Best "New Jack Swing" sitcoms!
The "New Jack Swing" movement in the 90s dominated the culture; a mix of hip hop ghetto swagger and middle class refinement. Throughout the 90s this would inspire many sitcoms, variety shows, movies and talk shows. This list includes the dominate new jack sitcoms. Though now the new jack sitcom fizzled and was replaced by reality TV, its impact lives on in the form of reruns!
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- CreatorMichael LeesonStarsBill CosbyPhylicia RashadMalcolm-Jamal WarnerThe goings-on in the life of a successful African-American family.Cosby tops the list. Though Cosby is far from a "New Jack", without his show there would not have been any of these other shows on at all. Cosby changed history for black people on television, and paved the way for all the shows that follow.
- CreatorBill BoulwareJack ElinsonMichael G. MoyeStarsHelen MartinMarla GibbsHal WilliamsThis series took place in an apartment building numbered 227. The cast would frequently be sitting outside on a large set of stone stairs, involved in some discussion that would unfold into the weekly plotline.Although not entirely New Jack either, this show birthed Regina King and also lended to the format as well.
- CreatorJohn BowmanTopper CarewMartin LawrenceStarsMartin LawrenceTisha CampbellThomas Mikal FordSassy sitcom centering on radio and television personality Martin Payne. Series focuses on his romantic relationship with girlfriend Gina, her best friend Pam and escapades with best friends Tommy and Cole.Martin was a revolution! He kicked down the doors and gave America the personification of "New Jack"!
- CreatorYvette Lee BowserStarsQueen LatifahKim ColesErika AlexanderFollows the lives of several single male and female roommates and friends in 1990s Brooklyn, New York.With Living Single it just got better. Young, hip and urban, this personified "New Jack" from the theme song to the excellent cast.
- CreatorKim BassGary GilbertFred ShaffermanStarsTia MowryTamera Mowry-HousleyJackée HarryTia Landry and Tamera Campbell are twins separated at birth who learn of each other's existence and come together as teenagers.2 young twins growing up in New Jack America, nothing distinct abouth them but they were pretty cute!
- CreatorWilliam BickleyRobert L. BoyettThomas L. MillerStarsReginald VelJohnsonJaleel WhiteDarius McCraryThe Winslow family deals with various misadventures, many of them caused by their pesky next-door neighbor, ultra-nerd Steve Urkel.The show started out on some kid stuff and then got a little funkier in the end. Even the fuddy duddy non New Jack network CBS picked this up when the show ended, a milestone indeed!
- CreatorSara Finney-JohnsonVida SpearsStarsBrandy NorwoodWilliam Allen YoungMarcus T. PaulkA teenager struggles to come to terms with everything life throws at her.Young black teen singer (now full grown hot babe) coming of age in New Jack America, a common theme throughout the 90s. Being black in America was changing!
- CreatorBill CosbyStarsLisa BonetKadeem HardisonJasmine GuyA group of students at a historically Black university struggle to make it through college.School Daze introduced the world of the HBCU, this show put it in everybody's face, as this world was pretty much a mystery until now. A perfect document of HBCUs in the New Jack era!
- CreatorAndy BorowitzSusan BorowitzStarsWill SmithJames AveryAlfonso RibeiroA streetwise, poor young man from Philadelphia is sent by his mother to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins in their Bel-Air mansion.Former rapper turned actor Will is an icon, along with Martin, of the New Jack Swing era. He set the tone for what would later be called "swagger."
- CreatorKeenen Ivory WayansStarsKeenen Ivory WayansJim CarreyKelly Coffield ParkThe Wayans siblings present an African-American focused sketch comedy show.New Jack Swing variety show not really a sitcom, but brief and just hit you with that New Jack Swing humor. Family friendly but edgy. You never saw this many funny black people on TV before!
- CreatorJoel MadisonStarsMalcolm-Jamal WarnerEddie GriffinKaren Malina WhiteApparently, opposites do attract. Malcolm and Eddie are as different as one can imagine, but they're best friends who manage to be roommates as well as co-workers without killing each other.Theo from Cosby grew up, and Eddie, a Def Comedy Jam alum, came together and lived life as 20 something New Jack brothers!
- CreatorLeslie RayDavid Steven SimonMarlon WayansStarsShawn WayansMarlon WayansJohn WitherspoonThe wacky escapades of brothers Shawn and Marlon Williams, along with their wise but eccentric father.The youngest of the Wayans clan delivered comedy that was more of a hip hop vibe, but that was what the New Jack was about, hip hop swagger that could appeal to middle class sensibilities.
