Hulu’s decision to bless me by putting every season of Living Single on its streaming service was truly the best birthday present I got this year (those socks were sh*t, Grandma). Yes, Living Single was one of the most amazing sitcoms of the ’90s for so many reasons — it was created by Yvette Lee Bowser, the first black woman to have a sitcom on primetime television; Queen Latifah starred in it and sang the iconic theme song; and white people appropriated it to create Friends! But it also reminded me of all the other ’90s black TV shows I wish were streaming. Here are a few!
1. Martin
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This show is responsible for the phrase “Damn Gina”, kicking your friends out of your apartment, and calling them out for being secretly unemployed. Man, I miss the ’90s. It also gave us so many iconic characters — a young Tracy Morgan’s Hustle Man, Bruh man from “da fifth flo”, Shanaynay, and the list goes on.
2. Moesha
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As a black girl, I credit Moesha for every single box braid on my head. Watching this coming of age comedy about a young black girl was so inspiring for me growing up. Moesha was so cool and so pretty, I wanted to be just like her. In retrospect, Moesha was actually kind of annoying, a really bad friend, and super disrespectful to her parents, but somehow this show still hold up!
3. The Parkers
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And from Moesha came The Parkers, a show about a girl who finally gets to go off to college… and whose mother decides to go with her. I know it sounds like a horror movie, but it’s actually really funny.
4. Sister, Sister
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This show was just so fun, and I think it has the perfect first act — Tia comes to a store in the mall with her mom and asks the salesman for a blue sweater. At the same time, Tamera, who is her long lost identical twin sister, comes in to the same store with her dad asking for a sweatshirt in the same color. A hilarious misunderstanding ensues that ends with both twins saying “that girl has my face!” It’s perfect, sweet, and I’m now realizing how corny of taste I still have.
5. In Living Color
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This was honestly the sketch show above all sketch shows. Not only did it bring hip-hop and a nearly all-black cast to comedy and primetime TV, but it made some legit stars: the artist Jamie Foxx, David Allen Grier, fly girls JLo and Carrie Ann Inaba, and the artist formerly known as James Carey.
6. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
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I’m pretty sure that the Fresh Prince and Living Single theme songs are the only rap songs — no, songs period — that I know all the words to. And it’s because the show was so fresh (see what I did there). But seriously, Fresh Prince had Will Smith was at the top of his game and it was hilarious. It even had a bunch of celebrity cameos, including Trump before we knew he would destroy the world. Much simpler times.
7. Girlfriends
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I’m gonna break the theme of this article for this last one just because I love my giiiirrrlfriends! Long before Blackish, this was the show that made me fall in love with Tracee Ellis Ross. It was one of the first show that I watched regularly where the characters were having sex, living in a big city, and being mid-2000s fly. It made me feel like such a grown up, even though I still had to be in bed by 9 PM.
What shows are you hoping pop up on Netflix? Let us know on Twitter @Smosh!
