90’s-2000’s Sitcoms Takeover Netflix
Social media has been in an uproar of excitement since the announcement that several black sitcoms from the 90s are finally coming to Netflix. A few of the shows like
Social media has been in an uproar of excitement since the announcement that several black sitcoms from the 90s are finally coming to Netflix. A few of the shows like Moesha, One on One, The Game, Girlfriends and many more will be releasing from now until October. These shows have all ran a course on TV networks like BET, Centric, and UPN (now called “The CW“) but have been off the air for some time. Netflix affiliate twitter, Strong black lead announced the long-anticipated comeback with a promotional video hosting some iconic 90s actors/actresses like Shar Jackson (who played Niecey on Moesha, Persia White (Lynn from Girlfriends), Pooch Hall (Derwin from the Game) and Jenna Van Oy (Stevie from The Parkers).
Time to pop bottles🍾🍾
The following classic shows are coming to @Netflix (US)Moesha – Aug 1
The Game S1-3 – Aug 15
Sister Sister – Sept 1
Girlfriends – Sept 11
The Parkers – Oct 1
Half & Half – Oct 15
One on One – Oct 15To celebrate, here’s a message from your faves: pic.twitter.com/zohNPEo0rz
— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) July 29, 2020
Fans have asked Netflix to put these shows on their streaming service for years, but now the wish has been granted. Ralph Farquhar, Larry Wilmore, and Keenen Ivory Wayans were a few men who were commanding the 90s in sitcom productions.
One particular gem that has her name on almost every sitcom from the 90s and early 2000s is none other than Mara Brock Akil. Mara Brock Akil is a screenwriter and television producer whose creative abilities have expanded from the 90s to now. She began her writing career being apart of the television series South Central. Though the critically acclaimed show had a short run on FOX, Mara Brock Akil took her writing talent to Moesha, where she worked on episodes for about four years as a writer and producer of the series. In 1999, she became a writer and supervising producer for the Jamie Foxx Show. With her keen writing expertise, producing skills, and a plethora of episodes, she had a hand in on her resume; Mara took her talent to create a new series (along with Kelsey Grammar) called “Girlfriends.” The sitcom lasted for eight seasons, also being one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African-American adults and the longest-running sitcom on network television that was on air during that time.
Girlfriends were canceled abruptly in 2008, leaving fans confused about why the show ended and wishing for a suitable conclusion to the show because it was not what many expected(have to wait until it drops on Netflix to see). Concerning the topic of Girlfriends ending, Mara has said, “Back in the day I would have done it for $5 million, or make a dollar out of 15 cents to tell this story. There have been times where you might get some interest from the studios, but you don’t have all the actors, or you have the actors, but you don’t have the studio.” She has expressed the need to let these characters and storylines go to breathe to create new series creatively. She said she would be willing to make a movie on the condition of “a studio that has $50 or 60 million that wants to go make an amazing ending to an epic television series, let’s go do it.”
Once Girlfriends stop airing, Mara Brock Akil created another series that was a spinoff called “The Game” that follows the life of Joan’s cousin, Melanie Barnett. Melanie places her dreams of being a doctor on hold and moves to San Diego to support her football player boyfriend Derwin Davis’s dreams.
The series ran on the CW network for three seasons until production stopped in 2009. It was rumored that the CW was going through branding changes to the network. The show was canceled for two years until it was picked up by BET to air from 2011-2015. When the show returned on BET, it brought a record-breaking 7.7 million viewers for the season premiere, which made it the most-watched sitcom premiere in cable television history.
Mrs. Akil has created a name for herself, stapling a successful career as an elite, diverse screenwriter, television director, and producer. She was climbing the ladder of success and began to create shows with her talented director, producer, and writer husband, Salim Akil.
With an established relationship with BET, the couple worked alongside one another to write and produce an hour-long scripted show Being Mary Jane. This was the duos first but not their last show they worked on together. The two wrote and created Black Lightning, Sparkle, and Love is. Love was a short-lived sitcom that was based on Mara and Salim Akil’s love story that premiered on the OWN network that generally had favorable reviews but wasn’t renewed for another season. The dynamic couple also produced and wrote a modern version of the 1976 classic movie “Sparkle,” starring the late Whitney Houston.
This is just a few of the television shows Mara Brock Akil has worked on. Still, it continues to have the same influence on Black culture, showing the diversity of African American stories. Fans have become nostalgic in reminiscing over Moesha’s coming to age story with a catchy theme song, watching the love story of Melanie “Med school” Barnett and Derwin “Ding Dong” Davis, watching Arnez and Breanna walk down the halls of high school in a pink sweatsuit with “Cutest couple” on the butt, Tia and Tamera screaming “Go Home Roger” or Mya saying her iconic phrase “Oh Hell No” any chance she can get.
As a big fan of Mara Brock Akil, give her flowers and credit because it is long overdue. Mara Brock Akil has been apart of the most classic but important shows giving a touch of her creativity in some form, whether it’s through writing scripts, directing a show, or executive producing. Being a woman in a male-dominated industry can overshadow a person’s talent, but being a black woman can wash away who is behind the scripts pronto. Mara has created her own lane in TV writing having a various assortment of shows that address many topics in the black community such as career versus relationship, friendships discrepancies, coming of age stories, finding true love, and more. Not only is she a successful black screenwriter she is also a mom, wife, philanthropist, and balances all these roles while continuing to produce stories giving variety in television also showing positivity of African Americans such as an independent career-orientated woman like Mary Jane or a warm and loving Cosby-like family in the 90s like Moesha. This gives representation, role models, ambiguous men and women whose portrayal seems to be rarely seen on TV. From being a stage PA on the Sinbad show to writing for the Jamie Foxx show to now landing a network-direct script deal with Fox Entertainment, Mara is an icon that isn’t halting her gift of distinct creation anytime soon.
