Our Favorite (Underrated!) Black-Led TV Shows
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When it comes to beloved Black-led TV shows, you'll often hear some of the same names, including Martin, Sister, Sister and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and for good reason: They were groundbreaking in how they represented Black people, approached comedy and tackled some of the issues affecting the Black community. But there is so much incredible Black-led TV that might not come up as much in converstion.
Dramas such as The Wire and comedies like In Living Color, for example, have not only served as the launch pad for some of Hollywood's most elite stars, but they've also stood the test of time.
From kids' shows to more adult-oriented programs, here are some of our favorite underrated Black-led TV shows.
RELATED: Idris Elba Explains Why He 'Stopped Describing Myself as a Black Actor': 'It Put Me in a Box'
The Carmichael Show
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This year's Golden Globes host, Jerrod Carmichael, is best-known for his thoughtful and incisive standup routine, but he had a moment as a sitcom star as well.
His eponymous sitcom followed a fictional version of Carmichael's family, and starred comedy legends David Alan Grier and Loretta Devine as Carmichael's parents; as well as Lil Rey Howery as Jerrod's brother, Bobby; Tiffany Haddish as Bobby's ex-wife Nekeisha; and Amber Stevens West as Jerrod's girlfriend-turned-fiancée, Maxine.
The Carmichael Show used comedy to tackle hot-button issues such as depression, abortion and gun control. It was canceled in 2017 after three seasons.
Watch The Carmichael Show on Hulu
Everybody Hates Chris
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Drawing inspiration from Chris Rock's childhood growing up in Brooklyn in the '80s, Everybody Hates Chris tracks the chaotic, hilarious life of a young Chris (Tyler James Williams) who's trying to find his way in the world.
Much of the comedy comes from Chris' relationships with his memorable family members — including his brutally frugal father (Terry Crews), sassy, no-nonsense mother (Tichina Arnold), his younger, much cooler brother Drew (Tequan Richmond) and the baby of the family, his spoiled sister Tanya (Imani Hakim)— all while navigating being an awkward teenager.
Everybody Hates Chris was a hit with both fans and critics. The show was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, People's Choice Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards, among others. It snagged three NAACP Image Awards and an AFI Award before being canceled in 2009.
In Aug. 2022, Deadline revealed that Rock was on board to join a reimagined animated version of the show which will be available globally on Paramount+ an Comedy Central.
Watch Everybody Hates Chris on Peacock
In the House
In the House starred LL Cool J, Debbie Allen, Maia Campbell, Jeffery Wood, Alfonso Ribeiro and Kim Wayans, and told the story of an ex-football player who had to learn to live with a divorced mother of two — despite hardly knowing each other and having little in common.
The show only ran for four seasons, but it had quite the journey. The show was originally premiered as part of 1995 spring slate for NBC, but the network axed it after two seasons in 1996 due to low ratings. However, UPN (which is now the CW) picked it up and ran the show for another two seasons, before canceling it as well.
Romeo!
This cult-fave Nickelodeon show was a family affair as Romeo Miller worked with his dad, hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur Percival "Master P" Miller.
Drawing some inspiration from real life, Romeo plays an aspiring rapper who's in a band with his siblings—played by Erica O'Keith, Noel Callahan and Zachary Isaiah Williams—and his father, a record producer tries to aid them through the process.
The show aired on Nickelodeon between 2003 and 2006, though reruns ran through 2008.
Romeo! is currently not available to stream
The Wire
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Considered a masterpiece of television, the launching pad for Michael B. Jordan, Tristan "Mack" Wilds and Idris Elba didn't get popular with the masses until after it wrapped.
"The show unfortunately didn't get the accolades it deserved while we were on the air," Jordan explained while on A Sip with Issa Rae back in 2018. "It worked to my benefit because I did one season and I was gone...but all the right people loved The Wire after I was off. So when I was available to go do other stuff, all the casting directors, producers, were just discovering [it] and that gave me the perfect positioning to book a lot of roles."
Other stars on the roster included the late Michael K. Williams, plus Wendell Pierce, Sonja Sohn, Lance Reddick, Dominic West, Method Man, Aidan Gillen and many more.
