Martin (TV series)

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Martin
The Martin cast. From left to right: Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford), Gina Waters (Tisha Campbell), Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence), Pamela James (Tichina Arnold), and Cole Brown (Carl Anthony Payne II).
Format	Sitcom, Comedy-drama
Created by	John Bowman Martin Lawrence Topper Carew
Starring	Martin Lawrence Tisha Campbell (1992-1996) Carl Anthony Payne II Tichina Arnold Thomas Mikal Ford Jon Gries (1992-1994) Garrett Morris (1992-1994) Reginald Ballard (1994-1997) Tracy Morgan (1995-1997) Garcelle Evans (1997)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	132 (List of Martin episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Original run	August 27, 1992 – May 1, 1997
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Martin is an American television sitcom, Comedy-drama produced by HBO Independent Productions (a subsidiary of HBO, in turn a division of Time Warner) that aired for five seasons from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on FOX. The show starred comedian Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell. Reruns of the sitcom air in syndication in many markets, and also air daily nationwide on the TV One cable network.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Recurring characters 1.2 Cancellation 2 Episodes 3 Special guest appearances 4 DVD releases 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Overview

This well-received sitcom revolved around a macho, stubborn, derisive twenty-something radio deejay/talk show host named Martin Payne (played by Martin Lawrence), who worked at WZUP (Wutz Up), an urban talk radio station in Detroit, Michigan for the first half of the series and the local cable-access TV station, Channel 51, for the second half until the series' end, when he was offered his own nationally syndicated talk show in Los Angeles, requiring him to move there. His girlfriend (and later, his wife) was Gina Waters Payne (played by Campbell), an ad executive who could, on occasion, be as egotistical and badly behaved as Martin, but otherwise maintained a level head. Speaking of heads, a common running gag was to poke fun at Gina over the size of that part of her anatomy. In the series finale^[1], she was promoted to Senior Vice President of the ad office in Los Angeles after the Detroit office ceased operations, necessitating her move there with Martin.

Martin's closest friends were Tommy Strawn and Cole Brown. Tommy (played by Thomas Mikal Ford) was a friendly, exuberant guy who seemed to get the most irritated with Cole's stupidity out of everyone else in the gang, often commenting, "Cole... you stupid." Because no one ever knew what Tommy did for a living and because Tommy himself would never say what he did for a living, dancing around the question, a common running gag occurred whenever Tommy mentioned his job in a given situation, to which everyone would exclaim in unison, "You ain't GOT no job, MAN!" Cole Brown (played by Carl Anthony Payne II, who had previously played Theo Huxtable's best friend Cockroach on The Cosby Show) was a loyal yet idiotic airport attendant who initially had a crush on Gina's badmouthed, wisecracking best friend and co-worker Pamela James (Tichina Arnold, who had earlier co-starred with Campbell in the cinematic adaptation of the off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors). Pam completed the circle of friends. She and Martin had a true love/hate relationship (mostly the latter!), as they constantly traded insulting wisecracks between each other, but were there for each other when push came to shove. Ironically, Arnold is one of Lawrence's closest friends in real life.

Later in the series' run, Tommy and Pam dated each other exclusively for a while, then returned to just being friends. Cole's romantic interest for a couple of seasons was Big Shirley, a mountain of a woman who was seldom seen; when she was, it was only a shot of a portion of her huge frame, the joke - presumably - being that she was just too large to fit into the shot. Oddly enough, in the episode "Baby, It's Cole'd in Here"^[2], she is shown as just a large woman. Subsequent episodes depicted her as more of a monster, deep-voiced and ravenous, always just a portion of her huge frame in the shot. In the final season, Cole found a kindred spirit in Shanice (played by Maura McDade), a dimwitted but well-meaning girl. They became engaged in the final episode.

[edit] Recurring characters

One of the trademarks of MartinLawrence was playing multiple characters in the series, utilizing various costumes and prosthetic applications. The most notable of Lawrence's other roles on the show was that of Sheneneh Jenkins ^[3], a stereotypical, flashy "Detroit ghetto girl" and owner/operator of Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon, whom Lawrence played in drag. Mama Payne and Sheneneh were the only two characters Lawrence played in drag on the show and both characters hated Gina. Though she was awkwardly tall and large, Sheneneh often characterized herself as a "la-a-a-dy." She's portrayed as being feisty and very mouthy. She lived in an apartment across the hallway from Martin's, and factored into many of the sitcom's stories by picking fights out in the hallway, especially with Gina and Pam. Sheneneh had several girlfriends who appeared occasionally. They included Bonquisha (played by Kim Coles), Keylolo (played by rapper Yo-Yo), and her loudmouth girlfriend Laquita, (played by actress Simbi Khali). At the salon, she was assisted by a fellow stylist, Rhodesia (played by Kelly Jo Minter).

• Edna (Mama) Payne: Martin's shrill, extremely frenetic, and easily excited mother, who was overprotective of Martin and disliked Gina immensely. Ironically, Lawrence's mustache was never covered with stage make-up while in this role, which Gina usually pointed out when Martin and her talked about his mother.

