Mildred natwich is SO good in that episode, she turns that ep into a 30 min. teleplay. And oh my God, when Fred and Rolo see Lamont stranglin "that white woman", LMAO!

OMG! That was absolutely hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab9plpNU3tE

LMAO!

Ned The Whino? Woodrow? Same character, really.

Basically! He is a perfect example of an actor playing the exact same character but with two different names.on two different shows.

I can see where you're coming from on that front, VH. Obviously, Ajai Sanders (Gina) was a real find for the show; and although Jada Pinkett (Lena) was clearly raw as an actress, I felt as if she, too, had a spark that, with a little time and patience, might have been a real asset to the show (again, had it been allowed to continue). But the others -- Karen Malina White (Charmaine), Bumper Robinson (Dorian), Patrick Y. Malone (Terrell) -- yeah, girl, they could be triflin' sometimes.

The best thing about the first class after S1 -- Jaleesa, Whitley, Kim, Freddie, Dwayne and Ron -- was how diverse they were. Jaleesa was the older student who had been through marriage and divorce and had had some experience "out in the world;" Whitley was the "legacy child" from a privileged background; Kim was the cop's daughter from a middle-class neighborhood; Freddie was the naive and idealistic "flower child" who'd had an unconventional childhood in the desert (?); and Dwayne and Ron were "bruthas from da 'hood," with Ron having it marginally better on account of his father being a successful car salesman. To me, that's a good mix of experience, or lack thereof, from which to draw rich stories about campus life at a historically Black university.

The class in S6 -- Gina, Lena, Charmaine, Dorian and Terrell -- was good overall, too. However, what probably hurt them, aside from questionable acting talent in some cases, was the fact that they were not as diverse as the preceding class had been. Most, if not all, of these five seemed to be of the same demographic, coming from more-or-less the same neighborhood, sharing similar experiences. Therefore, it seems as if there wasn't as much variety to the kinds of stories they told. I've said in the past that S6 needed at least one character whose background, lifestyle and attitudes clashed greatly with the rest. Otherwise, the conflict is less socially relevant and more traditionally (and okay, generically) comedic.

My issue with the new class (save for Gina, who the writers cared enough about to flesh out beyond the fun-loving and partyhopping chick who debuted in Season 4) was the fact that they were stock renditions of better characters are taken too far in a certain direction.

I found Dorian to be a bootleg version of Dwayne without the humor that the latter character had, while Terrell was a bootleg version of Ron (who I never liked). While I did like Lena in Season 5 (and still have a special place in my heart for Jada because of that role, as well as the burgeoning movie career that she sadly set aside to be Mrs. Will Smith), I thought that the writers reinvented her as a Sister Souljah stereotype to the detriment of whatever natural growth the character could've had. Charmaine was my favorite of Pam's gang of friends on The Cosby Show (I seem to be the only one who not only liked the later seasons, but appreciated the kids from the hood) and I hated how the ADW writers turned her into a screeching stereotype.

On the subject of the original gang, while I agree that Season 1 was a mess in part because of Denise Huxtable being such an unengaging lead (as opposed to Whitley from Season 2 on forward), I loved her character in general because she was the first Black female character of her kind (an artsy chick who wanted to 'discover the world' and wasn't afraid of falling flat on her face while figuring things out).

Damn. Sister Souljah has entered the building. Haven't heard of or thought about her since I was a kid watching talk shows in the mid 90s.

Didn't Sister Souljah make a cameo appearance in "Honeymoon in L.A."?

I found Dorian to be a bootleg version of Dwayne without the humor that the latter character had, while Terrell was a bootleg version of Ron (who I never liked). [...] Charmaine was my favorite of Pam's gang of friends on The Cosby Show [...] and I hated how the ADW writers turned her into a screeching stereotype.

Echoing what I've said before, VH, I definitely can see where you're coming from on all counts.

Meanwhile, I'm surprised no one has brought up the episode S6 (of ADW) where Tupac played Lena's ex-boyfriend from the 'hood. Do y'all think that ep qualifies as a VSE?

Edited November 23, 201213 yr by Khan

Charmaine was my favorite of Pam's gang of friends on The Cosby Show (I seem to be the only one who not only liked the later seasons, but appreciated the kids from the hood)

I liked Pam and her friends. I have a certain limit for the amount of cute kids and Bill Cosby funny faces, and some of the relationships started to push my buttons in a bad way (like Sandra/Elvin, which seemed to become some marathon of, "Let's point out how unenlightened Elvin really is"). I guess I could see where Pam felt grafted onto the show, but I didn't mind a new perspective and I thought Erika Alexander did well enough with the role.

I mostly missed Denise. Vanessa was so high-strung and as she got more airtime I missed seeing Denise as some type of balance.

I don't remember why it was Very Special, but Family Ties had this one with Tom Hanks as Elyse's brother, and there was something Special about it. Maybe it wasn't billed as Very Special though. Maybe he was on drugs or a drunk, I forget. One Day At A Time was a pioneer in Very Specialness, the entire series was a full on Very Special assault on the senses with random 4-parters detailing traumatic goings on.

The Family Ties episode you are talking about is yes... where Tom Hanks plays elyse's brother, and he has a really big drinking problem, they remove all the liquor from the house to help him sober up, and he gets desperate and downs a whole bottle of vanilla extract. I'll never forget watching that, as I watched it at the Sears store in Columbia, Mo... when I was on a field trip for FFA state contest.

Edited November 23, 201213 yr by alphanguy74

(Edit) found the eppy in one piece instead of 4.

Edited November 23, 201213 yr by alphanguy74

Didn't Sister Souljah make a cameo appearance in "Honeymoon in L.A."?

Oh.... was she the one that was taking Whitley to Church with her comments regarding the riots? Well.... the more you know.

Nell Carter was mentioned earlier in this thread... and words can't describe how much I adore that woman. Such comedic timing, just incredible talent in so many arenas. And Gimme A Break was my favorite show as a teenager, but I got to say... did anyone else find this episode disturbing as hell?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM8DLIeCJsI

Didn't Sister Souljah make a cameo appearance in "Honeymoon in L.A."?

No idea, but Roseanne and Tom Arnold did. I guess it was the Carsey-Werner connection?