From the previous comment about who else remembers this short-lived sitcom from the 1990's? For one,this was comedian-actor Redd Foxx's last time starring in weekly situation comedy-drama series. "The Royal Family" starred none other than the great Redd Foxx as Al Royal,who was a cranky Atlanta mailman looking forward to an active retirement with his loving,if somewhat contentious wife,Victoria(played by the great Della Reese). Everything changed however,when his daughter Elizabeth(Mariann Aaida)comes back home and announces she is getting a divorced from her husband Dexter. Al,who never liked Dexter,thought that was great news until he found out that Elizabeth was moving back home with her three children,the two sisters Hillary(Nava Rivera),and Kim(Sylver Gregory),and out of control teenage son Curtis(Larenz Tate). Elizabeth wanted to go on to medical school to pursue other opportunities. But as for the kids themselves,the teenagers Kim and Curtis was something Al couldn't take not to mention dealing with adorable little Hillary.
About the show...... Created and produced by the brainchild of actor-comedian-producer Eddie Murphy(who served also as executive producer of this series along with Greg Antonacci),the situation comedy "The Royal Family" lasted one season on CBS-TV from September 18, 1991 until May 27, 1992. Only 15 episodes were produced. Eddie Murphy wanted Redd Foxx back for this series with would be his comeback to weekly television,but it didn't last very long. However,Eddie Murphy worked with actors Redd Foxx and Della Reese before when the three starred together in the 1989 theatrical feature "Harlem Nights",which also starred Richard Pryor and produced and directed by Eddie Murphy himself. "The Royal Family" was Eddie Murphy's first attempt at doing a weekly television series,but this time around Eddie was behind the camera and behind the production as well. Not only that,but Della Reese and Redd Foxx had great chemistry together(when Reese was a guest star of Redd's show Sanford and Son during the 1970's)which made the show standout in some of the great episodes that Redd Foxx was in before his untimely death(Foxx was in episodes 1 thru 7 of the series).
On October 11, 1991,Redd Foxx suffered a fatal heart attack during rehearsals on the set. Having only completed seven episodes,the producers opted to end the series(without the proper consent of Eddie Murphy who was still the executive in charge of production). However,the series continued onward into production. The producers immediately added former "227" regular Jackee Harry to the series as Victoria's younger sister Ruth,who moved in to help cope with the family's sudden loss of there beloved family member. One of the best episodes from the series came from an episode titled "New Beginnings" that aired on 11-27-1991. In this episode,which was emotional brought back series characters that were featured. Among them were "Sanford and Son" alumni actors Bubba Bexley,Slappy White,Whitman Mayo,along with Lawanda Page. There were other great episode that had Redd Foxx in them,but the ones that were not ended up being the worst of the series,and it shows in episodes 9 thru 15(that ran from April 8, 1992 until May 27, 1992. The show was on Wednesday nights opposite NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries",and the short-lived children's romp "Dinosaurs!"(which was over at ABC). Out of all of the episodes of "The Royal Family",only two never aired during its original broadcast among them were the episodes "Cocoa in Charge",and "The Big Stink". In the final telecast of the series only two starring Redd Foxx aired. And why this show hasn't been seen since? "The Royal Family" remains one of the lost black sitcoms of the 1990's.
