Jump to content

Tyler Perry's House of Payne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 216.125.11.207 (talk) at 20:34, 22 October 2009 (→Main characters). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne
Created byTyler Perry
StarringLaVan Davis
Allen Payne
Cassi Davis
Lance Gross
Larramie "Doc" Shaw
Demetria McKinney
Keshia Knight Pulliam (Seasons 3-present)
China Anne McClain(Seasons 1-4)
Denise Burse
(Seasons 1-5)
Country of originUSA
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes127 (List of Tyler Perry's House of Payne episodes)
Production
Running time25 to 30 minutes (including crimicials)
Original release
NetworkSyndication (2006)
TBS (2007-present)[1]
ReleaseJune 21, 2006 - present
Related
Meet the Browns My Brother's Keeper- 2010

Tyler Perry's House of Payne is a show created and produced by playwright, director, and producer Tyler Perry. The show revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta, Georgia led by comical patriarch Curtis "Pops" Payne and his sassy but religious wife Ella. The family is often involved in hilarious and dramatic situations. The show premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006, and has been broadcast exclusively on TBS since June 6, 2007.[2]

It has been recently announced that House of Payne has been picked up for another twenty episodes, giving the series a total of 172 episodes in a two-year timespan, which is practically unheard of for a sitcom. Micheal Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) said, “We have a terrific relationship with Tyler Perry, and this deal means new episodes of House of Payne will continue to air on TBS well into the future.”[3]

Production history

The sitcom ran in first-run syndication for 10 episodes during the summer of 2006 on the broadcast version of WTBS, along with 9 other broadcast outlets across the country, as a limited run, with additional episodes to be available for national distribution on TBS in June 2007. An order of 100 episodes was requested by TBS.

A cable record for sitcom airings was broken with 5.2 and 5.8 million for the two premiere episodes on TBS on June 6, 2007.[4] However, the audience has declined to a recent 4.3 million as of the week ending September 30, 2007.[5]

The principal cast remained the same (with the exception of Lance Gross being added), led by LaVan Davis. The original format of the series centered around C.J. (Allen Payne) and his family moving in with his Aunt Ella and Uncle Curtis, (Cassi Davis and LaVan Davis). Robinne Lee originally had a recurring guest stint as Malik and Jazmine's principal, Nicole Jamieson, whom C.J. soon began dating. In the test run, Ella and Curtis were originally C.J.'s parents, but in its current format, Calvin is their son and C.J. their nephew. Despite his top billing, Allen Payne is not considered to be the main actor of the series, especially due to his long absence in the fifth season.

The show is well-known for its frequent advertisements during NBA on TNT broadcasts. Since its initial association with the NBA on TNT during the 2008 NBA Playoffs, House of Payne has developed a symbiotic relationship with the NBA on TNT, and the two serve as ambassadors for each other's promotions.[citation needed]

At the beginning of the fifth season, China Anne McClain (Jasmine) and Denise Burse (Claretha) were removed from the series. The characters were written out, with Jasmine going away to a school for gifted children in North Carolina and Claretha marrying a prince and moving away. In real life, McClain left the series for undisclosed reasons.

Seasons

Season

# of
Episodes 		Original airdate
1 49 June 6, 2007
2 21 December 5, 2007
3 15 March 5, 2008
4 24 June 4, 2008
5 26 December 3, 2008
6 46 November 4, 2009

Characters

The show revolves around the misadventures of the multi-generational Payne family. They live in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.

