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The Bernie Mac Show

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The Bernie Mac Show
Season 1 DVD cover
Created byLarry Wilmore
StarringBernie Mac
Kellita Smith
Jeremy Suarez
Dee Dee Davis
Camille Winbush
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes104 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production companiesWilmore Films
Regency Television
20th Century Fox Television
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseNovember 14, 2001 (2001-11-14) –
April 14, 2006 (2006-04-14)

The Bernie Mac Show (often shortened to Bernie Mac in syndication) is an American sitcom that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001 to April 14, 2006. The series featured comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister's three kids: Jordan, Vanessa, and Bryana.

Premise

The series was loosely based on Mac's stand-up comedy acts. In real life, Bernie "Mac" McCullough was married with one daughter; Mac's character on the show (a stand-up comedian) was married with no children of his own. The pilot episode, aired on November 14, 2001, set up the basic premise for the series: the character Bernie Mac takes in his sister's children after she enters rehab (a premise taken from one of Mac's routines in the 2000 film, The Original Kings of Comedy).

Much of the humor in the show was derived from Mac's continual adjustment to and his unique take on parenthood. A frequent motif of the show was the juxtaposition of Mac's acerbic comments, such as his threats to "bust the (children's) heads 'til the white meat shows," and the deep parental affection he felt towards the trio, which often brought him to the verge of tears during happy moments. Towards the end of the series, Bryana's long-lost father (Anthony Anderson) returns and drops by from time to time to help Bernie and Wanda with the kids.

Many of his most emotional scenes occurred in segments in which Mac, while still in character, broke the 'fourth wall' and talked to the television audience. This technique was most notably used before an episode during the 2005-2006 season, when Bernie, as himself and wearing a Chicago White Sox cap and jacket, delivered a heartfelt congratulatory message to the baseball organization and its staff on their recent World Series Championship. Bernie, who grew up on Chicago's south-side, was a die-hard fan of the White Sox and was seen at Game 1 of the World Series, in a front row seat. As was also the case during his stand-up routine, Mac habitually addressed the audience as "America" for humorous effect. The lighting of the shots typically appears to be yellowish in color.

Mac's character's celebrity worked as a plot device allowing other celebrities to appear on the show as themselves. including Neve Campbell, Don Cheadle, Halle Berry, Serena Williams, Courteney Cox Arquette, Chris Rock, Ashton Kutcher, Dom DeLuise, Natasha Lyonne, Billy Crystal, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, Parker Posey, Angela Bassett, Ellen DeGeneres, Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Flavor Flav, Lucy Lawless, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Matt Damon, Wesley Snipes, Charles Barkley, Jon Garland, Jules Sylvester, Sugar Ray Leonard, India Arie, Snoop Dogg, Shaquille O'Neal, Sugar Shane Mosley, Hugh Hefner, and Phil McGraw have all appeared as themselves over the course of the show.

Broadcast history by season

The series debuted in its time slot on November 14, 2001 with solid ratings in spite of a weak lead-in, Grounded for Life. The show had a very successful first season and in the process won a handful of honors including an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series" and the prestigious Peabody Award. Bernie Mac also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.

In fall 2002, the series aired against the Damon Wayans comedy My Wife and Kids which may have hurt the show's momentum in the ratings during the first half of its second season run. Larry Wilmore, the show's creator and executive producer, was fired at this time. In interviews, Wilmore said he was fed up with the network's creative interference with the show, in addition to Fox constantly shuffling it around the schedule. Fox contended that it wasn't happy with the show's direction under Wilmore in the second season, claiming the show "wasn't delivering enough laughs". With The Bernie Mac Show 's inability to topple My Wife and Kids in the Wednesday 8 p.m. timeslot, Fox eventually aired the show after American Idol, after which it received its highest ratings ever.

The third season was scheduled to start on October 29, 2003, but was postponed due to The O.C. being moved. Instead, the series started the season at the late date of November 30, 2003. The ratings were mediocre, despite the large ratings of its lead-in The Simpsons. In March 2004, the show was moved to Monday nights in a plan to boost ratings for the new show Cracking Up, but the ratings were low for both shows. Cracking Up was canceled and The Bernie Mac Show was pulled from May Sweeps with leftover episodes that aired in June (one of which included an episode about Thanksgiving).

