Living single was lauded as the African-American version of Designing Women and Friends. With the latter show being a forerunner to Living Single.
Like Friends, it was based in New York- only this time in Brooklyn and as opposed to just 3 guys and 3 girls, there were 2 guys and 4 girls who all hanged out in a little apartment.
The show's ensemble cast was one of the best, let alone in a Black sitcom; Queen Latifah was superb as Khadijah- she was laid-back but also, had a no-nonsense yet still firm attitude. Erika was at times hilarious as Maxine, Kim Fields was very, very good as Regine and managed to be sharp and sweet too. My favourite was Synclaire (notice the spelling, there is an 'e' at the end of it); played by actress and later TV host, Kim Coles. She was by and large the Black version of 'Phoebe' from Friends. Kooky- yet subtle, quirky and silly. Which is good!
Another Friends- like character was Kyle- he was the show's version of Ross but he was less goofy and more reserved, he came off as being very 'dashing' and exquisite in contrast. Almost posh-like. And last but not least was Overton- he was the more laid-back, easy going, fun loving guy.
Arguably, most of the jokes and funnier moments were much better handled and executed well; thus, it stood out more than NBC's worldwide hit, Friends. Each character had their own agendas, as well as individual personalities and the actors all had depth and they brought something different to them to make them as likable as interesting as they are.
I also noticed whilst watching a few of the episodes that there seemed to be an air of intelligence, especially in the writing that made this head and shoulders above many other black sitcoms. Not just in the 90s but the early 00s as well. For instance, whilst Synclaire was portrayed as being an 'air-head' in many respects, she was also very loyal, compassionate and had a innocent and endearing charm about her. Nearly child-like that is. The scripting of Living Single was excellent.
One's initial viewing of this show would be this is a 'chick' show, but for a so-called chick sitcom, Living Single was both clever AND amusing.
I read also that like many sitcoms over the last decade, Living Single fell foul to terrible writing towards the last couple of open-ended episodes of the final season, which later resulted in its cancellation by network Fox- only for the series to be brought back and wrapped up in the final 3 eps.
Living Single was very under-rated as a show; the characters were well developed and story-lines were well-written; the writers did extremely well in juggling and handling both the humour and drama.
The rights were never bought in the UK, and so I don't recall Living Single ever being shown on terrestrial and satellite TV over here. But I have watched a couple of the episodes on-line and for me, it is a really good sitcom. It's a shame that U.S TV has stopped making sitcoms such as this nowadays. Sitcoms that put a smile on your face and with an ongoing plot line, because right now, the TV market is currently saturated with reality TV and drama.
Overall, it was and still is amusing, light-hearted and one of the most intelligent sitcom shows around. Living Single may not have been an outright sitcom classic, yet it was terrific fun that during the 00s its relatively short success was later followed by the likes of 'Girlfriends'- another sitcom that was remarkably similar to Living Single in many respects.
Living Single was a show that was fresh and unique that deserved to be handled much, much better than it was by Fox.
Like Friends, it was based in New York- only this time in Brooklyn and as opposed to just 3 guys and 3 girls, there were 2 guys and 4 girls who all hanged out in a little apartment.
The show's ensemble cast was one of the best, let alone in a Black sitcom; Queen Latifah was superb as Khadijah- she was laid-back but also, had a no-nonsense yet still firm attitude. Erika was at times hilarious as Maxine, Kim Fields was very, very good as Regine and managed to be sharp and sweet too. My favourite was Synclaire (notice the spelling, there is an 'e' at the end of it); played by actress and later TV host, Kim Coles. She was by and large the Black version of 'Phoebe' from Friends. Kooky- yet subtle, quirky and silly. Which is good!
Another Friends- like character was Kyle- he was the show's version of Ross but he was less goofy and more reserved, he came off as being very 'dashing' and exquisite in contrast. Almost posh-like. And last but not least was Overton- he was the more laid-back, easy going, fun loving guy.
Arguably, most of the jokes and funnier moments were much better handled and executed well; thus, it stood out more than NBC's worldwide hit, Friends. Each character had their own agendas, as well as individual personalities and the actors all had depth and they brought something different to them to make them as likable as interesting as they are.
I also noticed whilst watching a few of the episodes that there seemed to be an air of intelligence, especially in the writing that made this head and shoulders above many other black sitcoms. Not just in the 90s but the early 00s as well. For instance, whilst Synclaire was portrayed as being an 'air-head' in many respects, she was also very loyal, compassionate and had a innocent and endearing charm about her. Nearly child-like that is. The scripting of Living Single was excellent.
One's initial viewing of this show would be this is a 'chick' show, but for a so-called chick sitcom, Living Single was both clever AND amusing.
I read also that like many sitcoms over the last decade, Living Single fell foul to terrible writing towards the last couple of open-ended episodes of the final season, which later resulted in its cancellation by network Fox- only for the series to be brought back and wrapped up in the final 3 eps.
Living Single was very under-rated as a show; the characters were well developed and story-lines were well-written; the writers did extremely well in juggling and handling both the humour and drama.
The rights were never bought in the UK, and so I don't recall Living Single ever being shown on terrestrial and satellite TV over here. But I have watched a couple of the episodes on-line and for me, it is a really good sitcom. It's a shame that U.S TV has stopped making sitcoms such as this nowadays. Sitcoms that put a smile on your face and with an ongoing plot line, because right now, the TV market is currently saturated with reality TV and drama.
Overall, it was and still is amusing, light-hearted and one of the most intelligent sitcom shows around. Living Single may not have been an outright sitcom classic, yet it was terrific fun that during the 00s its relatively short success was later followed by the likes of 'Girlfriends'- another sitcom that was remarkably similar to Living Single in many respects.
Living Single was a show that was fresh and unique that deserved to be handled much, much better than it was by Fox.