MOESHA

:''"Moesha" is also the title of a song by former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, frequently performed by his first solo band.
'''Moesha''' was an American situation comedy produced for the UPN network from January 23, 1996 to May 14, 2001. It starred R&B singer Brandy as Moesha Mitchell, a high school student and her family living in Los Angeles.

Contents

Overview

Production

Issues addressed

''Secrets & Lies''

Backstage tension

Cancellation

Cast

Characters

Episodes

Spin-off

Popularity

References

External links

Overview

The show focused on the life of an African-American family through the eyes of a typical girl. Her father Frank, a widower and a Saturn car salesman, has married Dee, the vice-principal at Moesha's school, much to Moesha's dismay. It was created by Ralph Farquhar, along with the writing team of Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The settings for the show include the Mitchell household and the teen hang-out, The Mone'Pit.

Production

The show was first aired in the U.S. on January 23, 1996, however, the show was originally slated to air on the CBS network in 1995. CBS passed on the show and was later picked up by UPN to air in early January 1996 as a mid-season replacement. The show ran for six seasons.

Issues addressed

The show dealt with "real teen social issues", such as teen pregnancy, drug use, race relations, premarital sex, the death of a parent, and day-to-day issues faced by teenagers at home and in school.

''Secrets & Lies''

In one of the most controversial episodes, "Secrets & Lies"^[1], the Mitchell family learned from Dorian's adopted mother from Oakland that Frank is the biological father of Dorian, who both the Mitchells and Dorian himself believed to be Frank's nephew. The shocking news of Frank's infidelity (during his first marriage) turned the family upside-down and resulted in Moesha moving out of the house and Dorian's rebellion. This was a Season 5 episode. Cast member Sheryl Lee Ralph did not like this storyline, just like many ''Moesha'' fans. This storyline caused her to quit the show after the fifth season. She only made guest appearances when her character Dee Mitchell was absolutely necessary.

Backstage tension

With all the success that ''Moesha'' had accumulated, rumors speculated that Brandy was not getting along with members of the cast and production team. Stories of an alleged feud between Brandy and Countess Vaughn appeared in several tabloids. Shortly after, feeling the pressure to do a sitcom and pursue her music career, it has been rumored that Brandy had collapsed on the set of ''Moesha'' due to diet pills. She was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with dehydration, having nothing to do with diet pills, which she had never taken.
When co-creator and producer Vida Spears was fired, rumors circulated that Brandy and her mother, Sonja Norwood had been responsible for the termination. Spears wanted the show to continue its portrayal of a happy-go-lucky family, while Brandy wanted more control over storylines. With the arrival of Ray J (Brandy's real-life brother) to the show, the storylines were revamped from his character being portrayed as Frank's nephew to his out-of-wedlock son.
Additional conflicts arose during the series run when Lamont Bentley was sued by a security guard, who claimed bodily injury caused by he and his friends in an altercation allegedly caused when Bentley refused to provide credentials when entering the Sunset/Gower parking lot, where the series was taped. Allegedly the management at Sunset/Gower Studios declined to renew the production company's lease as a result of this problem and the series later moved to Paramount Studios lot.
Some sources reported that backstage tension that continued throughout season six played a factor in UPN's decision to cancel the series.

Cancellation

By the sixth season^[2], ''Moesha'' seemed to become a full-blown melodramatic sitcom. In the final episode of the season^[3], it was revealed that Myles was kidnapped by a rival of Dorian and an unknown pregnancy test found in the trash at Moesha's dorm room. A seventh season of the show was planned, but UPN let the series go as ratings continued to decline from Season 5. As previously mentioned, many viewers were unmoved by the episode, entitled "Secrets and Lies," which made Dorian an out-of-wedlock child of Frank. Entertainment Weekly reported that certain plots were to be resolved on ''The Parkers'' even with Ray J joining the cast, but to no avail. A made-for-TV movie was rumored to be in the works, but never happened.

