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Brandy Rayana Norwood, better known mononymously as Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Her sound is characterized by heavy voice-layering and riffs. As of 2024, she has sold over 40 million records worldwide, with approximately 8.62 million albums sold in the United States. Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including a Grammy Award and an American Music Award.
Eve is an American television sitcom created by Meg DeLoatch that originally aired for three seasons on UPN from September 15, 2003, to May 11, 2006. Featuring an ensemble cast consisting of Eve, Jason George, Ali Landry, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Brian Hooks, and Sean Maguire, the show revolves around two sets of male and female friends attempting to navigate relationships with the opposite sex. The executive producers were Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari; the series was produced by The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio and Mega Diva Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television for UPN.
The Parkers is an American television sitcom created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears, which aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004, lasting five seasons. The series stars Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow, Dorien Wilson, Jenna von Oÿ, Ken L., and Yvette Wilson. It centers on the relationship between a mother and daughter, Nikki and Kim Parker, who reside outside of Los Angeles, in Santa Monica, California, while both attending the local Santa Monica College. The series was produced by Big Ticket Television, in association with Saradipity Productions and Regan Jon Productions. Executive Producers were Bill Boulware, Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney, Vida Spears and Andrea Wiley.
Moesha is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with her upper middle class family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was originally ordered as a pilot for CBS' 1995–1996 television season but was declined by the network. It was then later picked up by UPN, which aired it as a mid-season replacement. It went on to become the biggest success for the nascent network and one of the greatest hits over the course of the network's entire run. The series was a joint production for UPN by Regan Jon Productions, Saradipity Productions, and Jump at the Sun Productions in association with Big Ticket Television.
Sharisse Jackson is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Niecy Jackson on the UPN sitcom Moesha. She was crowned the winner of MTV reality show Celebrity Rap Superstar in 2007.
Lamont Bentley was an American actor and rapper best known for his role as Hakeem Campbell on the UPN sitcom Moesha. Bentley was also known for his role as Crazy K in the 1995 horror film Tales from the Hood and C-Money in the 2001 film The Wash featuring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.
Countess Danielle Vaughn is an American actress, singer and television personality. She is best known for her role as Kim Parker on the UPN sitcoms Moesha and its spin-off The Parkers, and as Alexandria DeWitt on 227.
Kellie Shanygne Williams-Jackson is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Laura Lee Winslow, the middle-born child of Carl and Harriette Winslow on the ABC/CBS television series Family Matters which ran from 1989–1998.
RonReaco Lee is an American television and film actor best known for his roles as Tyreke Scott on the ABC/The WB sitcom Sister, Sister, and as Jamal Woodson on the BET romantic comedy Let's Stay Together. From 2014 to 2017, he starred as Reggie Vaughn in the LeBron James-executive produced Starz series Survivor's Remorse.
South Central is an American comedy-drama television sitcom that aired on the Fox network from April 5, 1994 to June 7, 1994. It was cancelled following its first season, after ten episodes aired.
Brian Hooks is an American actor, comedian, producer and director. He is best known for his roles as protagonist Rob Douglas in the screwball comedy 3 Strikes, and Nick Delaney on the UPN television sitcom Eve. He is also known for his role as DJ in the 2004 film Soul Plane.
Yvette Reneé Wilson was an American comedian and actress. She was known for her role as Andell Wilkerson, the shopkeeper of the local hangout on the UPN sitcoms Moesha (1996–2001); and restaurant owner and Nikki's best friend on its spinoff The Parkers (1999–2004). She had appeared in many comedy films such as House Party 3, Friday, and on Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. She was also known for her role as Rita in the 1995 F. Gary Gray film Friday. Wilson died from cervical cancer at the age of 48.
Mara Brock Akil is an American television producer, screenwriter and director. She became the youngest African American female showrunner and executive producer when she created the sitcom Girlfriends (2000–2008), airing on UPN and The CW, and the first African American female showrunner to have two series simultaneously on broadcast network television when she created its spin-off The Game (2006–15) on The CW before moving to BET.