Main characters

  • Curtis Payne (LaVan Davis) is the program's main protagonist. He is often referred to as Uncle Curtis by his nephew (C.J), his nephew's wife (Janine), and their children (Malik and Jazmine). Curtis is the self appointed "king" of the household, known for his selfishness, often lazy lifestyle, and reluctance to accept his nephew's family into his house (Curtis thinks the house is already crowded). He is overweight, and fainted from a blocked artery. Fortunately, he lived, but Ella is putting him on a diet, though he neglects it for his usually fatty food. Comedic plot points come from Curtis' unusual and often disrespectful attempts to rid his house of his nephew's kin. This also became a running gag of the show. Despite his immaturity in this matter, his maturity and responsibility are apparent in his job as the chief of the local fire department. LaVan Davis won an NAACP image award in 2008 for Outstanding Actor In A Comedy Series for this role.[6]
  • Ella Payne formerly Ella Thompson (Cassi Davis) Curtis's wife. She is a stay-at-home mother who is the voice of reason. Curtis has been known to take advantage of Ella's good nature, although he is usually punished for doing so. Ella is known as a good cook, and had a restaurant service in one episode. She is quick to support everyone in her family, such as when Janine returned home.
  • Clarence James (C.J.) Payne, Jr. (Allen Payne) was a responsible adult whose house burned down after his wife, Janine, used drugs and accidentally started a fire. This led to moving his family in with his uncle. C.J. is the father of Malik, Jazmine, and, Jayden, and Hayden Payne. C.J. originally was portrayed as Ella and Curtis' son, but his character was changed so that he is now a nephew. He has recently remarried his wife, Janine, who has given birth to their twin son and daughter, Hayden and Jayden. He recently found out in season four that he was adopted. C.J. works at the fire house with Curtis. At the end of Season 5; he, Janine, and the twins move to Chicago, but it is assumed they will come back at some point during Season 6.
  • Janine Payne formerly Janine Shelton (Demetria McKinney) was C.J.'s wife and the mother of Malik, Jazmine, Hayden and Jayden Payne, and a seemingly irresponsible adult and mother at the very beginning of the series. However, she is later revealed to be a drug addict and the arsonist who burned down her and C.J.'s home. She and C.J. divorce after she leaves her family. For a short time, she is rarely seen in the series except in episodes where she associates with Ella Payne, who helps Janine enter a rehab program and return to the family. Later in the series, she is often criticized by C.J., Curtis, and her own son for her irresponsible actions. She is apparently impregnated by her current boyfriend, until an episode reveals that her boyfriend is sterile. Since C.J. is the only other person she has had intercourse with, she comes to the conclusion that C.J. is the father of the unborn child. C.J. and Janine remarry at Calvin and Miranda's wedding. Her water also unexpectedly broke, and she gave birth to twins named Hayden and Jayden Payne, a boy and a girl. Her parents are Larry and Liz Shelton.
  • Calvin Payne (Lance Gross) is Ella and Curtis's college-age son who rarely attends college classes (the same ones Curtis often complains about paying for). Calvin likes to think of himself as a player until his marriage to Miranda. Much like his cousin C.J., Calvin spends a great deal of time working with his father at the firehouse until he becomes a partner at the barber shop. In Season 5, he gets a job working for the same company as Mercedes. Mercedes accidentally kisses him twice. Once when Mercedes kisses him while the two were chaperoning a date between Malik and Alexandra. The other is after a fight with Miranda. He finds out that his former girlfriend Tracy and him have a child together (but this will not be certain until a DNA test is done). He and Miranda are expecting a child when she decides for now to become separated. It is unknown what will happen with their marriage. He is the only main character originally not included in the show.
  • Miranda Payne (formerly Miranda Lucas) (Keshia Knight Pulliam) is Calvin's girlfriend-turned-wife. She was first introduced in the 1st season as a sexy con artist who stole all of Calvin and Curtis' money for an art gallery. The character returned eventually, but what she did to Calvin and Curtis is only mentioned every so often but is very brief. In the conclusion to Season 4, she married Calvin. Miranda has a nephew that was very troubled that didn't listen to anything Calvin told him (He even ordered Calvin around) when he was keeping him. She and Calvin began to have problems in season 5.
  • Malik Payne (Larramie "Doc" Shaw) is C.J. and Janine's son. He is a teenage boy whose interest in young women in his class is so extreme that he'll resort to desperate measures, such as trying out for the cheerleading squad, just to associate with them. He is often bullied in school as a result of his mother's past problems with drugs. As a result, he is reluctant to welcome her back to the household. When his family moves to Chicago he lives with Ella and Curtis because if he leaves school he will have to repeat the same grade.
  • Jazmine Payne (China Anne McClain) was C.J. and Janine's daughter. She was the youngest in the household before Janine gave birth to twins, Hayden and Jayden. She constantly feels invisible and acts out to get her father's attention while her mother is in rehab, Jazmine even at one point had a love crush on Malik's best friend Kevin but got over him. Despite her apparent innocence and youth, throughout the series she was known to be cruel toward her brother and his friend Kevin and devises schemes just to make them miserable. She was written out of the series when she goes off to school in North Carolina at the beginning of Season 5. She is however, rumored to be returning for Season 6.
  • Claretha Jenkins (Denise Burse) the Payne's former next door neighbor and Ella's best friend. She left at the Beginning of Season 5 after marrying a Prince. She is rumored to be returning for Season 6.

