The Bernie Mac Show

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The Bernie Mac Show
Berniemac.PNG
Season 1 DVD cover
Genre Sitcom
Creator(s) Larry Wilmore
Starring Bernie Mac
Kellita Smith
Camille Winbush
Jeremy Suarez
Dee Dee Davis
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 104
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
Original run November 14, 2001 – April 14, 2006
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Bernie Mac Show was a half-hour American sitcom featuring the comedic antics of comedian Bernie Mac. The show completed five seasons on Fox before being cancelled in May 2006.

Contents

[edit] Characteristics of the Show

The show was loosely based on Mac's stand-up comedy acts. In real life, Bernie "Mac' McCollough is married with one child; Mac's character on the show (also a stand-up comedian) was married with no kids of his own. The pilot episode, aired on November 14, 2001, set up the basic premise for the show: the character Bernie Mac takes in his sister's children after she enters rehab (a premise taken from one of Mac's routines in the 2000 film, The Original Kings of Comedy).

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.

Many of his most emotional scenes occurred in segments in which Mac, while still in character, broke the 'fourth wall' and talked to the television audience. As was also the case during his stand-up routine, Mac habitually addressed the audience as "America" for humorous effect. The lighting of the shots typically appears to be yellowish in color.

Mac's character's celebrity worked as a plot device allowing other celebrities to appear on the show as themselves. Ashton Kutcher, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, Angela Bassett, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Lucy Lawless, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Matt Damon, Wesley Snipes, Jon Garland, and Shaquille O'Neal are among those who made guest appearances.

[edit] Awards

The Bernie Mac Show won the prestigious Peabody Award, the Humanitas Prize, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, and was honored by the Television Critics Association. For his role in the show, Bernie Mac was honored by the Television Critics Association for Individual Achievement in a Comedy as well as the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series four years in a row: 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

[edit] Broadcast History by Season

The show debuted in its time slot on November 14, 2001 with great ratings in its first season, but a weak lead-in Grounded for Life may have hurt the show's ratings. Nonetheless, the critically acclaimed show had a very successful rookie season and in the process won a handful of honors including an Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series' and the prestigious Peabody Award. Bernie Mac also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series respectively.

In the fall of 2002, the show aired against the Damon Wayans comedy My Wife & Kids which may have hurt the show's momentum in the ratings during the first half of the show's second season run. Larry Wilmore, the show's creator and executive producer, was fired at this time. In interviews, Wilmore said he was fed up with the networks creative interference with the show in addition to constantly shuffling it around the schedule. Fox contended that it wasn't happy with the shows direction under Wilmore in its second season claiming the show "wasn't delivering enough laughs"[citation needed]. With The Bernie Mac Show 's inability to topple My Wife & Kids in the Wednesday 8 p.m. timeslot, Fox eventually aired the show after American Idol, after which it received its highest ratings ever.

The third season was scheduled to start on October 29, 2003 but was postponed due to The O.C. being moved. Instead the show started the season at the late date of November 30, 2003. The ratings were mediocre despite the large ratings of its lead-in, The Simpsons. In March 2004, the show was moved to Monday nights in a plan to boost ratings for the new show Cracking Up, but the ratings were low for both shows. Cracking Up was canceled and The Bernie Mac Show was pulled from May Sweeps with leftover episodes that aired in June (one of which included an episode about Thanksgiving).

The show finally returned to its original time slot on September 8, 2004 to start the fourth season. The production was shut down a month later due to Bernie's sickness. The show returned on January 14, 2005 with new episodes on Friday nights. Although the ratings were low enough that commentators questioned the show's future (especially when it was postponed from May Sweeps again), the show was renewed for a fifth season.

The fifth season started September 23, 2005 on Friday nights and airings were followed by reruns of the show.

The Bernie Mac Show celebrated its 100th episode on February 3, 2006[1], despite the fact that the actual 100th episode was not until the next airing on March 31.

On May 17, 2006 FOX announced the cancellation of The Bernie Mac Show after five seasons and 104 episodes. The show never got a proper series finale. According to NAACP’s analysis, FOX’s cancellation of The Bernie Mac Show means that for the first time in recent history, there is not a comedy with an African American lead character on the four major broadcast networks, FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC.

[edit] Airings

The show has been airing in syndication since September 2005 and will be on the FX network in 2008.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Season 1: 2001-2002

  1. Pilot (AKA All In The Family) (11/14/2001)
  2. Now You Got It On (11/14/2001)
  3. The Lain Event (11/21/2001)
  4. Bernie Mac, Ladies Man (11/28/2001)
  5. Enslaving Bernie Mac (12/5/2001)
  6. Here To Be Gay (12/12/2001)
  7. A Christmas Story of Supple Proportions(12/19/2001)
  8. Farting Schoolgirls(1/2/2002)
  9. Hot Hot Hot (1/16/2002)
  10. Wanda's Week Of Non-Stop Sex (1/23/2002)
  11. The King and I Having Sex (1/30/2002)
  12. Hall of Fame (2/6/2002)
  13. Handle My Business (2/13/2002)
  14. Back in the Gay (2/20/2002)
  15. Cock Down (3/6/2002)
  16. Mac Daddy's Sultry Adventures (3/27/2002)
  17. If I Were A Rich Man, I'd Do It All Da Time (4/3/2002)
  18. Stop Having Sex (4/17/2002)
  19. Secrets and Lies (5/1/2002)
  20. Kelly's Panties (5/8/2002)
  21. Sweet Home Chick-ago (1) (5/15/2002)
  22. Sweet Home Chick-ago (2) (5/15/2002)

