My wife and kids backstage at No. 1 black tv show - Television Program Review

Ebony, Dec, 2003 by Aldore Collier

TISHA Campbell-Martin keeps apologizing; her giddy, 2-year-old son Xen is running around the set of My Wife and Kids, laughing and shouting, while she is conducting an interview. But there's no need for apology. Xen is only one of numerous kids and extended family members having fun and doing family things off-camera on the relaxed set of the hit ABC sitcom.

Family is a key component and ever-present theme on- and off-camera of My Wife and Kids, which is the No. 1 TV show in Black America. The sitcom, which debuted in 2000 as a little-noted mid-season throwaway, is now recognized as the anchor show of ABC's Wednesday nights. The Nielsen ratings are off the charts, and the show's crossover audience remains loyal to the funny, painful, suffering, triumphant Kyle family, even during reruns, recasting and rescheduling.

What's the show's secret?

There is, first of all and perhaps foremost, the cutting-edge worldview of Damon Wayans, who stars as Michael Kyle, a loving husband, father and businessman, and who is the co-creator, star and executive producer of the My Wife and Kids phenomenon. Kyle lords it over his suburban home with a style marinated with messages of love and humor that keeps his family laughing and guessing.

There are also weepy, emotion-filled segments as Kyle tries to prepare his three children for life beyond his loving home. There is tough love, but there are also effortless hugs and kisses.

The 43-year-old star knows the father he's playing. The fourth of 10 children, he grew up in Manhattan's Fulton projects with siblings who went on to create Hollywood's Wayans dynasty--big brother Keenen Ivory Wayans introduced the world to In Living Color, and younger brothers Shawn and Marlon are grossing out sellout audiences with their Scary Movie franchise.

Wayans believes the show's success is based on what he calls "the relatability" factor as well as the casting and writing. "We're not the perfect family," he has said. "We're just trying to work out problems that appeal to people. It's universal--and that's the great thing about."

Wayans and his co-star, Tisha Campbell-Martin, don't sugarcoat anything. They teach their children unforgettable lessons about sex, drug use, the importance of good grades and, abouve all, the values of family.

Campbell-Martin is the wife "Jay," George O. Gore II is "Junior," Jennifer Nicole Freeman is daughter "Claire," and the youngest daughter, "Kady," is Parker McKenna Posey. The cast also includes Noah Gray-Cabey as "Franklin," Andrew McFarlane as "Tony," and Brooklyn Sudano, the daughter of music legend Donna Summer, as "Vanessa."

Whenever you turn on the set, you run into family names and family connections. Wayans' sister, "Kim," who co-starred with him years ago in In Living Color, is a producer; son Damon Jr. is a staff writer who occasionally makes guest appearances. Two of Damon's other four children, Kara and Michael, have also performed on the show. It is also worth noting that Campbell-Martin's husband, Duane Martin, is featured in the new UPN sitcom, All of Us, created by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

"Damon keeps a family atmosphere here," Campbell-Martin says. "There're always kids running around all over the place. We have all the Wayanses. Damon makes sure there's plenty of family around us. He and Don Reo [the other executive producer] make sure this show is relatable to all people."

Wayans admits that he based the sitcom on the adventures and misadventures of his relationship with his former wife and their four children--the couple have two girls, 12 and 16, and two boys, 18 and 20. By the second season of My Wife and Kids, Wayans was divorced and the issues the family faced were no laughing matter. During the divorce proceedings, Wayans said the show "had become my therapy." After the divorce, the star reportedly shied away from dating, saying that My Wife and Kids was his "only girlfriend." By all accounts, he is still a hard-driving perfectionist who lives and breathes the show.

What you see on the show is what you get. Backstage, the cast is one big family. "We have a newcomer who just came on the show," Campbell-Martin recalls, "and he said, 'Y'all hug and kiss three times a day.' This guy said, 'You hug people and pass them again and you hug them again.' How many times can you hug and kiss? It's so 'disgusting' around here," Campbell-Martin adds, giggling. "I love it. We have such a good time. It's so family-friendly. They made sure I have a nursery in my dressing room."

My Wife and Kids is the No. 1 hit in Black America, but it has a large non-Black audience. "I'm hearing now," Tisha says, "how people in Europe, in places like London, are really relating to our show. And that's the kind of show you want to do. We don't do racial jokes because they alienate so many people. All our comedy comes out of story first."

It's not all hugs and kisses. There was some criticism in Black America when the original daughter, dark-skinned Jazz Raycole, was dropped for Jennifer Nicole Freeman. There is also a buzz from some Black viewers that the show is so focused on being a crossover hit that it's toning down [or selling out] some of the Blackness that made it a hit.