Everybody Hates Chris
| Everybody Hates Chris | |
|---|---|
| File:EverybodyHatesChris.jpg Everybody Hates Chris Season 1 title card. | |
| Created by | Ali LeRoi Chris Rock |
| Starring | Tyler James Williams Tichina Arnold Terry Crews Tequan Richmond Imani Hakim Vincent Martella Chris Rock |
| Narrated by | Chris Rock |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 31 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single camera |
| Running time | 20 mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | UPN (2005-2006) The CW (2006-) |
| Release | September 22, 2005 – present |
Everybody Hates Chris is an American sitcom on The CW Television Network. It is inspired by the teenaged experiences of comedian Chris Rock (who narrates the show), while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of New York City. The title of the show is a spoof of the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Unlike other CW sitcoms, Everybody Hates Chris does not use a studio audience/laugh track.
On September 22, 2005, the premiere achieved higher ratings than NBC's season premiere of Joey, giving UPN its third highest rating in history. With seven million viewers, it was fourth highest-rated program at the 8 p.m. EST time slot. It is also the first TV show to be available for free preview on Google Video.
On January 24, 2006, it was confirmed that Everybody Hates Chris would be part of the CW's fall 2006-2007 TV lineup. UPN ceased operations in September 2006. The second season began October 1, 2006.
Cast
It is generally assumed that the last name of the family is "Rock", but this has not been established on the show.
- Tichina Arnold as Rochelle Rock, the sassy, scary, scolding, yet sweet and affectionate mother, who cares a lot about what others think.
- Terry Crews as Julius Rock, the level-headed, advising, and penurious father. Julius delivers newspapers for a living and has a 2nd job.
- Tyler James Williams as Chris Rock, the ambitious, innocent, but hapeless, scapegoat eldest child.
- Tequan Richmond as Drew Rock, the talented, cool, and handsome middle child, whose always got girls chasing after him.
- Imani Hakim as Tonya Rock, the antagonist of her older brothers. As the youngest and only girl she is able to get anything out of her father.
- Vincent Martella as Greg Wulliger, the best friend of Chris, whose always of assistance to him and gets picked on almost as much as Chris does.
- Chris Rock as the narrator (voice), an older Chris looking back at his youth, a la The Wonder Years.
Recurring Characters
- Lynda Scarlino, as Mrs. Milone, the school monitor, whose often unfairly disciplining Chris when he hasn't done anything wrong.
- Jacqueline Mazarella as Ms. Morello, Chris' sweet, supportive teacher. In her attempts to be polite, she always unintentionally comes off as racist.
- Antonio Fargas as Mr. Harris.
- Travis T. Flory as Joey Caruso, the racist school bully who routinely picks on Chris.
- Mike Estime as Risky, a black market dealer.
- Jackée Harry as Vanessa, Rochelle's vivacious, sprightly girl friend and one of the gossipy workers at the local beauty salon.
- Earthquake as Uncle Mike, Rochelle's freeloading, lazy brother who was kicked out of their mother, Maxine's house. Uncle Mike drives Julius crazy.
Guest Stars
- Wayne Brady, as Uncle Louise, Julius' successful, highly skilled, and charismatic younger brother, who Julius is very jealous of.
- Whoopi Goldberg as Louise Clarkson, the antagonistic neighbor, who insults Chris and infuriates Rochelle.
- Jimmy Walker as Gene, Rochelle's father, who dies of a heart attack at the dinner table on his first appearance on the show. However, he reappears to comfort Rochelle as a ghost later on in the same episode.
- Loretta Devine as Maxine, Rochelle's mother who picks on her a lot and caused a lot of chaos when she visited for her husband's funeral.
Recurring Themes
- Much like that of Family Guy, Everybody Hates Chris will often make a joke and then have an actual clip of that joke as an example. Because Everybody Hates Chris is not a cartoon, that's why this characteristic of the show still makes it different from other shows, including Family Guy.
Running gags
Although an episodic sitcom, in which characters' situations change from episode to episode, there are several character tendencies, thematic elements, and sayings that continue throughout the series. These include:
- Whenever Chris' uncle refers to Julius, he'll holler "BIG MAAAAN!!!"
- Whenever Vanessa comes over, she and Rochelle are usually excited in their wild fashion about something, often over tickets to concerts.
- Julius, being a very cheap man, will always know the exact monetary value of anything being wasted by the family.
- Rochelle is always making sure no one thinks of her or her family as poor. ("Girl, whatchoo talkin' 'bout food stamps? Who's sellin' food stamps? I ain't sellin' no food stamps!") Yet she judges everyone else because she is a "ghetto snob."
- Rochelle uses a range of vibrant and colourful threats usually involving slapping. ("I'll slap the caps off your knees!")
- Whenever Chris is in trouble, especially with Caruso, Greg runs away.
- Whenever a girl makes a pass at Chris, Greg always utters "You are so in there."
- Whenever Rochelle leaves a job her last words before actually going are always "I don't need this. My man has two jobs."
- Rochelle is in love with her chocolate turtles.
- Any girl Chris is interested in, will ultimately be attracted to Drew.
- Drew usually liberates himself from any accountability for misdemeanors in the house by saying "It wasn't me."
- Tonya never resists the opportunity to get Chris into trouble.
- Most episodes end with somebody yelling "CHRIS!" (most of the time it's Rochelle)
- Tichina Arnold, along with two other women, sings the show's title at the end of the 2nd and 3rd (and final) segment. The latter is sung with more feeling. Both versions were heard in every episode of season 1; the latter is usually the only one heard at the end of Season 2 episodes.
- Julius and other characters buy various items from Risky that are always faulty, and most likely stolen.
- Rochelle always reminds her kids that she "ain't raisin' no babies" whenever a male-female relationship is discussed.
- A neighborhood troublemaker essentially robs Chris and other kids on the block by saying "Lemme hold a dollar"
- Rationalities that involve circular logic, mostly written by Ali LeRoi, are often used by Chris and Rochelle. (For example, Tonya waking up Daddy will lead to Chris hitting Tanya, which will lead to Julius killing Chris, which would result in Daddy going to jail)
- When a character is let down, Greg and Drew often make the situation worse by saying "If I were you, I'd..." be either extremely depressed, crying or on the brink of suicide.
Awards and nominations
- Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy (nominated)
- Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series — Tyler James Williams (nominated)
- Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series — Tichina Arnold (Won)
- Outstanding Comedy Series (Won)
- Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series — Ken Whittingham (nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — Terry Crews (nominated)
- New Series, Television — Aron Abrams, Rodney Barnes, Chris Rock (nominated)
Episode list
Notes
- When about to go to commercial (During season 2) the people singing "Everybody Hates Chris," does not play. They will sing at the end of every episode.
- Occasionally bits of Rock's stand-up routines are referenced in the scripts. For example, in at least two episodes Robitussin is requested for purposes other than cough, referring to a bit on Rock's Bigger and Blacker album in which he hails it as an inexpensive panacea. Also, the first episode has a focus on 'the big piece of chicken' something that was also mentioned on Chris Rock's Bigger and Blacker
Goofs
- During the first season, which is set in 1982/83, songs from the Tears For Fears album Songs From The Big Chair are played in the background. Songs From The Big Chair was not released until 1985.
- Also during the first season, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship plays in the same setting, but the song was not released until 1987.
DVD releases
Season Releases
| DVD name | Release date | Ep # | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | October 10, 2006 | 22 | Commentaries by the cast and crew, Everybody hates the making of Everybody hates Chris, Everybody hates the set, Everybody hates video cameras, bloopers, deleted scenes, cast auditions. |
International Broadcasts
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Everybody Hates Chris.