Kara Denean Brock is an American television and film actress best known for her recurring role as Regina Foster, the sorority-sister of Kim Parker in the UPN sitcom The Parkers. She was born in Long Beach, California, but was raised primarily in Kansas City, Missouri. She is the younger sister of TV writer/producer Mara Brock Akil. Brock is a graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelor's degree in theater arts.
Felicia D. Henderson is an American television producer, screenwriter, comic books writer and a director of music videos and television episodes. She has worked on Moesha, Sister, Sister, Soul Food, and Fringe, also played in a movie with Whitney Houston.
Stacy A. Littlejohn is an American screenwriter, producer and showrunner. She was the creator, writer and an executive producer of the VH1 network television series Single Ladies. Littlejohn has worked as a writer on Fox network's The Wanda Sykes Show, as a writer and supervising producer on The CW's All of Us, and as a producer on ABC's Life with Bonnie. She is currently working as a writer & co-executive producer on Empire.
As an actress, Brandy Norwood has appeared in feature films and television shows. She made her television debut in 1993 in the ABC sitcom Thea, as the daughter of a single mother. Broadcast to low ratings, the series ran for only one season, but earned her a Young Artists Award nomination for Outstanding Youth Ensemble alongside her co-stars. In 1996, her short-lived engagement on Thea led Brandy to star in her own show, the UPN-produced sitcom Moesha, in which she played the title role of Moesha Mitchell, a Los Angeles girl coping with a stepmother as well as the pressures and demands of becoming an adult. The program debuted on UPN in January 1996, and soon became their most-watched show. The network decided to cancel the show after six seasons on the air, leaving it ending with a cliffhanger for a scrapped seventh season. Brandy was awarded an NAACP Image Award for her performance. In 1997, Brandy was hand-picked by producer Whitney Houston to play the title character in Rodgers and Hammerstein's television version of Cinderella featuring a multicultural cast that also included Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Houston. The two-hour Wonderful World of Disney special garnered an estimated 60 million viewers, giving the network its highest ratings in the time period in 16 years, and won an Emmy Award the following year.
In 1995, Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries' United Television launched United Paramount Network (UPN) with Star Trek: Voyager as its flagship series, fulfilling Barry Diller's plan for a Paramount network from 25 years earlier. In 1999, Viacom bought out United Television's interests, and handed responsibility for the start-up network to the newly acquired CBS unit, which Viacom bought in 1999 – an ironic confluence of events as Paramount had once invested in CBS, and Viacom had once been the syndication arm of CBS as well. During this period the studio acquired some 30 television stations to support the UPN network as well acquiring and merging in the assets of Republic Pictures, Spelling Television and Viacom Television, almost doubling the size of the studio's television library.
Sara Vernetta Finney-Johnson is an American television producer, writer, and playwright. She is best known as the co-creator, with Ralph Farquhar and Vida Spears, of the UPN sitcoms Moesha, starring Brandy, and The Parkers, starring Countess Vaughn and Mo'Nique.
Ralph Farquhar is an American film and television producer and writer, and playwright. He is the co-creator of three sitcoms set in South Central, Los Angeles, California: the Fox sitcom South Central, and, with Sara Finney-Johnson and Vida Spears, the UPN sitcoms Moesha, starring Brandy, and its spinoff The Parkers, starring Countess Vaughn and Mo'Nique.
References
- ↑ Wolff, Jurgen; Cox, Kerry (2011-05-30). Successful Scriptwriting: How to write and pitch winning scripts for movies, sitcoms, soaps, serials and v ariety shows. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59963-482-1.
- ↑ Bois, William Edward Burghardt Du (1989). Crisis. Crisis Publishing Company.
- ↑ Adamo, Gregory (2010). African Americans in Television: Behind the Scenes. Peter Lang. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-4331-1039-9.
- 1 2 Braxton, Greg (1999-12-02). "Co-Creator of TV Hit 'Moesha' Fired". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-08-22.