- CreatorDave CaplanMichael JacobsBrian LaPanStarsSinbadT.K. CarterErin DavisDavid (Sinbad) is a single foster father for Zana and LJ, and he's very new to the game. He learns as much from the children as they learn from him.Showtime at the Apollo and Different World alum Sinbad carried his own on this sitcom but this didn't last. He embodies a more milder and palpable New Jack Swing vibe. No cussing but he's still funny.
- CreatorBentley Kyle EvansJamie FoxxStarsJamie FoxxGarrett MorrisGarcelle BeauvaisJamie King is an aspiring actor from Terrell, Texas, who has come to Los Angeles to pursue a career in show business. To support himself, he works at his family's hotel.Jamie was cool, but I really loved seeing the irresistible Garcelle Beauvais, and back then you could see her beauty was beyond words. She really lit up the screen! For me, at least.
- CreatorDon ReoDamon WayansStarsDamon WayansTisha CampbellGeorge Gore IIMichael Kyle longs for a traditional life, but his day-trader wife Janet, gangsta rap-worshipping son Michael Jr., and brooding daughters Claire and Kady make his dream just that ... a dream.New Jack came of age? 2 bright stars from the New Jack era settled down, having kids, picking up where Cosby left off.
- CreatorLarry WilmoreStarsBernie MacKellita SmithJeremy SuarezA stand up comedian suddenly becomes a father when he takes custody of his sister's three children.Who would have thought that the outstanding comedian who jumped onto the stage of Def Comedy Jam, saying "I ain't scared of you m------s" wearing his New Jack style gear, bopping to rap music, would get big enough to get his own show. RIP.
- CreatorMara Brock AkilStarsTracee Ellis RossGolden BrooksPersia WhiteA look at the lives, loves, and losses of four different women: Toni, Maya, Lynn, and Joan.Though I think this was supposed to replace "Living Single", it was a good attempt, and held my interest for a few seasons. But it just wasn't the same.
- CreatorWinifred HerveyStarsSteve HarveyCedric The EntertainerMerlin SantanaA former funk star named Steve Hightower enlists as a high school music teacher away from his original career in Chicago.Classic New Jack humor by one of the oldest purveyors of the "New Jack" era. He lived it! With his boy Cedric, he just knew how to make people laugh.
- CreatorMara Brock AkilStarsHosea ChanchezWendy Raquel RobinsonCoby BellA spinoff of Girlfriends (2000) featuring a group of women who all have relationships with professional football players.Much like "Girlfriends", this came after the New Jack era was gone. The show lent itself to that, but now it has gotten a bit trashy since it got on BET. The problem with this show is that without that New Jack vibe, nobody cared about it.
- CreatorAli LeRoiChris RockStarsTerry CrewsTichina ArnoldTequan RichmondComedy following an awkward young African-American teenager (based on a young version of comedian Chris Rock) as he attempts to survive with his family and his all-white school in 1980's Brooklyn, New York.I hesitated to put this on the list, but Chris Rock is a product of the New Jack era (having had his first major role in "New Jack City"), and the mother was played by one of the vets from the Martin show, so not only is this a New Jack show, this might be the last of them. The genre is now gone.
- CreatorWinifred HerveyStarsLL Cool JMaia CampbellAlfonso RibeiroA once-famous football player must rent part of his house to support himself. A single mother and her two kids are the latest tenants. He also owns a sports clinic that he barely manages to run with help from his friends.This to me was a New Jack variation of the 80s syndicated sitcom "Who's The Boss" but just with a different racial makeup, and less of a connection between LL and Debbie Allen. I loved Maia, this was her in her prime before the drugs.
- CreatorStan DanielsStarsCharles S. DuttonElla JoyceRocky CarrollCharles Dutton plays a married garbage man who proves by his actions and his altruistic ways that though he collects refuse for a job, his life and relationships total more than mere garbage.This live TV show was a bit more on the working class side, stripped down reality dealing with social issues as experienced by a simple man. A New Jack version of Archie Bunker without the bigotry, maybe?
- CreatorDanny KallisBrian SuskindStarsTahj MowryJohn Marshall JonesJason WeaverA 10-year-old genius goes from elementary school to high school.A New Jack version of Doogie Howser? What surprised me most was that the main character is in real life the brother of the girls from Sister,Sister!
- CreatorJeffrey KlarikStarsEssence AtkinsRachel TrueChico BenymonMona and Dee Dee are half-sisters with the same father who didn't really know each other when they were little and are complete opposites, but as adults they live in the same apartment building and at least try to bond.Much like the show "Girlfriends", this seemed to be another variation of the classic show "Living Single". Much like Girlfriends, it just didn't have the impact of its predecessor.
- CreatorBennie R. Richburg Jr.Eunetta T. BooneStarsShannon ElizabethShondrella AveryRashaan NallKevin, the son of the former owner, and Tiffany, the daughter of the current owner, team up to manage a hair salon/day spa, in this spinoff of "One on One."