The Bernie Mac Show returned to its original time slot on September 8, 2004 to start the fourth season. The production was shut down a month later due to Bernie's sickness. The show returned on January 14, 2005 with new episodes on Friday nights. Although the ratings were low enough that commentators questioned the show's future (especially when it was postponed from May Sweeps again), the show was renewed for a fifth season.

The fifth season started September 23, 2005 on Friday nights and beginning mid-season, airings were followed by reruns of the show.

The Bernie Mac Show celebrated its 100th episode on February 3, 2006[1] even though the actual 100th episode was not aired until March 31.

American ratings

Season Timeslot (EDT) Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Wednesday 9/8c (November 14, 2001 – May 15, 2002) November 14, 2001 May 15, 2002 2001–2002 #63 9.5
2 Wednesday 8/7c (September 18, 2002 – December 11, 2002)
Wednesday 9/8c (January 15, 2003 – May 14, 2003) 		September 18, 2002 May 14, 2003 2002–2003 #60 10.04
3 Sunday 8:30/7:30c (November 30, 2003 – February 22, 2004)
Monday 8/7c (March 7, 2004 – June 29, 2004) 		November 30, 2003 June 29, 2004 2003–2004 #95 7.5
4 Wednesday 9/8c (September 8, 2004 - September 29, 2004)
Friday 8/7c (January 14, 2005 - April 8, 2005) 		September 8, 2004 April 8, 2005 2004–2005 #110 4.8
5 Friday 8/7c (September 23, 2005 - April 14, 2006) September 23, 2005 April 14, 2006 2005–2006 #130 3.6

Regular cast

  • Bernie McCullough (Bernie Mac) — The show's main protagonist who is loosely based upon the late comedian of the same name. Bernie and his wife took in the three kids when their drug-addled mother, his sister Stacy, was no longer able to be a proper parent. Bernie uses tough-love parenting tactics and he can be both strict and comical. He narrates the series, and between scenes he talks to the audience by addressing them as "America." Although he loves all three kids, his favorite is Bryana (whom he affectionately calls "Baby Girl" because she is the youngest), and always finds himself going head to head with teenage Vanessa, the eldest sibling, whose poor attitude always gives him a hard time; though it is revealed in the episode Jac and Jacequline that the only reason he's so hard on her is because she reminds him of her mother and he's determined to keep her from suffering a similar fate to her mother.
  • Wanda "Baby" McCullough (Kellita Smith) — Bernie's loving wife, a very intelligent woman who is VP for AT&T. She loves raising the kids with Bernie, but periodically her patience is tested. Whenever Bernie has a problem, she does her best to help, though her assistance can be stubbornly overbearing and unnecessary at times. Also, it has been stated that most of Bernie's family thinks she's snooty and is not above using seduction to make Bernie to fix a mistake. She plays a minor but important role in the series finale, in which she advises Vanessa to respect her Uncle Bernie by writing an essay on how he has inspired her.
  • Bryana "Baby Girl" Thomkins (Dee Dee Davis) — Bernie and Wanda's younger niece, the youngest child and the half-sister of Jordan and Vanessa. Bryana is a friendly little girl who is sweet, innocent, and quite naive, though she is often more bratty and obnoxious as the series progresses. Bryana is her uncle's favorite (although he loves all three). Bryana is playful and always trusts her Uncle Bernie. Bryana is known for always attacking and successfully beating up her older brother Jordan.
  • Jordan Thomkins (Jeremy Suarez) — Bernie and Wanda's nephew, the middle child. Jordan is very mischievous and peculiar. He is interested in collecting bugs and conducting odd science experiments. He is always getting beat up by his little sister, Bryana; though on very minor occasions, he has been able to scare her in retaliation and make her cry. Early on in the series during the first seasons, Jordan would always cry, occasionally vomit and sometimes urinate on himself. As the series progressed, he gets tougher and more masculine, most notable shown in an episode in which he joins a wrestling team. He took an interest in magic and even began trying to date girls. Although he knows that there is nothing wrong with Jordan, Bernie tries to his best to make him more masculine.
  • Vanessa "Nessa" Thomkins (Camille Winbush) — Bernie and Wanda's elder niece, the eldest of the three children, also known as the main antagonist. Vanessa always purposely gives Bernie trouble with her attitude, most of which comes from the pressure of being the eldest and having to take the parent role with her younger siblings. As the series progresses, she gets along better with Bernie and grows up into a young woman preparing for college. In the final season, she spends most of her time trying to find the perfect college and rejecting Bernie's help with that.