The David Simon-written show poignantly depicted the drug problem in the city of Baltimore from both the police enforcement perspective and the drug dealers' perspective. It was on air for five seasons, and ran from 2002 and 2008 on HBO.
Kenan & Kel
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No other show has put orange soda on the map the way Kenan & Kel did.
Premiering on Nickelodeon in 1996, the show was one of two spinoffs—the other was the film Good Burger (pictured above)—from All That starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. It followed the titular characters as they constantly got themselves into hijinks, which they had to then solve in each episode.
Kenan and Kel was canceled in 2000 and Kenan went on to join Saturday Night Live, while Kel kept a more low key profile and dealt with some personal issues. However, as reboots and remakes became popular in recent years, the two stars have had several reunions.
The first get-together came in the form of a Good Burger sketch for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2015, then they appeared in some episodes of the All That reboot in 2019. The comedic pair also did an episode of Nick Cannon's Wild n' Out before bringing their beloved characters to a skit for SNL last December.
With decades years of friendship under their belts, Thompson and Mitchell have loads to talk about, but these days, the focus is mostly on fatherhood.
Mitchell told Paper Magazine in 2018, "Kenan and I talk all the time, we're dads now. We talk about our kids and all of that stuff. Every time I'm in New York, me and my wife go visit him and his wife and his kids and we all hang out. Just recently we were watching a Flavor of Love marathon, all of us were cracking up, watching New York [Tiffany Pollard] go off."
Watch Kenan and Kel on Paramount+
All of Us
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While most sitcoms in the '90s and early '00s era were all about nuclear families, All of Us was decades ahead of its time in that it chronicled the ups and downs of co-parenting after divorce.
LisaRaye McCoy, Duane Martin, Khamani Griffin, Tony Rock and Elise Neal helmed the half-hour comedy.
According to the show's description on Hulu, All of Us was "inspired by the domestic lives of celebrities Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, the family comedy reflects a new generation's enlightened attitude towards those who juggle ex-spouses, dating and professional lives." The main goal was to dispute the notion that "being divorced means you can't get along with the ex."
All of Us premiered on the UPN network in fall 2003 and ran until 2007.
Smart Guy
Being a child prodigy is not easy. Such is the plight for 10-year-old boy genius, TJ Henderson (Tahj Mowry) who, because of his uncanny intellectual capabilities, has to jump from the fourth grade all the way to the 10th. The young boy then has to navigate being 10 and being bullied, having crushes on girls, all while older siblings Yvette (Essence Atkins) and Marcus (Jason Weaver) cringe at the thought of him being at the same high school.
Outside of Mowry, Atkins and Weaver, Smart Guy also starred John Marshall Jones, who played their widowed father, as well as Omar Gooding, who played Marcus' friend, Mo Tibbs.
The sitcom produced 51 episodes in three seasons from 1997 to 1999.
Half & Half
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Another sitcom that dealt with unconventional family dynamics, Half & Half followed two paternal half sisters—played by Essence Atkins and Rachel True—who were estranged from each other throughout their childhood, but have reunited in adulthood and are trying to forge a bond.
"One of the things that I most remember about being there was that I never wanted to be in my dressing room," Atkins told Shadow and Act about working on the show. "Even when I wasn't in the scene, I was always on the floor. I was always watching, watching the creative process because…we had so much fun."
My Brother & Me
Though it only aired for one season—13 episodes total—My Brother and Me stole the hearts of every teen who watched it and gained a cult following in its own right.
The show chronicled the Parker family as they navigated the highs and lows of everyday life. It starred Arthur Reggie III, Ralph Woolfolk IV, Jimmy Lee Newman, Jr., Aisling Sistrunk, Karen E. Fraction and Jim R. Coleman.
Watch My Brother & Me on Prime Video
Malcom & Eddie
Starring former The Cosby Show actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner and comedian Eddie Griffin as the titular characters, Malcolm & Eddie premiered on UPN in fall 1996 and ran for four seasons, airing its final episode in May 2000.
