Vida Spears (born April 8, 1956) is an American television producer and writer. She is best known as the co-creator, with Ralph Farquhar and Sara Finney-Johnson, of 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 ...

sitcoms ''

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 ...

'', starring

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, and ''

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 ...

'', starring

Countess Vaughn Countess Danielle Vaughn (born August 8, 1978) is an American actress, singer and television personality. She is best known for her role as Kim Parker on the UPN sitcoms ''Moesha'' and its spin-off ''The Parkers'', and as Alexandria DeWitt on '' ...

and

Mo'Nique Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known professionally as Mo'Nique, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She has received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

. Before ''Moesha'', Spears and Finney-Johnson had been a long-term writing team, the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

female writing team in the television industry. A native of Baldwin, New York and a graduate of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, Spears also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

. Her other credits as a writer include ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...

'', '' Married...with Children'', '' 227'', and ''

The Parent 'Hood ''The Parent 'Hood'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 18, 1995, to July 25, 1999. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. Originally to be titled ''Father Knows Nothing'' (a parody of th ...

''. Along with Finney-Johnson, she served as a writer and story editor on '' The Facts of Life'' and ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...

'', where they also later served as producers. Spears and Finney-Johnson departed ''Family Matters'' in 1996 to create ''Moesha'' with Ralph Farquhar, where they served as showrunners. When ''Moesha'' series regular Countess Vaughn was spun off into her own series, ''The Parkers'', Spears remained with ''Moesha'' while Finney was in charge of ''The Parkers''. Following an alleged dispute with Brandy and her manager, her mother Sonya Norwood, Spears was dismissed from ''Moesha'' in 2001 and joined Farquhar and Finney-Johnson on ''The Parkers'' instead.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spears, Vida American women television producers African-American television producers American television writers Living people American women television writers 1956 births American women screenwriters People from Hempstead (town), New York Television producers from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women African-American women writers