The Parent 'Hood

infobox television
show_name = The Parent 'Hood


caption = The cast of "The Parent 'Hood" deletable image-caption
format = Sitcom
runtime = 30 Minutes
(with commercials)
creator = Robert Townsend
Andrew Nicholls
Darrell Vickers
starring = Robert Townsend
Suzzanne Douglass
Ashli Amari Adams
Curtis Williams
Reagan Gomez-Preston
Cory King (Season 4-5)
Kenny Blank (Season 1-3)
Kelly Perine (Season 5)
Faizon Love (Season 1-4)
Tyrone Burton (Season 4-5)
country = USA
preceded_by = "Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime" (1988-1991)
network = The WB
first_aired = January 18, 1995
last_aired = July 25, 1999
num_episodes = 90
tv_com_id =1047
imdb_id = 0112115 |

"The Parent 'Hood" is an American sitcom that aired from 1995 until 1999 on The WB. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglass. "The Parent 'Hood", along with "The Wayans Bros.", "Unhappily Ever After" and "Muscle" were the first four programs to be aired on the upstart WB network in January 1995 (with "The Parent 'Hood" being the second to end its run).

ummary

The series is about an upper middle-class black family in Harlem, New York City named the Petersons. Robert Peterson (Robert Townsend) is a college professor at New York University, and his wife Jerri (Suzzanne Douglass) is a law student. They try to balance their lives, their work, and their four children at the same time. The four kids span the ages from teens to toddlers. The oldest two, 16-year-old Michael (Kenny Blank) and 15-year-old Zaria (Reagan Gomez-Preston), are reaching that age where they're eager to spread their wings and are ready to experiment with each other and avoid being seen with their not quite cool parents. Nicholas (Curtis Williams) is a bright eyed 8-year-old who is quickly discovering the joys of mischief. 4-year-old Cece (Ashli Adams) is the darling of the family. Offering his own offbeat point of view is Robert's childhood buddy, Wendell (Faizon Love).

Robert's love for his kids - combined with his vivid imagination (prompting frequent fantasy sequences) and impulsive energy - propels him to do extraordinary things on their behalf as he continually dreams up untraditional solutions to traditional family problems. Many critics from news organizations such as the Associated Press and Atlanta Journal-Constitution often referred to the show as the Cosby Show of the 1990's.

Frequent cast changes

Throughout its five season run, each season brought about cast changes, not all of which were explained. Carol Woods, who played Mrs. Wilcox, the housekeeper and Wendell's mother, left the series after the first season. Bobby McGee, who played one of Robert's childhood friends, also left the series at that time. Faizon Love, who was a recurring character in season one, became a regular in season two. In the fourth season, Kenny Blank, who played Michael Peterson, left the series; his character was explained to be off to college. Blank's departure also saw the exits of Nigel Thatch and Tasha Scott. Thatch played Shakeim, Zaria's militant but lovable boyfriend, and Scott played Theresa, who was Zaria's friend and the lead singer in Michael's band. Season three ended with a cliffhanger that was never explained, with Shakeim leaving to start Morehouse College early and Skye played by Shyheim, another member of Michael's band, confessing his feelings for Zaria. Shakeim decides to stay and attend NYU in the fall instead. As Zaria and Skye began to discuss the situation, Shakeim walks into the room, with Zaria running upstairs.

Tyrone Dorzell Burton was introduced as a street wise kid named T.K in the season four premiere. The episode focused around him and his situation. It could be assumed that Zaria, Shakeim, and Skye decided to go their separate ways over the summer, as the storyline was never resolved on camera. "Hollywood Insider" reported that the series was slated to be cancelled by WB in May 1998, leaving another cliffhanger, but the network gave the series a last-minute 13 episode renewal for midseason. Faizon Love left the series at that time; he was replaced by Kelly Perine, who played Robert's brother, Kelly.

The later seasons

The show took a different turn at the beginning of the 1997-1998 season. Michael (Blank) was written out of the series with his absence was explained as him going off to college. With his oldest son at college, Robert allows a troubled teenager from juvenile hall to live with him and his family. T.K.'s (Tyrone Burton) father was an ex-convict, and his mother (Bern Nadette Stanis) was a drug addict who left him on the street. Jerri was the only person who didn't give up on T.K., and welcomed him into her home, even though Robert did not think it was a good idea.

During this season, more teenage storylines were employed including domestic abuse, peer pressure and Robert reaching out to many of T.K.'s street friends trying to help them change their lives. One character, Boo played by Da Brat, gets her high school diploma thanks to Robert and T.K.

In the 1997-98 fourth season finale, T.K. gets into a fight with several thugs (Tyrese Gibson appears in a non-speaking role), and Robert tries to talk him out the situation. Robert and T.K. leave and the thugs fire the gun, ending the episode on a cliffhanger. The show's final season was placed on hiatus after the cliffhanger episode, and did not return until May 23, 1999, a year after the season finale aired. In the last couple of episodes in the fifth season, Jerri has finally had enough of T.K.'s mischief and has him removed from the house, but before he moves out of the house, T.K. and the family checks up on Robert, who has fallen into a coma. While in a coma, Robert meets a guardian angel named Max (Barry Sobel) and convinces Robert to change his mind about the shooting and T.K. Robert finally awakes from the coma and all is forgiven. In later episodes, T.K. is seen trying to get his act together. T.K. also sees his mom again one more time where he decides he wants to move back in with her but she relapses back into substance abuse. The Petersons tell T.K. their home is always open to him.

In the last episode, which was not produced nor written as the last episode, Jerri and Robert renew their wedding vows and the cast is seen dancing in a "Soul Train" line before the final commercial break.

Episodes

*main|List of The Parent 'Hood episodes

Cast

*Robert Townsend as Robert Peterson
*Ashli Adams as CeCe Peterson
*Curtis Williams as Nicholas Peterson
*Kenny Blank as Michael Peterson (Season 1-3)
*Tyrone Burton as T.K. Anderson (Season 4-5)
*Suzzanne Douglass as Jerri Peterson
*Reagan Gomez-Preston as Zaria Peterson
*Faizon Love as Wendell Wilcox (Season 1-4)
*Kelly Perine as Kelly Peterson (Season 5)
*Carol Woods (singer / actress) as Mrs Wilcox (Season 1)

yndication

Episodes used to air TBS [cite news | last =Schlosser | first =Joe | title =BS buys "Moesha", "Parent 'Hood". (Turner Broadcasting System buys off-network rights to television programs) | publisher = "Broadcasting & Cable" | date =2007-07 | url =http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5053/is_199707/ai_n18358236 | accessdate =2007-11-06] during the early morning hours. The series now airs on TV One. [ [http://www.tvoneonline.com/shows/default.asp TV One List of programs] ]

References

External links

*
* [http://www.tv.com/show/1047/summary.html "The Parent 'Hood" at TV.com]