But while the chemistry on screen seemed undeniable, creative differences behind-the-scenes made things a bit contentious.
"It was a hard show for me to do, it was a hard time for me. I had come from a history-making show that showed that people of color could be funny without being stereotypical," Warner told PeopleTV. "There was so much fighting that I did on this show, with writers, producers and the studio. There was a particular vision they had for the show that was different from the vision I had for the show."
When it came to connecting with Griffin, the two also had some disagreements given the fact that they each had different ways of approaching comedy. But, Warner gave his former co-star credit for always managing to put their differences aside to deliver.
"There were often creative conflicts that we had, so it wasn't always harmonious between him and I," Warner recalled. "But wherever we were eye-to-eye-wise, every single show for four years, we would get together, put our hands together, put our heads together and we'd pray."
The Bernie Mac Show
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The one guarantee about family is that they're sure to turn your life upside down.
Such is the case for the fictional Bernie Mac, who takes in his sister's three kids because she has to go to rehab. All of a sudden his laid-back, quiet life with his wife, Wanda (Kellita Smith) now is all about school runs, princess parties and conflict management, thanks to his teenage niece Vanessa (Camille Winbush); eccentric nephew Jordan (Jeremy Suarez); and sweet-toothed younger niece Bryanna (Dee Dee Davis).
The Bernie Mac Show was a hit, airing on Fox for five seasons from 2001 to 2006. (Mac died of complications from pneumonia in 2008.)
Writer Larry Wilmore was the first Black writer to win the Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series for the show's pilot episode, but would later be fired for creative differences with the network.
"At the time, I had to fight for all of the creative breakthroughs, and ultimately I was fired for it," Wilmore told THR. "[The network] never got it. Now everybody does what we were doing: single-camera, an unpredictable editing style, a focus on tone, emotion and characterization instead of just plot twists."
Watch The Bernie Mac Show on Peacock
The Game
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You know a show is good when it has had not one, not two, but three different comebacks because people keep asking for more.
Unlike most shows, The Game—which follows the wild lives of star football players and the women who make their worlds go round—debuted as an original on The CW in 2006. The sitcom aired for three seasons before being canceled in 2009. However, due to popular demand, Viacom struck a deal with CBS and brought the show to BET where it ran for another six seasons before ending in 2015.
Throughout its course, The Game starred fan favorites such as Tia Mowry, Brandy, Lauren London, Jay Ellis, Pooch Hall, Hosea Sanchez, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Coby Bell and Brittany Daniel.
In 2021, it was announced that the show would be coming back again to our screens via Paramount+, though Robinson and Sanchez would be the only ones returning to the series.
In Living Color
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The brain child of Keenen Ivory Wayans, In Living Color was a sketch comedy series that featured a multitude of characters.
Not only did the show pave the way for Wayans' brothers Damon, Shawn, Marlon, as well as sister Kim, it also launched the careers of some of Hollywood's best talents, including Jim Carrey, Rosie Perez, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Ann Inaba, David Alan Grier and Tommy Davidson.
In Living Color is not currently available to stream
The Wayans Bros.
Before they gave us Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, and White Chicks, Shawn and Marlon Wayans starred in their own show on The WB.
Much like Malcolm and Eddie, Shawn and Marlon Williams were polar opposites, with one being straight laced and cool, while the other constantly created havoc. The two brothers ran a newsstand and restaurant, along with their eccentric father, played by the late John Witherspoon.
Though the show was popular among viewers, it was canceled abruptly after five season, not even receiving a finale episode.
In 2018, Marlon posted a photo to Instagram asking if people would be interested in a show reboot, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. However, nothing official is in the works.
Watch The Wayans Bros. on HBO Max
My Wife & Kids
With Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell at the helm, it's no wonder My Wife and Kids was a hit with adults and young kids alike.
The feel-good sitcom followed Michael Kyle (Wayans) and Jay (Campbel) as they navigated the peaks and pits of parenting two teenagers and a four-year-old. My Wife and Kids debuted on Mar. 2001 and ran for five seasons before being canceled in 2005.