Recurring cast

Unseen characters

Stacey Thomkins - One of two of Bernie's sisters and Vanessa, Jordan, and Bryana's mother. Before the events of the show, she became addicted to drugs; Bernie had to place her in an institution to recover and took in her children until the time came she could care for them herself. Though institutionalized, Stacey's addiction was such that she was not known to make any serious attempts to recover and her children remain with Bernie for the run of the series. Due to the series premature cancellation, it is unknown if she ever overcame her addictions. Her picture is seen once in "Road to Traditions", although it was in black-and-white and wasn't shown well.

Mr. Thomkins - Vanessa and Jordan's biological father, who left them when she was five years of age and he was a baby. According to Bernie and Vanessa, he's in prison for various law violations that also include shooting multiple shots into a man with a gun or a pistol . His picture is shown in the episode 'Saving Sergeant Thompkins', although it is unknown who the man in the picture playing him is.

Big Mama - Bernie's mother. She died when Bernie was around ten. She is frequently mentioned by Bernie over the course of the series.

Uncle Ellister - Bernie's uncle, in actuality his father.

Main crew

Cancellation

After five seasons and 104 episodes, Fox announced the cancellation of The Bernie Mac Show.

The series finale titled "Bernie's Angels" focused on Bernie getting an electrical shock and ends up traumatized. After he recovers, he begins to teach Jordan and Bryanna how to do certain things on their own. Also, Vanessa doesn't want Bernie to be involved in her choosing a college. Meanwhile, Jordan takes advantage of Bernie's kindness. In the end, Vanessa and Bernie make up (mainly due to her writing an essay about who inspires her most: which is him). In the final scene of the series, Bernie goes back to his normal self and takes back the iPod he bought Jordan since he was taking advantage of him. Bernie's final line is a farewell message to the viewers and stating that he is going to continue to raise and teach the kids for as long as they need it and he also wishes the viewers luck. The scene pans out with Jordan on his knees sobbing and begging for the iPod while Bernie smugly laughs and teases him.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Bernie Mac Show episodes

Syndication

The series had been airing in syndication since September 2005 and was on the FX network (as of 2011), but is not on the channel's schedule in the autumn of that year.[3]

On various television stations, the series' title is shortened simply to Bernie Mac.

In addition to being in worldwide syndication, Bernie Mac's hometown of Chicago airs the series on the city's independent station The U. The Bernie Mac Show has been on that station since 2005, remaining after Mac's 2008 death in his honor. However, at the beginning of fall 2009, the series was moved to The U's sister station Me-TV. In 2010, the series was removed from the lineup of both stations.

On the day of Mac's funeral, The U aired a retrospective TV special called A Tribute to Bernie Mac, which featured clips from the series and an interview with Camille Winbush, who portrayed Vanessa. BET and Centric have aired the series.

In June 2015, Bounce TV acquired rights to the series which airs weeknights at 8pm and 8:30pm.

DVD releases

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Information
Season 1 May 4, 2004 22 Bonus features include commentary on the pilot episode from Bernie Mac and a 60-minute A & E Tvography.

The Season One DVD boxset was released on DVD May 4, 2004. There have been no announcements regarding further seasons possibly due to music licensing issues.

Netflix began streaming all five seasons on October 1, 2011.

Awards and nominations

The Bernie Mac Show won a Peabody Award in 2001,[4] the Humanitas Prize, a Writing in a Comedy Series, three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, and was honored by the Television Critics Association.

For his role in the show, Bernie Mac was honored by the Television Critics Association for Individual Achievement in a Comedy as well as the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series four years in a row: 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

References

  1. ^ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1
  2. ^ "The Bernie Mac Show" (2001)
  3. ^ "FX Fall 2011 Schedule Has How I Met Your Mother; The Nanny Reunion on Happily Divorced". Sitcoms Online. 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
  4. ^ 61st Annual Peabody Awards, May 2002.
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