownstone. Ira Lee "Tripp" Williams III, a songwriter who was a friend of Russell's, became their new roommate, much to Regine's displeasure. Meanwhile, Roni DeSantos, a New York-area D.J. that had a brief fling with Tripp, moved into Overton and Kyle's old apartment. Regine moved out of the house after she became engaged to a millionaire video game developer and was absent for the remainder of the final season. Synclaire joined a comedy improv troupe where she gained the attention of Tony Jonas, a Warner Bros. television exec who casted her as a nun for a new comedy series he was developing.
Max, still distraught after she turned down Kyle's offer to join him in London, began looking for purpose after defending a man who claimed to be the second coming of Jesus. She relived her past lives after she, Khadijah, and Synclaire went to a spa retreat. Learning that she was a man in every lifetime except her current one, Max realized that her mission was to become a mother. The series finale revealed that the sperm donor for Max's baby was Kyle, who returned for the final episode. The two reconciled soon after.
Khadijah also left the brownstone for the final time with her boyfriend Scooter, whom she just reunited with two episodes prior to the finale in the Christmas-themed episode.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Theme song
The show's theme song (performed by Latifah), is different than those shown in syndication. An album of the show was released called: Living Single- from the TV Series.
[edit] Cast
- Queen Latifah — Khadijah James
- Kim Coles — Synclaire James-Jones
- Erika Alexander — Maxine "Max" Felice Shaw
- Terrence "T.C." Carson — Kyle Barker (Episodes 1-107, guest-starring in Episode 118)
- John Henton — Overton "Obie" Wakefield Jones
- Kim Fields — Regine Hunter (Episodes 1-115)
- Mel Jackson — Ira Lee "Tripp" Williams III (Episodes 106-118)
Supporting cast
- Shaun Baker — Russell Montego
- Idalis DeLeon — Roni De Santos (1997-1998)
- Chip Fields (Chip Hurd) — Laverne Hunter
- Rita Owens — Rita James (1994-1997)
- Bumper Robinson — Ivan Ennis (1995-1997)
- Cress Williams — Terrence "Scooter" Williams
Regular guests
- Khalil Kain — Keith (4 episodes)
- Dorien Wilson — Rev. Leslie Taylor (4 episodes)
- Steven Gilborn — Jeffrey Higgins (4 episodes)
- Bobby Hosea — Lawrence (3 episodes)
- Wayne Federman — Fred Meyer (3 episodes)
- Heavy D — Darryl (3 episodes)
[edit] DVD Release
Warner Home Video released the complete first season of Living Single on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on February 14, 2006. It is unknown if the remaining 4 seasons will be released at some point.
[edit] Trivia
Neither of Kyle's parents were ever shown, nor was any member of Tripp's family. As for the other 5 principal characters:
- - Khadijah's mother - Rita Owens (Queen Latifah's real mother)
- - Khadijah's father - Michael Warren
- - Synclaire's mother - Denise Nicholas
- - Synclaire's father - Ron O'Neal
- - Max's mother - C.C.H. Pounder
- - Regine's mother - Chip Fields (Kim Fields' real mother)
- - Overton's mother - Gladys Knight
- - Overton's father - Antonio Fargas
- - Overton's uncle (Tiberius ("Tibby") Jones) - J. Anthony Brown
- - Overton's uncle ("Smoke Eye" Howard (Desmond & Damon Howard's dad)) - John Witherspoon
- - Overton's sister (Olivia Imogene Jones) - Michole White
- - Kyle's brother (Damon) - Kenny Blank
- While the series is sometimes referred to as a "Black version of Friends", it is worth noting that Living Single premiered a full season before Friends.
- The series was also referred to as a Black version of "The Golden Girls" where members of each cast were similar: Khadijah/Dorothy as the responsible one; Synclaire/Rose as the odd one; Blanche/Regine as the self-obsessed man chaser; Max/Sophia as the sarcastic one
- Overton suffered from coulrophobia (fear of clowns).
- Khadijah, Regine, and Scooter were all childhood friends.
- Khadijah and Maxine became friends in college.
- Kyle and Overton were childhood friends.
- Regine's birth name is Regina.
- The series offered T.C. Carson frequent opportunities to showcase his talents as a jazz-influenced vocalist.
- Queen Latifah (and her character Khajidah) hails from East Orange, New Jersey.
- John Henton (and his character Overton) hails from Cleveland, Ohio.
- Future Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard appeared in the first-season episode "The Hand That Robs the Cradle" as a college student involved with Maxine (Erika Alexander). Howard and Alexander would later co-star in the Showtime drama Street Time.
- Queen Latifah and Erika Alexander both starred in the 1998 TV miniseries Mama Flora's Family (based upon the novel by Alex Haley and David Stevens).
- The first-season episode "U.N.I.T.Y." takes its name from the Queen Latifah song of the same name, and the plot of the episode relies heavily upon themes reflected in that song. An excerpt from Latifah's video for "U.N.I.T.Y." is featured during the episode's closing credits.
- Professional athletes were frequent guest stars on Living Single, almost always appearing as themselves and interacting with Queen Latifah's Khadijah. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerome Bettis, Bobby Bonilla, Cedric Ceballos, Grant Hill, Evander Holyfield, and Cheryl Miller all made appearances.
- Before portraying surgeon Preston Burke on Grey's Anatomy, Isaiah Washington appeared as Dr. Charles Roberts, an anesthesiologist who became a love interest for Khadijah.
- At the beginning of Season 5, Kyle moves to London without Maxine, Synclaire and Overton move into a basement apartment as husband and wife, and Tripp moves in with Khadijah and Regine. Each one of these plot twists, occurring at about the same time, have been considered "jump the shark" moments for the series.
- The set used in the pilot episode for the brownstone is the same as the one used for the Winslow home on the popular sitcom Family Matters.
- Erika and T.C. reprised their characters, Max and Kyle, on an episode of Half & Half.
[edit] Awards & nominations
| Year | Awards | Performer | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: | Winner |
| Outstanding Comedy Series | |||
| Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series:
T.C. Carson |
Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: | Nominated |
