Living Single

The foundation of most sitcom humor is the weaknesses of characters; this show is a priceless exception. The writers should be so proud to have presented us with characters who were strong and loving and fun to watch.

"Friends" before there were "Friends", Living Single was a far more relatable slice of New York City life and a far funnier one! Set in 1990's Brooklyn, this story of three female roommates living in the same apartment building as two male roommates, with a single-dweller thrown in was good fun to watch. The ensemble cast was great with Erika Alexander one of the stand-outs at the always mooching Max and Kim Fields as the mercenary Regine. And the rest of the cast blended nicely to make for a very funny sitcom. Each character had its own special sparkle, the dialogue was realistic, and the situations fun. If I had to choose between reruns of "Friends" or reruns of "Living Single", I'd take "Living Single" 7 days a week and twice on Sundays! An all around fun show!

Great little sitcom that unfortunately was up against "Seinfeld" for a good portion of its run. FOX did not handle the exit of the series with any kind of finesse; in fact, it was done very sloppily, with the show being cancelled, and then brought back for a few poorly done episodes. Regine the golddigger had finally gotten engaged to a rich man, but her wedding was never shown. Her character was abruptly written out after that happened. Synclair and Overton had just about become non-entities after their characters were married. There was this preposterous storyline that had Max becoming pregnant courtesy of a sperm bank, then finding out that Kyle was the donor. Khadijah was just left hanging. A bad end for a funny show that deserved better.

If you're as old as I am you may remember not only comparisons to FRIENDS and THE GOLDEN GIRLS, but this sitcom was also called 'a black version of DESIGNING WOMEN' by critics and viewers. OMG!! I know we're supposed to be living in a color-blind society denying that any current racism still exists, but this is ridiculous. And you all are carping about the 'unrealistically luxurious apartments' of these girls because...? How many hundreds of sitcoms are produced in Hollywood (and set in New York) every year which feature swanky apartments that no one with an annual salary of less than $200,000 can actually afford? Nobody questions why the out-of-work actor or the struggling chef on FRIENDS are in the huge apartments they're in. Black professionals do exist, even in the make-believe world of sitcom television. I thought this series was a charmer; if it was guilty of anything negative it was its initial presentation of all-men-as-neanderthals during the first season. It was allowed (after a fashion) to flourish and find its audience and in that time it even started to give shape and background to its core characters- not to mention allowing them to advance (in the way of job promotions, romances, breakups, and even a wedding). I never thought it ended satisfactorily, but I'm happy for the five years FOX allowed it on the air. Considering that it preceded FRIENDS on the air by one year, should we conclude that FRIENDS was a white version of LIVING SINGLE?

Surprisingly, a lot of critics liked this show and compared it to the future megahit FRIENDS. More critics liked LIVING SINGLE than the latter NBC show and I can see why: The LS cast was far more funny without being silly. Each character had their own unique personality and they sparkled when they were on camera. The show also didn't hit the viewer over the head with the fact that the characters were black, their race just happened to be incidental to the show. However, the one thing that I DIDN'T exactly buy was the apartments that Kadijah and the girls lived in and Kyle and Overton had. Somehow, I don't think that these people would have THAT lavish a home considering that "Flava", Kadijah's magazine, wasn't exactly running on the level of, say, "Sister 2 Sister" or "Black Elegance". Heck, it wasn't even on the level of "Rap Pages". But, that aside, I can still enjoy the reruns to this day.