The Wayans Brothers. is a American sitcom that aired from January 11 1995 to May 20, 1999 on The WB Network. The series starred real-life brothers Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. Both brothers were already well-known from the sketch comedy show In Living Color that was aired from 1990 to 1994. The series also starred John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Horsford (season 2 onward).
Premise[]
Shawn and Marlon Williams (Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans) are two brothers who live in an apartment on 126th street in Harlem. Shawn owns a newsstand in the fictional Neidermeyer Building where he and his brother Marlon work on a daily basis. In the same building, their father John "Pops" Williams (John Witherspoon) owns a diner and Dee Baxter (Anna Maria Horsford, season 2 onward) works as a security guard.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Shawn Wayans - Shawn Williams
- Marlon Wayans - Marlon Williams
- John Witherspoon - John "Pops" Williams
- Anna Maria Horsford - Deirdre "Dee" Baxter (season 2 onward)
- Phill Lewis - Thelonious "T.C." Capricornio (season 2 onward)
- Lela Rochon - Lisa Saunders (season 1)
- Paula Jai Parker - Monique (season 2, episodes 1–11)
Recurring cast[]
- Ja'net Dubois - Grandma Ellington (1996–1998)
- Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins - Dupree (1996–1998)
- Jill Tasker - Louise "Lou" Malino (Season 2, episodes 1–7)
- Jeremy Hittel - Carwash (1996–1999)
- Lance Amols - Doc (1997–1999)
- Mitch Mullany - White Mike (6 episodes)
Guest stars[]
Actors and celebrities that guest starred during the series run are: Paula Abdul, Adrienne Barbeau, Beau Billingslea, Earl Billings, Johnny Brown, Orlando Brown, Angelle Brooks, Monica Calhoun, Héctor Camacho, Bill Cobbs, Kelly Coffield-Park, Busta Rhymes, Gary Coleman, Dee Jay Daniels, Melissa De Sousa, Michael Clarke Duncan, Missy Elliott, Chip Fields, En Vogue, Antonio Fargas, Carmen Filpi, Gloria Gaynor, Pam Grier, Pat Harrington, Jr., Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Shari Headley, Sherman Hemsley, Roy Jones, Jr., Tamala Jones, Tracey Cherelle Jones, Andre Jamal Kinney, Tembi Locke, Kenny Lofton, Faizon Love, Barney Martin, Bernie Mac, Christopher Michael, Garrett Morris, Iona Morris, Elise Neal, Ron O'Neal, Devika Parikh, Jack Plotnick, Richard Roundtree, Ronnie Schell, Kellita Smith, Nick Spano, BernNadette Stanis, Keith Sweat, Tammy Townsend, Thea Vidale, Steve Vinovich, Adam West, Kym Whitley and Fred Willard
Episodes[]
- Main article: List of "The Wayans Bros." episodes
| Season | Episodes | Premiere date | Last episode date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | January 11, 1995 | May 24, 1995 | |
| 2 | 22 | September 6, 1995 | May 15, 1996 | |
| 3 | 22 | September 4, 1996 | May 14, 1997 | |
| 4 | 22 | September 17, 1997 | May 20, 1998 | |
| 5 | 22 | September 17, 1998 | May 20, 1999 | |
Production notes[]
The Wayans Bros. was the first series to debut on The WB, when it launched on January 11, 1995; it was one of the four sitcoms that aired as part of the original Wednesday night two-hour lineup that helped launch the network (along with Unhappily Ever After, The Parent 'Hood and the short-lived Muscle). While in development, the series' working title was initially supposed to have been Brother to Brother, before the name of the series changed to The Wayans' Bros.[1]
In the show's second season, Pops' Diner (the restaurant owned by Shawn and Marlon's father, John "Pops" Williams) was moved into the Neidermeyer Building, where the location was changed from Harlem to Rockefeller Center, Manhattan.
Theme music and opening sequence[]
The show's official opening title always begins with Shawn and Marlon on the steps of a brownstone apartment building, donning afros and wearing 1970s preppy attire, moving in rhythm to an accompanying satirical music piece that's supposed to have a 1970s-style "urban" sitcom theme song feel. Marlon forcefully smacks the camera, and then segues into "the real opening" of The Wayans Bros.
The "second-half" part of The Wayans Bros. theme song was changed twice throughout its four-year run (1995-99). In the first two seasons, from early 1995, until 1996, the show's theme song was A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation" (used both in the 1994-95, and the 1995-96 seasons). In the third season (1996–97), the theme song changed to a 4-second Hip-Hop beat. In the final two seasons (1997-1998 & 1998-1999), the show's theme song was changed again to a regular hip hop instrumental beat (which was produced by the Wayans Bros. & Omar Epps).
Syndication[]
Warner Bros. Television Distribution handles syndication distribution of the series. In September 1999, after the series was cancelled by The WB, the series began airing in off-network syndication to Fox, WB and UPN affiliates nationwide.
At that same time, Chicago-based national cable superstation WGN began airing reruns of the series, airing the series until 2002 (when its broadcast syndication run also ended); ironically, WGN (both the local Chicago feed and the national superstation feed) aired The Wayans Bros. in first-run form from 1995 to 1999, when WGN (whose local Chicago feed was an affiliate of the network) carried WB programming nationally to make The WB available to markets where a local affiliate did not exist (The Wayans Bros. is one of three WB series to have aired on WGN in both first-run and syndication form; The Parent 'Hood, 7th Heaven and Sister, Sister being the others).
In 2006, reruns began airing on BET, after a 4 year absence where it ran until 2007. In 2007, reruns of the series aired on Ion Television, where it ran until 2008. As of 2011, reruns currently air on MTV2. On October 3, 2011, the series also began airing on Centric. As of 2016, the series reruns on VH1.
DVD releases[]
The first season of The Wayans Bros. was released on DVD on February 8, 2005. Warner Archive then released Season 2 on May 9, 2017 on DVD in Region 1., which was a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available from such sellers as Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Warner then subsequently released seasons 2-5 on DVD in Region 1. [2][3][4][5]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 13 | February 8, 2005 |
| The Complete Second Season | 22 | May 8, 2017 |
| The Complete Third Season | 22 | November 7, 2017 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 22 | January 22, 2019 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 22 | March 26, 2019 |
References[]
- ↑ It's comedy for WB Network, Broadcasting & Cable (via HighBeam Research), August 15, 1994.
- ↑ The Wayans Bros: The Complete Fifth Season
- ↑ The Wayans Bros. – 'The Complete 2nd Season' is Coming to DVD at Long Last! Shawn and Marlon come back to disc this May, from the Warner Archive. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved on 20 April 2017.
- ↑ The Wayans Bros. - 'The Complete 3rd Season' is Coming to DVD This Year! MOD available from the Warner Archive in early November. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved on 20 April 2017.
- ↑ The Wayans Bros: The Complete Fourth Season
External links[]
The Wayans Bros. at the Internet Movie Database- The Wayans Bros. at TV.com
- The Wayans Bros. article at Wikipedia