The Barbershop; Seasons 2-present

  • Floyd Jackson (Palmer Williams, Jr) is the self absorbed, proud owner of the Barber Shop. He shows little affection towards individual people, but in times of great need will come out and show affection. His first wife disappeared on him, causing him to think she's dead so he remarries. Then the first wife came back looking for a divorce. Unfortunately when he did sign the divorce papers, it turned out she'd written a book, and since he's divorced from her he gets nothing.
  • Kiki (Bobbi Baker) is a barber at the Barber Shop. She isn't afraid to ask questions that others are thinking and is very abrupt with matters. In Season 5, she helped hire her brother, He turned out to be a drug dealer and was dealing drugs in the Barber Shop. She finds out in a later episode that he was shot.
  • Dana Carter (Denyce Lawton) does nails at the Barber Shop. She has her own stand next to the door in which she works. She is usually seen working with clients, usually making them mad with them storming off and her not knowing what she said to make them mad. In one episode her parents came by for a visit, thinking she was a doctor just on vacation. She is half-African American/Korean.
  • Zack (Gary Owen) is a new barber a the shop that replaces Delante. It was revealed that he had a date with Kiki prior to working at the barber shop. He is now interested in Floyd's daughter Olivia.

Recurring

  • Larry and Liz Shelton are Janine's parents and have so far appeared in 4 episodes of the series. Curtis hates their visits. They are upper-class and at times appear snobbish towards the Payne family. Upon their first appearance, Claretha identifies Janine's father as a "dancer" known as Dimples, though no one believes her. Liz comes off as judgmental. Her relationship with her daughter is usually tested. In a Season 3 episode she stays with the Paynes after being kicked out her house, in which she starts annoying everyone, mostly Curtis and Janine. In another episode after Janine gives birth to the twins, she constantly criticizes Janine's parenting skills, even going as far to try and change their names. When Janine finally confronts her, Liz reveals that her mother was the same way with her.
  • The Hernandez Family the Hispanic new neighbors of the Paynes that may have their own family problems, mostly with the oldest son, Diego. Malik becomes interested in the youngest daughter Alex, and Calvin accidentally kisses the oldest, Mercedes, and kept it as a secret from Miranda until Diego revealed the truth.

Past characters

The Firehouse; Seasons 1-4

  • Keenan Jared (Cedric Pendleton) was a co-worker of Curtis, C.J., Bart, and Angel at the engine 5 company firehouse. Keenan was married to Kim, who is shown to be mean to Keenan and everyone at the firehouse. She always had a tendency to make fun of Keenan because she wore the pants in the relationship. Kim eventually cheated on Keenan and he said she hadn't came back home since. The character has not been seen or mentioned since Season 4.
  • Bart Holmes (Bart Hansard) was a 30-35 year old co-worker of Curtis, C.J., Calvin, Keenan and Angel at the Atlanta Fire Department engine company 5 firehouse. Bart is a dimwitted fool who still lived with his mother. His mother had never been seen on-screen, but she was known to bring food to the firehouse. It could have been assumed that Bart had never really had a girlfriend in his life. The character has not been seen or mentioned since Season 4.
  • Angel (Joyce Giraud) was the co-worker of Curtis, C.J., Calvin, Keenan, and Bart at the engine 5 company firehouse. Angel is the only female of the firehouse and at times get upset with the guys for being inconsiderate of that fact. At one point she got so upset that she thinks about switching to another engine company. Angel and Calvin had a tendency to argue all the time according to Calvin it was because she loved him. When Angel was upset she usually began to speak Spanish. Angel was also known as the best firefighter as evidenced by her several awards and medals. When the guys first meet her they assumed she was going to be a man and threw water on her as a joke. The character has not been seen or mentioned since Season 4.

The Barbershop; Seasons 2-present

  • Delante (Jason Dirden) used to cut hair at the barbershop. He was also one of Calvin's friends. In later episodes, Delante lived in the barbershop until Floyd found him and invited him to live with him. He had a brief relationship with Dana, but the relationship is no longer mentioned after one episode. He got married to some girl he met at the skating rink and moves away to Arizona at the beginning of season 5. He has not been seen since.

Setting

Locations in Atlanta, Georgia include the Payne's home, a firehouse located across the street from Curtis' house, a barbershop, and the school Malik and Jazmine attend. The Payne home is a one-story building, and 5 rooms are featured throughout the series: Curtis and Ella's bedroom, Malik and Jazmine's shared bedroom, the spare bedroom (which was Calvin's until he moved out), the kitchen, and the living room, and the outside patio. C.J. and Janine's rooms are never seen. The only part of the firehouse seen on camera was its day room. The firehouse and its characters have not appeared on any recent episodes. The barbershop is a setting often used in more recent episodes, and it is similar to that of the Barbershop movies.

