''Grown Ups'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired on the

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

network from August 23, 1999 to May 22, 2000. Starring Jaleel White, the series was created by Matthew Miller and based on a story written by White.

Plot

''Grown Ups'' follows the lives of three post-college friends who are coming to terms with adulthood. J. Calvin Frazier is a 24-year-old man whose roommate just left town nearly leaving him homeless. J. also learns that his high school crush Melissa (

Tammy Townsend Tamara A. Townsend (born August 17, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Townsend is best known for her roles as Wendy Reardon on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1994–96), and Greta McClure, Eddie's girlfriend on the AB ...

) is engaged to another man. With the help of his best friend Gordon (Dave Ruby) and Gordon's wife Shari (

Marissa Ribisi Santina Marissa Ribisi (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress who performed in the films '' Dazed and Confused, True Crime, The Brady Bunch Movie, Pleasantville'', and '' Don's Plum'' and television shows such as '' Felicity'', ''Frien ...

), J. attempts to deal with his problems and adjust to life as a grown up. In the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

episode,

Soleil Moon Frye Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitco ...

appeared as Robin Carlucci, J.'s new roommate who wrongly assumes that J. is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. The series was retooled after the pilot and Frye's character was dropped.

Cast

Main

* Jaleel White as J. Calvin Frazier *

Dave Ruby Dave Ruby is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zeke in the film '' Dead Man on Campus'' as well co-starring role in the UPN sitcom '' Grown Ups'' and his recurring role as Dr. Lloyd on ''Judging Amy''. Career Ruby's other t ...

as Gordon Hammel *

as Shari Hammel

Recurring

Patrick Bristow Patrick Bristow (born September 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and director. He is best known for playing Peter Barnes on ''Ellen'' (1994-1998), and Patrick on ''The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'' (2005-2008), and for the film ''Pain ...

as Rodney Caruthers * Bumper Robinson as Marcus Wentworth *

as Melissa

Reception

''Grown Ups'' premiered on August 23, 1999 at 8:30 EST/7:30 CST. On August 30, 1999, the series moved to Mondays at 9p.m. EST/8p.m. CST, following the ''

Moesha ''Moesha'' () is an American television sitcom that aired on UPN from January 23, 1996, to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Denise Mitchell, an African-American teenager living with her upper middle class famil ...

'' spin-off ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of UPN's ''Moesha'', ''The Parkers'' features the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo'Nique) and Kim Parker ...

''. The series initially garnered good ratings, but ratings soon dropped and UPN canceled the series (on a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

that was never resolved) in May 2000.

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{UPN 1999 American television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 1990s American black sitcoms 2000s American black sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 2000s American sitcoms English-language television shows UPN original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Chicago