elliotrupert

The acting is dry, the plots are predictable and the jokes are dated. Also, Eve is a better actor than most rappers but she can't carry a whole sitcom. She should stick to small roles in movies like she's been doing. If this show was on a major network like FOX, it would have been canceled by now but since it's on UPN, it'll last the whole season.

1998 was the year of all of these pathetic Arsenio knock-offs (this show, Keenan Ivory Wayans' show and VIBE). The jokes were average and Magic had no interviewing skills. This show made The Byron Allen Show look like a masterpiece. At least Magic has a better job now running his record label.

I was 12 when this show came on Sunday nights (after The Simpsons maybe, I'm not sure), and this show was the talk of junior high school on Monday morning (I even remembered when they had to change their logo after getting sued by black rockers Living Color who had a similar logo). Keenan Ivory Wayans was a comedic genius and he brought his family and friends to bring us an urban version of "Saturday Night Live". Many careers started from this show (i.e., Fly Girl dancers Jennifer Lopez and Rosie Perez, Jamie Foxx, James "Jim" Carrey, Damon Wayans) as well as many catch phrases ("Homey don't play that", "I'll rock your world", "Hated it", "Lemme show you something!!", and the list goes on).

"In Living Color" made fun of American culture and while there are too many standout sketches to name, one example is a play off of a sitcom called "A Different World" named "A Different Message" (Kim Wayans sang the theme song: "It's a different message/And we'll shove it down your throat!"). Here, whenever a character said a "black power"-type message, everyone around him/her would applaud. You had to watch "A Different World" to get the jokes.

As with all sketch comedies, the laughter didn't last. Actors start leaving (in this case, the Wayans clan) and the hilarity declined with each Wayans' departure. The jokes and the recurring characters were getting old, especially Jamie Foxx's "Wanda" who became more a bathroom break during the course of the show, and the series ended. You used to be able to see reruns on FX, but perhaps due to its dated quality, that stopped also.