Cast

Current cast members

Former cast members

Other cast

Special appearances

Actors who worked with Perry

Many of the actors in the main cast have been affiliated with or worked with Tyler Perry in the past. LaVan Davis and Cassi Davis appeared in the stage play Madea Goes to Jail together; Cassi also appeared in the play Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Demetria McKinney appeared in the plays Meet the Browns and Why Did I Get Married? (the latter also featured LaVan Davis) and had a non-speaking role on Daddy's Little Girls. Cassi Davis was featured in the films Madea's Family Reunion and Daddy's Little Girls. China Anne McClain began working as an extra on the film version of Madea's Family Reunion before being cast in Daddy's Little Girls alongside her real-life sisters. Actress Keke Palmer played a role in the show's first episode. Keke Palmer appeared in Tyler Perry's movie Madea's Family Reunion. Keshia Knight Pulliam appeared in the film Madea Goes to Jail. Lance Gross starred in the film version of Meet the Browns.

Syndicated reruns

NOTE: House of Payne was actually the only situation comedy to be sold into broadcast syndication for the 2008-2009 television season.

Episodes

Main article: List of Tyler Perry's House of Payne episodes

Madea connections

Tyler Perry's claim to fame is with the popularity of character Mabel "Madea" Simmons, who has appeared in numerous Tyler Perry plays and their film adaptations. When the series debuted on TBS in June 2007, Perry made a guest appearance as Madea. Actor David Mann reprised his Mr. Brown role, and Keke Palmer returned as Nikki, a bully who stole $20 worth of Malik's lunch money over a period of time, money which Madea, Nikki's foster mother, used at a casino. Perry returned as Madea for a Christmas episode of the show on December 5, 2007. Perry again returned as Madea to act as Curtis's wife on March 5, 2008. She has appeared in one episode every season, save seasons 4 and 5.

In the series, Janine's drug problem and going to rehab are possible references to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The events of the episodes "Sad, Sad, Leroy Brown" parts 1 and 2 came directly before the movie Meet the Browns, when Brown learns his father has died. The events of the episode "Weeping May Endure for a Night" happened somewhere in the middle, directly after the funeral and the reading of the will, where Brown found out that his father left him a broken-down house which Brown turned into a retirement home. Even though in the episode "Weeping May Endure for a Night" the Paynes claim to have attended the funeral of Brown's father, in Meet the Browns they are nowhere to be seen. This may be because Lance Gross, who plays Calvin Payne in the series, plays a character named Michael in the film and LaVan Davis, who plays Curtis Payne, plays a bus driver. Curtis claimed Brown made them wait in the cemetery for two hours while he gave his father a tour of Atlanta (his last request), but in the movie, Brown stayed the entire time.

Meet the Browns crossovers

There have been crossovers on House of Payne from Meet the Browns:

  • In the episode "I Can Cry If I Want To", Brown attended Curtis's 50th birthday party and stresses the Paynes out while he is there.
  • In the episode "Sad, Sad, Leroy Brown (Part 1)", when Brown's house burnt down and he gets kicked out of Cora's best friend's house. He stays at the Paynes' residence, much to Curtis's dismay and soon becomes a pestering houseguest.
    • In the episode "Sad, Sad, Leroy Brown (Part 2)", when the Paynes tries to kick Brown out of the house, Brown claimed that Curtis broke his back, but Curtis knows the truth that Brown's back was not in pain, and he only faked it to get the Paynes to let him stay with them. However, Ella believes Brown and insisted on him staying with them until his back gets better.
  • In the episode "Weeping May Endure for a Night", Brown, Cora, and Will come by the Paynes' residence after Pop Brown's funeral. Brown is upset because Pop Brown left him a run-down house which makes Brown think his daddy hates him until he realizes that Pop Brown wanted him to open up a retirement home.

DVD releases

DVD Title Ep # Release Date
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 1 1-20 December 4, 2007
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 2 21-40 July 1, 2008
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 3 41-60 January 13, 2009
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 4 61-80 June 16, 2009
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 5 81-100 TBA
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 6 101-126 TBA
Tyler Perry's House of Payne Volume 7 127-146 TBA

All seasons are expected to be released on Blu-ray Disc in the near future.

References

  1. ^ 'Tyler Perry's House of Payne' signs for distribution with TBS, Fox Station Group
  2. ^ 'Tyler Perry's House of Payne' signs for distribution with TBS, Fox Station Group
  3. ^ http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4553
  4. ^ SitcomsOnline.com News Blog: House of Payne Scores Big for TBS; CBS News; More TubeTime and Fresh Prince News
  5. ^ Nielsens ratings for Jan. 28 Feb. 3 - USATODAY.com
  6. ^ http://www.naacpimageawards.net/PDFs/39thWinners.pdf
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tyler_Perry%27s_House_of_Payne&oldid=321448366"