[edit] Season 2: 2002-2003

  1. Keep It on the Short Grass (9/18/2002)
  2. Goodbye Dolly, Nice Havin' Sex With Ya (9/25/2002)
  3. Cartool (10/30/2002)
  4. Mac Orgy (11/6/2002)
  5. Welcome to the Bedroom (11/13/2002)
  6. Bernie Mac Romance Party (11/20/2002)
  7. Triple Orphan-tasy (11/27/2002)
  8. The United Frontal (12/4/2002)
  9. The Sweet Wife (12/11/2002)
  10. Sin Cup (1/15/2003)
  11. Bernie Mac Wishes He Had Soap On A Rope (2/5/2003)
  12. Tragic Gourdin' (2/12/2003)
  13. Raging Erection (2/26/2003)
  14. Needing Boss Angela (3/12/2003)
  15. Pink and Untouched (3/19/2003)
  16. Chest Whores (4/9/2003)
  17. The Inedible Bulk (4/16/2003)
  18. Maids in Action (4/23/2003)
  19. Nut Job (4/30/2003)
  20. The Lover Sister (5/7/2003)
  21. Meat The Grandparents (5/7/2003)
  22. For a Few Dollars More (5/14/2003)

[edit] Season 3: 2003-2004

  1. Thigh of the Tiger (11/30/2003)
  2. Love Thy Nephew (Really) (12/7/2003)
  3. We'll Take the Intercourse (12/14/2003)
  4. Baffing Fatters (12/21/2003)
  5. Pubic Hair Jordan (1/4/2004)
  6. Love Bug Buggy Boo Bump Bump (1/11/2004)
  7. It's A Lustful Wife (1/25/2004)
  8. Family Reunion (2/8/2004)
  9. Boobie or Not Boobie (2/15/2004)
  10. J-O-R-D-A-N Spells Hot (2/22/2004)
  11. Make Room for Daddy In Them Pajamas (3/7/2004)
  12. Enslaving Sergeant Tompkins (3/14/2004)
  13. It's Mac-ademic Sex (3/22/2004)
  14. The Getaway With Rape (3/29/2004)
  15. Easy Ride 'er (4/5/2004)
  16. Who's That Lady Bernie's Doin' It With? (4/12/2004)
  17. Mac Family Initiations (4/12/2004)
  18. That Old Man Logic (4/26/2004)
  19. The Talk (4/26/2004)
  20. Five Pages of Bryana (6/15/2004)
  21. Go Bernie, It's Your Birthday, It's Okay to Love Your Niece That Way (6/22/2004)
  22. Thanksdoing (6/29/2004)

[edit] Season 4: 2004-2005

  1. Big Brother! No More Please! (9/8/2004)
  2. Training Bra Comes Off (9/15/2004)
  3. Being With Bernie Mac (9/22/2004)
  4. Mac Over Easy (9/29/2004)
  5. My Privacy Hurts, Uncle Berniiiiie (1/14/2005)
  6. Who Gives This Bride Some Lovin'? (1/14/2005)
  7. Dirty Mac (1/21/2005)
  8. Stone Nuts (1/28/2005)
  9. Jack & Jacqueline Do It (2/4/2005)
  10. Manchild in Vanessa's Land (2/11/2005)
  11. You Don't Know Sperm (2/18/2005)
  12. You Got Served Some Sex (2/25/2005)
  13. I Don't Wanna Be a Pornstar No More (3/11/2005)
  14. The Big Dicture (3/18/2005)
  15. Let's Get It On (4/1/2005)
  16. Hump Like a Man (4/8/2005)

[edit] Season 5: 2005-2006

  1. Father Knows Breasts (9/23/2005)
  2. Wrestling With A Sticky Sitcheassion (9/23/2005)
  3. Porn Marathon Mac (9/30/2005)
  4. The Big Gayback (10/7/2005)
  5. Car Whores (10/21/2005)
  6. Night of Carnal Pleasure (10/28/2005)
  7. For Whom The Belt Tolls (The Sultry Night In) (11/4/2005)
  8. Pop Pop Goes Bernie's Weasel (11/11/2005)
  9. Spring Break Jams and Jellies (11/18/2005)
  10. Church Is Bull And Bernie Mac Hates It (12/2/2005)
  11. Sorely Mist (12/16/2005)
  12. Fumes of Intent (1/6/2006)
  13. Sexercise In Fertility (1) (1/13/2006)
  14. Exercise In Fertility (2) (1/20/2006)
  15. Fantasies about Foot-balls (1/27/2006)
  16. Bar Mitzvah Flashers (2/3/2006)
  17. Who's Your Baby Mama (3/31/2006)
  18. Who Would Jason Do (3/31/2006)
  19. It's Never As Bad As the First Time (Woo!) (4/7/2006)
  20. Sinning Wheels (4/7/2006)
  21. Growing Penis (4/14/2006)
  22. Bernie's Angels (4/14/2006)

[edit] Regular cast

[edit] Recurring cast

[edit] DVD Releases

Season Releases

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
Season 1 May 4, 2004 22 Bonus features include commentary on the Pilot from Bernie Mac and A 60 minute "A & E Tvography".

The Season One DVD coxset was released on DVD May 4, 2004, and there haven't been any announcements on any more Seasons being released in the near future. The reason for this could be about music rights, which was the case for Malcolm in the Middle Season 2, however there is no confirmation from FOX.

[edit] Criticism

The show is frequently criticized for being "orange", that is, the characters and scenery overuse the color orange, resulting in a sickening feeling for many viewers. Several of the characters are wildly unpopular with the show's fans. For example: Wanda is often cited as being overly materialistic and hands-off when it comes to the kids, despite her constant "nagging" of Bernie. Vanessa is often considered to be exaggeratedly spiteful and rebellious, more so than anyone in her situation should be.

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