''The Gregory Hines Show'' is an American

television sitcom Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The series premiered on Monday, September 15, 1997, before airing on September 19, 1997, as a part of the network's

Block Party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

Friday night lineup. It ended its run on February 27, 1998, with 15 episodes aired out of the 22 that were produced.

Background

''The Gregory Hines Show'' was the only show on the Block Party lineup that was not produced by

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

Miller-Boyett Productions Miller-Boyett Productions (or simply Miller-Boyett) is an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was responsible for family-oriented hit series such as '' Happy Days'' ...

. Compared to the Miller-Boyett series, ''The Gregory Hines Show'' was markedly more mature in its themes;

Leslie Moonves Leslie Roy Moonves (; born October 6, 1949) is an American media executive who was the chairman and CEO of CBS Corporation from 2003 until his resignation in September 2018 following numerous allegations of sexual harassment, sexual assault and ...

, incoming head of CBS at the time, described the inclusion of the show in the block as an effort to target the whole family, and executives at Miller-Boyett were fully pleased to have the show in the block, as '' TGIF'', the block for which they had previously produced shows for the ABC-TV network, was quickly shifting into a teen-oriented block that did not fit their style.

Premise

The series starred Gregory Hines as Ben Stevenson, a publishing agent and widower raising 12-year-old son Matty ( Brandon Hammond). A year and a half after his wife's death, Ben decides to resume his social life and begin dating again. He soon realizes that he has a lot to re-learn about women, just as his son is learning about them for the first time. Ben and Matty had previously had no trouble talking about anything, but now even the simplest conversation has become complicated, especially when the topic is the women in their lives. Now and then Ben receives advice from his brother Carl (

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

), his father James (

Bill Cobbs William Francisco Cobbs (born June 16, 1934) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in movies such as Louisiana Slim in '' The Hitter'' (1979), Water in '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), and as Lewis Coleman on ''I'll Fly A ...

), as well as his co-worker Alex (

Mark Tymchyshyn Mark Tymchyshyn (born July 30, 1958) is an American actor perhaps best known for his role in '' George Lopez'' as Mel Powers, a factory owner. Tymchyshyn is a graduate of Wayne State University (MI). Career He directed ''A Lie of the Mind'' wit ...

), Alex's ex-wife, Nicole ( Robin Riker) and his assistant Angela (Judith Shelton).

Cast

* Gregory Hines as Ben Stevenson * Brandon Hammond as Matthew "Matty" Stevenson *

as Carl Stevenson *

as Alex Butler * Robin Riker as Nicole Moran *

as James Stevenson * Judith Shelton as Angela Rice

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory Hines Show, The 1990s American black sitcoms 1990s American sitcoms 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings CBS original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Chicago Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Sony Pictures Television