On this day on comedy on August 25, 1996 The Steve Harvey Show premiered on the WB
Created by Winifred Hervey, produced by Brillstein-Grey and with music by Patrice Rushen, The Steve Harvey Show was a flagship program for the new WB network. It consistently led the station in ratings and established Harvey and co-star, Cedric the Entertainer as viable television personalities. Taking place in a high school setting, the sitcom dealt with many issues affecting the youth of the era.
Harvey played a former middling funk musician who once fronted a middling funk singing group that consisted of Ron Isley, Don DC Curry and Jonathan Slocomb. They were a 2 hit wonder and now Harvey’s a music teacher at his old high school, but is forced to also instruct the drama and art departments because of school budget cutbacks. This puts him in direct contact with a variety of offbeat kids with even more wacky antics and also gives Harvey the opportunity to lend his life expertise to help them on their own life journeys.
The Steve Harvey Show also featured the talents of Wendy Raquel Robinson, Terri J. Vaughn, Merlin Santana, William Lee Scott, Tracy Vilar, Netfa Perry, Lori Beth Denberg and Ariyan A. Johnson. Recurring characters included The Lady of Rage, Dorien Wilson, Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell.
The majority of the episodes were directed by the legendary Stan Lathan. It aired its series finale on February 17, 2002 having garnered multiple NAACP Image Award nominations culminating in 4 wins for Cedric the Entertainer for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, 4 wins for Steve Harvey for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, 3 wins for the show and 3 wins for Terri J. Vaughn for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
http://dai.ly/xmwgfc