• Otis: An abrasive, stern potbellied old man, who was always seen while on his job as a security guard. Otis is abrasive towards every stranger he comes across, whether they seem like trouble or not. Because of his immense stomach, old age, and geeky appearance, Otis seems like a weak old man who just tries to make everyone think he's capable of taking them out. Because of this, he's often challenged in some way, usually to physical fights, which he is more than willing to get involved in. Surprisingly enough, through his loony wrestling style, he's always successful and easily beats up his competition.

• Jerome: A loudmouthed, flashy Detroit pimp. He ran an illicit casino, wore a family-heirloom gold tooth, often partied, and regularly hit on Pam.

• Roscoe: A 10-year-old kid with a consistently runny nose and a smart mouth. Lawrence played the role by standing still on his knees, and attaching shoes to his kneecaps.

• Dragonfly Jones: A martial arts "expert", who was beaten up in nearly every appearance. He always seemed to owe money to a real martial artist who was actually a student of his named Kenji, who would then beat Dragonfly up when he refused to pay him.

• Bob: A white man who worked in the marketing department of Gina's company who is best described as a stereotypical surfer-dude-cum-redneck. He spoke in a Southern Californian accent mixed with a Southern twang and often used words like "dude" and "man" even in professional settings. Lawrence achieved his appearance as this character with stage make-up and a prosthetic nose attachment to make him appear white, as well as wearing a long, blonde mullet wig to complete the look.

• Elroy Preston: The fictional "Godfather of Black Surf Music" who is now basically forgotten and washed up. Preston worked as an auto mechanic, and was best known for randomly breaking into song while performing his mechanical duties. This character often distracted himself and irritated others when reminiscing on things that involved his trademark song, which consisted of Preston singing "Don't you know no good!" over and over.

• King Beef: He was some actor in a huge bodysuit. Whenever trouble arouse, he always felt the need to dance. It didn't matter if he was on the run from Godzilla. He always found time for dancing.

These characters were generally very popular with audiences, although Sheneneh was the most famous. Lawrence would later dress as alter-egos in his feature films, notably Big Momma's House and its sequel, Big Momma's House 2. However, Lawrence's role in the movies is a man disguised as an elderly woman, in contrast to the Mama Payne role, which is intended to be an actual elderly woman. The Martin Payne character very rarely shared screen time with Lawrence's costumed alter-egos. Periodically, however, split-screen filming techniques allowed Martin and Sheneneh or Martin and Otis to appear onscreen together.

There were other recurring characters, such as Brother Man (pronounced "Bruh Man", played by comedian Reginald Ballard) who was the stereotypical Black Southerner. Bruh Man lived on the fifth floor, directly above Martin, and often climbed down the "f-a-a-a-ah 'scape" to break into Martin's apartment, taking food, borrowing assorted items and generally lounging around as if he lived there. One memorable quote was in an episode where Martin had recurring dreams about Pam. Martin wakes up around 3 0'Clock and walks into his living room to find Bruh Man making a sandwich. After some words Bruh man says "What you doin up. I usually have the place to myself 'round this ho-o-our." Bruh Man often wore clothes a size too small which fit badly and had a characteristic gait consisting of a lazy-looking slow plodding walk with his head cocked to one side. In one episode, Martin referred to Bruh Man's gait as "the slow bob", due his head bobbing motion as he walked slowly.

Another notable character was Ms. Geri (played by Jeri Gray), a tough trigger-happy senior who, regardless of her age and diminutive size, had no qualms about "whoopin' ass." Most of her physical confrontations were with Martin in mundane, everyday situations, such as standing in line at the DMV or at the unemployment office.

Hustle Man (played by comedian Tracy Morgan), always came around to sell whatever crazy items he had from the 'hood, always greeting with his trademark "What's happenin', chief?" One time one of Hustle Man's crazy items was an array of several roasted pigeons impaled by a branch (as if barbecued on it) which he attempted to sell to Martin and his friends while they were snowed in.

There was also Nipsey (played by Sean Lampkin), the rotund, good-natured bartender who owned Nipsey's Club, the group's favorite hangout.

In Seasons 1 and 2, Martin had a co-worker at the radio station named Shawn, played by Jonathan Gries. Martin always found himself having rather strange conversations with Shawn. Shawn usually did things that upset Stan and once even tried to get a record deal from Snoop Dogg. Shawn was later fired, along with Martin, when Stan sold the radio station. Stan, played by Garrett Morris, was Martin's and Shawn's boss and the owner of WZUP radio station. He always had on bad cologne and woefully outdated clothing from the 1970s. Martin knew Stan to be cheap and somewhat untrustworthy, and just when Martin didn't think Stan could sink any lower with his schemes, Stan always surprised him. Furthermore, Stan got into trouble with the IRS due to unpaid taxes, so he sold the station and fled. What actually happened was that Morris was involved in a nearly fatal car accident^{[citation needed]}, and had to take time off to recuperate. He did come back for one episode in Season 3 to form a partnership with Martin, and together they opened a restaurant -- Marty Mart's Meatloaf and Waffles. Needless to say, their joint venture was not successful, whereupon Stan left and was never mentioned again on the series.

