South Central
Debut April 1994
Canceled by Fox in June 1994
There was a TV show called South Central starring Larenz Tate that came out in 1994. The show only lasted one season, but it was one of the most provocative shows about single motherhood that I had seen in a long while. The show of course takes place in South Central Los Angeles where drugs, crime, and poverty is a way of life for many families. What was striking to me was the fact that although I lived in a town that was more privileged than the setting for this show, I could identify with Tate's character of being raised in a single parent home.
Tate's mom played by Tina Lifford is laid off from her job and now she has to deal with raising three kids on her own with no financial assistance from her ex-husband. I'm sorry to say that I also endured the same upbringing as a child, since my father was not in the picture nor did he ever financially support his family. The show was real and raw in such a visceral way that at times it truly felt like art was imitating life. The only other show that was within the same vein as South Central was Good Times, in which case I was too young to identify with a family that lived a generation before I did.
I was devastated when the show was canceled. I decided to write a letter to Fox television and demand to put that show back on the air. Unfortunately, I never received a response or even an explanation why it was canceled. At the age of 14, I didn't exactly know what ratings were, and ultimately that is what caused the show's demise.
Below is a Fox promo for South Central
The State
Debut Dec 1993
Canceled July 1995
I love this show so much that the theme song is the opening music of our weekly BGN podcasts. I've always been a fan of sketch comedy shows. I was all about The Kids in The Hall, In Living Color, and I even enjoyed the Nick-At-Nite reruns of the Carrol Burnett Show. However, there was something unique and edgy about the cast and the sketches of The State. These guys had some of the funniest one-liners like Ken Marino's Louie with his sexual innuendos and famous catchphrase "I wanna dip my balls in it!"
Or how about Michael Showalter's character Doug, who was this teen slacker who was embarrassed by his super cool wealthy Dad that would always try to fit in with this friends. His famous one liner "I'm outta here" was always imitated by me. I know this is weird, but I liked the fact that there was only one chick on this show within a throng of male cast members. Kerry Kenney was awesome! She held her own along with the guys and I liked the fact that she wasn't always such a girly-girl. Thomas Lennon was another favorite of mine with his Old-Fashioned Guy skits.
When the show was canceled I wanted to cry. This show gave me life. It was one of the last remnants of MTV that actually had value. Sorry MTV...but you suck as a network. Anyway, I guess I'm a little bias about my opinion of them, because when I wrote a letter to MTV demanding that The State come back, alas I heard not a peep from the music television people. I was even more furious of the fact that it took forever and a day for The State to be released on DVD.
"What the hell man?" (Whoopi Goldberg voice)
Below is a clip from the Louie sketch
In a future post I will dedicate several paragraphs of ranting about the cancellation of My So-Called Life. Don't get me started on that one. I decided not to write a letter to ABC for that screw up.
