Out All Night

In the 1990's,there was a lot of great comedies that emerged from time to time that featured African-American characters in prominent roles. The short-lived situation comedy series "Out All Night" was one of them. "Out All Night" was also produced and created by the same team that brought you "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air",which was at the time a huge ratings Monday night powerhouse winner for NBC,and the pad that skyrocketed Will Smith's astounding career. Of the 22 episodes that this series produced,NBC ran this show from September 19,1992 until the final episode of the series on July 9,1993. The series lasted one season on the network. Created by Andy Borowitz("Day by Day","Dreams", "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air",not to mention "In The House")and produced by Mara Lopez,Rob Edwards,Werner Walian,and Quincy Jones under his production company,Qwest Entertainment for NBC Television. Musical supervision was produced by Quincy Jones,himself.

"Out All Night" was also Grammy winning songstress Patti LaBelle in a starring role of her own weekly show and was the first and only television series that she appeared in. Patti LaBelle stars as Chelsea Paige, a former singing star and owner of a high-tech Los Angeles nightclub establishment that was very hip and very music-oriented. Club Chelsea was the trendest spot around with flashing lights,high energy dancers,and a video wall showing the latest music videos of the day. Jeff Carswell(Morris Chestnut),was a recent NYU graduate with dreams of becoming a music entrepreneur,smooth-talked Chelsea into making him manager-trainee. Chelsea also got Jeff and his buddy Vidal Thomas(Duane Martin) a luxurious apartment in a building she owned. Also in the building were Charisse Chamberlain(Vivica A. Fox),Chelsea's daughter and a successful fashion stylist,who had to deal with in some of the episodes constant overtones from horny happy-go-lucky Vidal and Angus McEwen(Simon O'Brien),a Scottish student who was the stereotypical nutty neighbor. Dance routines and songs by pop groups(including appearances by some of the great R&B groups of the 1990's....one of them included the legendary Luther Vandross in a very special episode)enlivened this series which lasted one season. "Out All Night" was the launching pad for three unknown actors at the time this show premiered that would go on to bigger and better things in their careers....Morris Chestnut,Duane Martin and Vivica A. Fox. Fox however started her career in the short-lived NBC soap opera "Generations" before coming unto this series. The writers of this show(which consisted of Andy Borowitz,Rob Edwards,Eric Pomerance, Werner Walian and B. Mark Seabrooks)came up with innovative techniques to give it that 90's feel,and it didn't save this from the demise ratings it received and NBC canceled it in the summer of 1993 after 22 episodes.

The show "Out All Night" regular cast members also included Morris Chestnut and Duane Martin, who both played room mates; and Patti Labelle as night club owner, and Vivica A. Fox who played her daughter. The show, or musical sitcom featured many musical artists, and was a ground breaking mainstream entry into the television entertainment industry for many R&B, and Hip Hop music acts,as well as the regular cast members mentioned. This was a show that used both comedy, and music, while showcasing new talents of actors Duane Martin, and Morris Chestnut, and Vivica A. Fox, and music acts. The show was appropriate for the time period. I think it was short lived due to the lack of a story line; Patti could have just hosted a late night music variety show with the same title.

This sitcom was set primarily in a small urban nightclub owned by Chelsea Lane (Patti Labelle). The main character was Jeff (Morris Chestnut) who worked at the nightclub. Other characters included Charisse (Vivica Fox), the obligatory love interest, and Vidal (Duane Martin), Jeff's irresponsible best friend. It suffered from its focus on Jeff and Charisse, both of whom were really boring and stereotypical characters. Far more interesting were Vidal and Chelsea--though that is as much due to the actors as to the characters themselves. I've never cared for Vivica Fox; though she's beautiful and a competent actress, her personality has a chilly hauteur that is really unappealing in a lead character. She would be wise to pursue roles that highlight her darker side.

You know, there was a time when sitcoms were just simple evening entertainment. Only recently did they have to have such depth and intellectual meaning.

As a thirty something now, I think that this was average of the time; predictable humor. I was about Patti LaBelle was particularly good, and it introduced her to another generation of youngsters. I enjoyed tuning in to see the different performers every night. It was a kind of Kidd Video of sorts for my friends and I. (Now I'm really showing my age!)

Anyway I see as equal to everything else I watched: Three's Company, The Jeffersons, Family Matters, Full House. They weren't "deep TV", but they ran their courses quite a while, huh?

Certain aspects of this show were very much on point for the time when the show debuted in 1992. The acting was pretty good in most episodes as well. However, NBC was not the right network for Out All Night. Out All Night seemed better suited for Fox which was the "hip" network at the time. Patti LaBelle is great as club owner Chelsea and her character is motherly to not only her daughter Charisse, played by Vivica A. Fox, but also Jeff (Morris Chestnut) and Vidal (Duane Martin). One negative is the character Angus (Simon O'Brien) who is miscasted as Jeff and Vidal's next door neighbor. If you haven't seen any episodes yet find it on YouTube and enjoy. It.