[edit] Cancellation

FOX cancelled Martin toward the end of the fifth season, some time after Lawrence began abusing drugs, the effects of which -- quite noticeably -- affected his performance on the show. As a result of his drug use, Lawrence eventually suffered some psychological effects, the fallout of which proved to be the death knell of the series.

Campbell sued Lawrence for sexual harassment, alleging that Lawrence acted inappropriately while he and Campbell taped scenes of Martin and Gina sharing a bed. The episode in which the alleged harassment took place was "Back in Trouble Again"^[4] (Season 5, Episode 2). It was the last bed scene between Campbell and Lawrence. During the end of the episode, there was a gag reel of outtakes of the two under the covers and they both seem to be joking around. This supports some of the doubts of the allegations. Campbell's appearances in the show dwindled, often sharing screen-time only with co-star Tichina Arnold, or in a split-screen with Martin, or yelling at each other through the window... or not interacting at all. She refused to physically appear in any scenes with Lawrence.

Other allegations were that Lawrence threatened the cast with a firearm. Campbell also alleged that Lawrence would engage in excessively angry outbursts during tapings. Campbell claimed that she feared for her life and that she began to install locks on her dressing room. She also claimed she had spoken with the show's producers about installing an 'eject' button in her dressing room. It should be noted that none of the other cast members made claims about a hostile work environment.^{[citation needed]}

Campbell's diminished presence contributed to Martin's "jumping the shark"^[5] in the eyes of many viewers, and ratings dropped. Despite Lawrence's problems, FOX showed interest in bringing the show back for a sixth season but Lawrence never showed for a meeting to discuss that possibility (reported in the Hollywood blurb in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution in 1997). As result, Living Single was brought back as a mid-season replacement. Meanwhile, FOX waited for things to stabilize between Lawrence and Campbell. Lawrence had even suggested who might take over the role of Gina. However, the decision was soon made to end the series, and FOX agreed.^{[citation needed]} To this day, Lawrence and Campbell are still said to be personally feuding, although it is said that Campbell has stated in a radio interview that she is still very grateful to Lawrence for giving her an opportunity to be a part of his show.^{[citation needed]}

Following the conclusion of the series, the stars went on to have successful careers:

• Martin Lawrence has starred in several highly grossing comedy movies.
• Tisha Campbell-Martin recently starred on the sitcom My Wife and Kids with Damon Wayans.
• Carl Anthony Payne II and Thomas Mikal Ford continue acting in film, television, and theatre.
• Tichina Arnold continued in film and television and is currently a main cast member of Chris Rock's semi-autobiographical CW sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, as the matriarch, Rochelle and co-starred with Martin Lawrence in the film "Wild Hogs" playing his wife.

During Lawrence's appearance on Inside the Actor's Studio, Lawrence decided to do improvise dialogue based on most of his multiple characters from the show in his normal self. Some characters were not acted out because they were similar to the key recurring characters.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Martin episodes

[edit] Special guest appearances

LisaRaye Ernest Thomas Snoop Dogg Marla Gibbs Thomas Hearns Nicci Gilbert (of R&B group Brownstone) Coolio Antonio Fargas Salt-N-Pepa Johnnie Cochran Tommy Davidson David Alan Grier Charles Barkley John Witherspoon Method Man Tommy Davidson Joseph C. Phillips Yo-Yo

Rudy Ray Moore Notorious B.I.G. Pam Grier Kim Fields Mark Curry Lisa Leslie Gary Coleman Teresa Edwards Dawn Staley Rebecca Lobo Chris Rock MC Hammer Kelly Jo Minter Kim Coles Richard Moll Vivica A. Fox Lynn Whitfield Ja'net Dubois

Richard Pryor Little Richard Keith Washington Tony Cox Brian McKnight Bebe Winans Cece Winans Jodeci Millie Jackson Fred "Rerun" Berry Shirley Hemphill Randall Cunningham Tyrese Gibson Anthony Johnson Keith Sweat Wendy Williams Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Whitman Mayo

Sheryl Swoopes Kid (Kid & Play) Billy Dee Williams Clifton Powell Jackie Chan Outkast Lou Rawls Bushwick Bill Will Smith Shaquille O'Neal Phil Morris Kristoff St. John Charlie Murphy John Amos Reggie McFadden Johnny Brown Lark Voorhies Kelly Coffield Halle Berry Miguel A. Núñez Jr. Paul Anthony of Full Force Garcelle Evans

[edit] DVD releases

HBO Home Video has released the first four seasons of Martin on DVD in Region 1.

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Additional Information
The Complete First Season	January 2, 2007	27	Bonus features include bloopers and Martin Lawrence commentary on his favorite scenes. [6]
The Complete Second Season	May 15, 2007	27	Bonus features include a gag reel. [7]
The Complete Third Season	November 6, 2007	27	N/A [8]
The Complete Fourth Season	April 1, 2008	27	N/A
The Complete Fifth Season	2008 (estimated date)	24	N/A

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Martin at TV.com