Living Single

I just visited a Yahoo site which provided updates for actors who starred in the Facts of Life. Relative to Kim Fields, the site noted that she joined Living Single in 1993. They identified Living Single as "Fox's African-American ANSWER (emphasis mine) to Friends." How could Living Single be an answer to Friends when it preceded Friends by one year? If anything Friends was a rip-off of Living Single. Moreover, Living Single was much better quality show. The characters were well-developed, believable, and provided with better character story arcs. With that said, most people would likely describe Friends as groundbreaking and Living Single as derivative. Oh well, once again those in power get to shape myth into reality.

I really miss this show on Thursday nights. I first tuned in because I liked Queen Latifah but soon liked all the other characters, especially Maxine Shaw, Attorney at Law, and Kyle. The episode where they finally got together was a scream and the cliff-hanger for that season. I couldn't wait until the fall season began. I agree that the well-decorated apartments and designer duds were out of sync with the incomes of the characters, but it was fun. Also interesting about the characters in the context of their upscale lives were their eating habits. They were constantly noshing on high-fat snacks, never expressing concern about gaining weight. Imagine Monica in Friends being that carefree about food. In the end, these were humorous young people engaged in active social lives during the early days of their careers.

"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!

Loved this show and it may have been the reason why I never watch Seinfeld when it was on its original time slot. I just started to watch the reruns every morning. I wake up at 6:00 AM and watch two episodes back to back. Is a nice way to start the day. I now appreciate how well produced it was and I am proud of everyone in that show. They all did a fantastic job. If you watch, you realize it goes beyond of race or color. You don't think they are African American. You just think they are good friends. They are all unique and I can't decide who is my favorite. You identify with the characters. They are not too pretty or neurotic. They are your own friends, neighbors and coworkers. The message was positive and it remains fresh.

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.