The Hughleys

Last updated
The Hughleys
The Hughleys.svg
Genre Sitcom
Created by D. L. Hughley
Matt Wickline
StarringD. L. Hughley
Elise Neal
Eric Allan Kramer
John Henton
Ashley Monique Clark
Dee Jay Daniels
Marietta DePrima
Theme music composer Jonathan Wolff (seasons 12)
Paul Buckley (seasons 12)
John Butcher (seasons 34)
Andrew Rollins (seasons 34)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes89 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers Robert Greenblatt
David Janollari
Chris Rock
Michael Rotenberg
Dave Becky
Matt Wickline (seasons 13)
D. L. Hughley (seasons 34)
Kim Friese (season 3)
Marco Pennette (season 4)
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time2224 minutes
Production companiesThe Greenblatt/Janollari Studio
Willowick Entertainment
(1998-2000)
(seasons 1-2)
Fox Television Studios
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseSeptember 22, 1998 (1998-09-22) 
April 28, 2000 (2000-04-28)
Network UPN
ReleaseSeptember 11, 2000 (2000-09-11) 
May 20, 2002 (2002-05-20)

The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on UPN from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L. Hughley as the main character, Darryl Hughley, and Elise Neal as Yvonne, his hard-working wife, who move their family from the inner city to suburban Los Angeles.

Contents

Plot summary

The show starred D. L. Hughley as the main character, vending machine salesman Darryl Hughley. Elise Neal portrayed Darryl's wife Yvonne. Former Living Single co-star John Henton portrayed the couple's best friend Milsap from the "old neighborhood", who often visited the family and helped them out (much resemblance to Willona visiting James and Florida on Good Times ). Ashley Monique Clark portrayed Darryl and Yvonne's 12-year-old daughter Sydney, and Dee Jay Daniels portrayed their 10-year-old son Michael; both children sometimes acted out and sometimes caused complete chaos. Michael's best friends included Ronnie (Preston Wamsley), Otto (played by Connor Matheus in Seasons 1 and 2, then Ian Meltzer in Seasons 3 and 4), and Miles (Martin Spanjers).

The show's initial plot involved successful vending-machine business owner Darryl Hughley moving his family from a South Los Angeles ghetto to West Hills, a predominantly white neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and move on up wealthy neighborhood. Darryl and his family try to adjust to living in an all-white area while trying not to forget who they are and where they came from. Darryl and Yvonne befriend their new neighbors, Sally and Dave, who are Darryl's polar opposites. The story has many racial themes that are usually comedic as Darryl makes fun of other races, especially his white and Korean neighbors.

Cast and characters

Marietta DePrima and Eric Allan Kramer played Dave and Sally Rogers, a friendly, wholesome suburban white couple. Marla Gibbs played Darryl's happy-go-lucky mother Hattie Mae opposite Ellis Williams as his father Henry. Telma Hopkins portrayed Yvonne's mother, Paulette Williams, and Sherman Hemsley portrayed Yvonne's father, James Williams, who thought of Darryl as a "jackass". Patricia Belcher appeared as Aunt Jessie Mae Hughley, and Adele Givens portrayed Yvonne's older sister Shari Williams, Darryl's wisecracking, backtalking, evil sister-in-law.

The show spent two seasons on ABC. In its first season, it followed Home Improvement , [1] but was canceled when ABC decided to revamp its TGIF lineup. [2] UPN picked up the show in the fall of 2000 and it aired in the Monday night lineup along Moesha , The Parkers and Girlfriends . [3] While The Parkers and Girlfriends had improved ratings, The Hughleys aired its series finale after its fourth season.

The series had many guest stars including Ashley Tisdale, Billy Dee Williams, as Darryl's biological father, Kelly Rowland, Lil' Romeo, Gary Coleman, Vivica A. Fox, Mo'Nique, Tyra Banks, and Rose Marie.

from left: Marietta DePrima, Eric Allan Kramer, Ashley Monique Clark, Elise Neal, D. L. Hughley, Dee Jay Daniels, and John Henton The hughleys cast photo.jpg
from left: Marietta DePrima, Eric Allan Kramer, Ashley Monique Clark, Elise Neal, D. L. Hughley, Dee Jay Daniels, and John Henton

Main characters

Recurring characters

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
1 23September 22, 1998May 11, 1999 ABC
2 22September 24, 1999April 28, 2000
3 22September 11, 2000May 14, 2001 UPN
4 22September 3, 2001May 20, 2002

Series finale

The Hughleys ended with a two-part series finale entitled "It's a Girl!" (aired on May 13 and May 20, 2002). In this episode, Darryl Hughley's niece, Carly (guest star Kelly Rowland) is preparing for college (the college was unknown), with peace, tranquility and no expectation of her relatives coming to annoy her (implying the entire Hughleys clan). Carly then receives an unexpected visit from her cousins Sydney and Michael. Darryl and Milsap go to their twentieth high school reunion and Milsap learns that his "old" girlfriend, Shandra, has a child, and he is the father.

Ratings

SeasonSeason PremiereSeason FinaleTV SeasonRankingViewers
(in millions)
1stSeptember 22, 1998May 11, 19991998–1999#37[ citation needed ]12.4[ citation needed ]
2ndSeptember 24, 1999April 28, 20001999–2000#77 [4] 8.46 [4]
3rdSeptember 11, 2000May 14, 20012000–2001#130[ citation needed ]3.4[ citation needed ]
4thSeptember 3, 2001May 20, 20022001–2002#135 [5] 3.6 [5]

Syndication

Reruns of The Hughleys started airing in syndication in mid-September 2002 to 2003, such as WWOR-TV who reran the show at 6:30pm weeknights, replacing reruns of Sister, Sister from 2002–03. The series aired on FXX from 2013–2017 in a widescreen form. Since January 5, 2015, Bounce TV began airing reruns currently on weekdays mornings at 8am and 8:30am eastern. Since August 2017 Aspire currently airs reruns weekdays at 12:00pm and 2:00pm eastern.

The series will be streaming on Netflix and Hulu starting September 2024. [6]

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References

  1. Gates, Anita (1998-12-27). "Shows That Have Outlived the Fruit Fly". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  2. Huff, Richard (1999-12-17). "ABC Has New Kids on the "TGIF" Block Hopes Guy-Groups Show Can Deliver High Ratings". New York: nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  3. Adalian, Josef; Schneider, Michael (2000-05-18). "UPN pumps macho menu, picks up ABC's 'Hughleys'". variety.com. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  4. 1 2 "Top TV Shows For 1999-2000 Season". Variety. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  5. 1 2 "How did your favorite show rate?". USA Today . May 28, 2002. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  6. Welk, Brian (December 12, 2023). "Here Are the 14 Non-Marvel/Pixar/Star Wars Shows Disney Is Licensing to Netflix". IndieWire .