Cast

★ Brandy Norwood as Moesha Mitchell

★ William Allen Young as Frank Mitchell

★ Sheryl Lee Ralph as Dee Mitchell (Seasons 1-5, recurring Season 6)

★ Countess Vaughn as Kimberly 'Kim' Parker (Seasons 1-4)

★ Marcus T. Paulk as Myles Mitchell

★ Lamont Bentley as Hakeem Campbell

★ Yvette Wilson as Andell Wilkerson (Seasons 1-5)

★ Shar Jackson as Deniece 'Niecy' Jackson

★ Fredro Starr as Quinton 'Q' Brooks (Seasons 2-3, recurring thereafter)

★ Ray J as Dorian Long (Seasons 5-6)

Characters

★ 'Moesha Mitchell' - Like many teens, Moesha's trying to find her place in life. At every turn, Moesha — along with her friends and family —experiences new challenges and hilarious situations associated with the pressures and demands of growing up in an often confusing world.

★ 'Frank Mitchell' - A Saturn dealer and father to Moesha, Miles, and Dorian.

★ 'Deidra "Dee" Mitchell' - an educator attempting to master two additional careers — as wife and stepmother to Moesha and Myles.

★ 'Kim Parker' - Moesha's best friend who went on to star in Moesha's spin-off show "The Parkers" along with her mother.

★ 'Myles Mitchell' - Myles is Moesha's younger brother.

★ 'Hakeem Campbell' - A frequent visitor to the Mitchell household, as Moesha’s lifelong friend, neighbor.

★ 'Andell Wilkerson' - Moesha's older friend and owner of the neighborhood hangout, The Den.

★ 'Niecy Jackson' - Moesha's friend and confidante.

★ 'Quinton 'Q' Brooks' - Moesha's love interest.

★ 'Dorian Long' - Moesha and Myles' half-brother.

Episodes

:''See List of Moesha episodes''

Spin-off

Given her popularity for four seasons on ''Moesha'', Countess Vaughn left the show in 1999 for her own show, ''The Parkers''. The show premiered on August 30, 1999 on UPN airing, for a time, after its parent series. It centered the adventures of Kim attending college along with her mother played by comedienne Mo'Nique.
Several ''Moesha'' cast members (including Brandy Norwood) made crossover appearances on the show from time to time to provide continuity between the two shows. Leaving ''Moesha'', Yvette Wilson later joined the cast as Andell in 2000.

Popularity

''Moesha'' has been a target for such shows and movies.

★ ''Clueless'' - In a Halloween-themed episode spoofing the popular ''Scream'' films, Cher (Rachel Blanchard), Dionne (Stacey Dash) and Amber (Elisa Donovan) try to catch a stalker. Later, Amber hints at a ''Moesha'' crossover after calling out Moesha's name when the girls are looking for Murray and Sean. Ironically, Shar Jackson and Lamont Bentley appeared in a later episode reprising their ''Moesha'' characters.

★ ''A Very Brady Sequel'' (1996) - Jan Brady (Jennifer Elise Cox) runs into her psychiatrist, Mrs. Cummings (RuPaul). She gives Jan some advice. Shortly after, Mrs. Cummings' daughters are shown having an argument where one utters the phrase, ''"Moesha! Moesha! Moesha!"'' The phrase was used for laughs since a similar catch-phrase was stated in the original series. Coincidentally, Jennifer Elise Cox reprises her role in an episode of ''Moesha's fourth season.

★ ''MADtv'' - Debra Wilson, a popular featured player on the show, spoofs Brandy Norwood in some sketches.

★ ''The Proud Family'' -In the episode "Hooray for Iesha", the show parodies ''Moesha'' revolving around Penny Proud's favorite television program, ''Iesha''. The plot of this episode is about the show ''Iesha'', which is cancelled without resolving the previous seasons cliffhanger ending, with Iesha's little brother running away. This is almost reminiscent to the final episode of ''Moesha''.

★ Crenshaw High School, the school that Moesha and her friends attend, is the same high school used for characters in the films, ''Love & Basketball'' and ''Boyz N the Hood''.

★ An episode of ''The Powerpuff Girls'' features Mojo Jojo going undercover at a slumber party as a "girl" named "Mojesha."

References

1. Secrets & Lies
2. Season 6
3. Paying the Piper

External links

★

★

★ Moesha on The-N.com

★ Moesha Message Board on The-N.com

★ 1990's Sitcoms - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

★ Jump The Shark - Moesha