`Girlfriends'

Jet, Oct 29, 2001

TV Comedy Explores Issues About Life, Love, Sex And Men For Second Season

WHEN best buddies get together, you can be certain of one thing--there will never be a dull moment. The UPN show "Girlfriends" drives this point home as it explores issues about life, love, sex and men for a second season.

The comedy centers around the lives of four spirited, upwardly mobile friends: Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), a top-notch attorney who is knocking at the door of 30 and feels that she has everything going for herself in life except a man; Toni (Jill Marie Jones), who sells real estate and is a classic "material girl" who's in hot pursuit of a man with a hefty bank account; Maya (Golden Brooks), who is Joan's assistant at the law firm and is the voice of reason for the friends; she's the one they envy most because she married her high school sweetheart, Darnell (Khalil Kain), and is the mother of a son; and Lynn (Persia White), the modern-day equivalent of a '60s flower child, lives rent-free with Joan, with whom she attended graduate school. The only problem is that Lynn doesn't want to grow up and is still in grad school some eight years later!

Then, there's the "honorary girlfriend," William (Reggie Hayes), Joan's friend and colleague at the law firm. No group of girlfriends would be complete without the guy everyone considers "like a brother" because "he's too nice" to be considered for a boyfriend.

During the first season, viewers got a chance to become familiar with the saucy group. This season the characters are hit with tough issues that often test the boundaries of their friendship.

Joan and Toni butt heads when Toni decides to get in on a piece of the action in the romance department with Joan's man; Maya feels compelled to "find herself," while her husband attributes her self-discovery to her meddlesome girlfriends; Lynn learns the hard way that she must add the word responsibility to her vocabulary; and William shows that "nice guys" can finish first when he decides to wed his police officer girlfriend, Yvonne (Cee Cee Michaela Harshaw).

Make no mistakes about it, while the show offers plenty of comedy, it isn't afraid to approach taboo issues such as racism or female health concerns.

"Touchy subjects are sensitive," says White, who in real life is biracial and plays a biracial, adopted character. "Occasionally we like to ruffle feathers. There is a price you pay to see the funny side of life. Humor is therapy."

Ratings show that audiences like this form of therapy. The second season premiere of the show scored the best ratings in its Monday time slot in more than six years among women 18-34 and 18-49. The comedy also delivered the time period's best performance in more than five years among adults 18-34, 18-49 and total viewers for UPN.

"You can't always put a finger on what works or why something works," explains Ross of the show's appeal. "God touched our show. The flavor of it feels good for us and people are feeling that. You get four different perspectives. There is also a good male voice on the show."

Brooks elaborates on the show's expanding audience: "It's a reality bite. It isn't just about sex and someone cheating on a partner. We deal with issues people are embarrassed to deal with or talk about. My character had a fibroid. Toni had chlamydia ... We focus on the humanity of these characters and go deeper into their lives. The comedy is coming from the issue as opposed to from the joke."

Martha Brock Akil, the show's creator who also serves as an executive producer, says the ensemble comedy works because people see things they can identify with.

"We don't do all the politically correct stories," says Akil. "We don't do and say all of the right things all the time. We're human and do that for a reason ... People like to laugh and be challenged. We're tired of being portrayed in a light we don't see ourselves as. We're very complex. The characters are complex and our images are well represented."

For Jones, playing the "flawed" Toni makes her job interesting. Her character's life just about hits rock bottom this season. But, all is not lost. Gospel great Donnie McKlurkin will guest star on the special Halloween episode, slated to air next week, where she picks herself up and gets her life back in order.

"You will root for Toni again. I love to play her. She has room for growth ... She's not really happy with who she sees in the mirror. That has prompted her insecurity. She came from nothing, but you would never know it, and vowed she would never be poor again. That's why she always dates wealthy men and puts on this disguise."

Audiences can brace themselves for more surprising twists and turns with the girls this season. Being on UPN leaves the possibilities endless, says Hayes.

"It's liberating because we can take more chances. The payoff is bigger if the risks are bigger ... The show deals with four women you wouldn't necessarily put together, but it's like life is. They still love and support one another. And it has a cute guy thrown in," he laughs.