In the House

LL Cool J in his first TV show? Who would've thought that such a combination can be so successful. Not the least of which is that it has some of the best comedy antics from recent years such as Kim Wayans, one of the funniest characters on the show. Although the first season was good, but not funny, the second and subsequent seasons were by far the best. Sadly, it was canceled after six seasons. It was good while it lasted;hey I watched not just for the laughs, but also the scantily clad babes that would(quite often) permeate throughout the show. But in the end, it's all good and I'm glad to had have the opportunity to watch it while it was on the air because by far and large, In The House is one of the funniest shows that ever came out on the small screen.

It is quite amazing that this series is still seen in repeats in some syndication markets across the country. Actually,in my own opinion it wasn't a bad series by the way since it ran for four seasons on two major networks. First it was on NBC for two seasons,then after NBC canceled the series,UPN picked it up for the duration of its run. The series was produced by the same individuals who were behind another successful series of the 1990's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".

First off,lets talk about the first two seasons went it appear on NBC-TV from 1995-1997. It centered around the Warren family which consisted of mother Jackie(Debbie Allen),daughter Tiffany(Maia Campbell),son Jeffery(Jeffrey Wood,who looked like the pint sized version of a miniature Steve Urkel who was gone by the end of the show's first season;in turn the actor resembled a slight look alike to actor Jaleel White of Family Matters fame,but smaller)and their landlord,ex-football star Marion Hill(played by LL Cool J). When it first came on most of the episodes from the first season consisted of the relationship between the divorce mom Jackie and the landlord Marion and their involvement with the kids which was in a point funny and hilarious in some of the earlier episodes but sometimes way overdrawn and overly acted(especially with the performances from Debbie Allen who was in turn the show's executive producer during its first two seasons)in their characters which during its last season the producers made sweeping changes to the show and from there network executives over at NBC pull the plug on this series making the change to another network the next season.

In the fall of 1997,the series moved over to the UPN Network where it ran for another two seasons which ended in 1999.Its improvement wasn't all that better but without the show's executive producer Debbie Allen from the first two seasons the show flourish anyway with the star power of actor/rapper LL Cool J as the lead support. During this switch their were some numerous changes involved with the series as well,but also the producers kept stars LL Cool J and Maia Campbell and added new characters to the mix including former In Living Color alumnus Kim Wayans,Alfonso Roberio(from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,and Silver Spoons),and Lark Voorhies(from The Jeffersons,and Saved By The Bell).

The show had a lot of transitions that were involved which frankly in my book killed it. All they had to do was keep the formula simple but in turn it fell completely apart since anyway. In all a great series.

"IN THE HOUSE," in my opinion, is an absolute NBC turned UPN classic! I haven't seen every episode, but I still enjoyed it. It's hard to say which episode was my favorite. However, I think it was always funny when a mishap occurred. I always laughed at that. If you ask me, it was nice that all of the main characters had stayed with the show throughout its entire run. It seems that no one stays with a show throughout its entire run. Everyone always gave a good performance, the production design was spectacular, the costumes were well-designed, and the writing was always very strong. In conclusion, if some network ever airs it in reruns again, I hope you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good.

I looked up "In the House" and was surprised that it only had one season on NBC before being dropped only to be picked up by UPN. I never remember it even being on NBC. I'm certainly glad UPN decided to run with it.

This was LL's first real T. V. gig. He was satisfactory as the retired football player Marion Hill. As for Alfonso Ribiero and Kim Wayans, this was their second go around. Alfonso Ribiero was fresh off of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and Kim Wayans was just coming off of "In Livin' Color." They were two professional additions to help a newbie like LL Cool J.

The one thing I never got was why LL always wore something on his head.

This is truly a great show. The writing is great. I wish it hadn't been canceled. LL Cool J is very good in the comedy sitcom. His character Marion is very funny. Kim Wayans character Tonia is real ghetto. The combined antics of the characters make a show that will keep u laughing for a while.