''Mr. Box Office'' 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 debuted in first-run

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on September 22, 2012. The show was created by

Byron Allen Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the U.S. entertainment company Entertainment Studios which includes The Weather Channel. He is also a television producer, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable sh ...

and produced by his production company

Entertainment Studios Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and d ...

Plot

The series centers on movie star Marcus Jackson (

Bill Bellamy William Bellamy (born April 7, 1965) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Bellamy first gained national notoriety on HBO's Russell Simmons' ''Def Comedy Jam'', where he is credited for creating or coining the phrase "booty call", descri ...

), who ends up getting sentenced to

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

after engaging in an altercation with a

paparazzi Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...

, forcing Marcus to put his film career on hold. Due to the fact that he has a teacher's license (since he originally aspired to work as a teacher), the judge presiding in his case orders him to serve a six-month stint as a teacher for underprivileged high school kids in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

. As a result, Marcus has to deal with his agent Bobby Gold (

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in ''The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in ''A League of The ...

), constantly trying to get him back into film. However, he discovers that Marcus has decided to remain working at the school, and help improve his students. Marcus also deals with the mishaps of his best friends and roommates Tony (

Tony T. Roberts Tony T. Roberts (born April 18, 1963) is an American comedian. He has appeared on HBO, HBO's ''Def Comedy Jam'', ''ComicView, BET's ComicView'', and ''It's Showtime at the Apollo''. Early life and education Tony was born in Detroit, Michigan, a ...

) and Jamal (Alex Thomas).

Cast

Main cast

– Marcus Jackson *

– Bobby Gold * Alex Thomas – Jamal Tayor *

– Tony "The Tiger" *

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

– Cassandra Washington *

Tim Meadows Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy ...

– Principal Theodore Martin *

Rick Fox Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

– Andrew Thompson (episodes 1–23) *

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

– John Anderson (episodes 1–23) *

Essence Atkins Essence Uhura Atkins (born February 7, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career appearing on television sitcoms, before her regular role on the short-lived first African-American prime-time drama '' Under One Roof'' ( CBS, 1995). Atkin ...

– Samantha Owens *

Jeffrey Garcia Jeffrey Garcia (born May 3, 1977) is an American actor and stand-up comedian, who is best known for voicing Sheen Estevez in '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', and its two Nickelodeon spin-off television show series ''The Adventures of Jimmy Neut ...

– Freddy Lopez (season 2; recurring season 1)

Recurring cast

Davi Santos Davi Santos (born 1 February 1990) is a Brazilian-American actor, best known for his role playing List of Power Rangers Dino Charge characters#Sir Ivan of Zandar, Sir Ivan, The Gold Ranger on the television series ''Power Rangers Dino Charge'' a ...

– Carlos * Nick Nervies – Milton *

Giovonnie Samuels Giovonnie Lavette Samuels (born November 13, 1985) is an American actress and voice artist best known for her role as Nia Moseby in ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' and for being a series regular on ''All That'' (where she was replaced by Kiann ...

– Camille *

Erinn Westbrook Erinn Veronica Westbrook is an American actress, singer, dancer and model. She is known for portraying Bree in '' Glee'', Gabby Richards in the MTV series ''Awkward'', and Magnolia Barnard in the Netflix series '' Insatiable''. As of 2022, she ...

– Danielle *

Marcus T. Paulk Marcus Terrell Paulk (born October 12, 1986) is an American actor, singer, rapper and dancer best known for his role as Myles Mitchell in the UPN sitcom ''Moesha'', which aired from 1996 through 2001. Being a proponent of good causes and a f ...

– Jimmy *

Giselle Bonilla Giselle Bonilla (born October 28, 1994) is an American actress. She portrayed Maria in the sitcom Mr. Box Office. Career She has appeared in many television series, including a recurring role in Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada ...

– Maria *

Tequan Richmond Tequan Richmond (; born October 30, 1992), also known as T-Rich, is an American actor best known for playing Drew Rock on the UPN/The CW, CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris''. Richmond played Ray Charles Jr. (son of singer and musician Ray Charle ...

– Anthony

Special guest cast

Keshia Knight Pulliam Keshia Knight Pulliam (born April 9, 1979) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, and landed her breakthrough role as Rudy Huxtable, on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992), which earned her a nomination for O ...

– Vanessa Owens (pilot episode)

Episodes

Production

''Mr. Box Office'' is primarily syndicated to

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

affiliated with

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...

and to independent stations for broadcast in weekend primetime timeslots. The series was originally slated to produce a total of 104 episodes, borrowing a similarly-formatted episode order as several sitcoms produced and distributed by

Debmar-Mercury Debmar-Mercury is a television syndication company. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lionsgate, it was formed from a merger of Debmar Studios and Mercury Entertainment in 2006. History Debmar Studios Debmar-Mercury's history begins on October 31, ...

, such as ''

Tyler Perry's House of Payne ''House of Payne'' is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006. The series revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta led by patriarc ...

'' and ''

Anger Management Anger management is a psycho-therapeutic program for anger prevention and control. It has been described as deploying anger successfully.Schwarts, Gil. July 2006. Anger Management', July 2006 The Office Politic. Men's Health magazine. Emmaus, PA: ...

'', in which the vast majority of the episodes would be produced in one season. The series, which was sold as part of a two-hour comedy block with '' The First Family'', was initially picked up by stations owned by

Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...

Weigel Broadcasting Weigel Broadcasting Co. is an American television broadcasting company based in Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV (Channel 26), at 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood. It currently owns 25 television sta ...

and

CBS Television Stations CBS News and Stations (formerly CBS Television Stations) is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of American television stations. , Paramount owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: ...

. By May 2012, the program had been sold to stations covering approximately 85% of all U.S. markets. Production of the series slowed after the first 28 episodes aired. The series produced less than five new episodes per year in 2014 and 2015.

Syndication

On April 4, 2013, Centric acquired the

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

syndication rights to all past and future episodes of ''The First Family'', along with ''Mr. Box Office'', with both series expected to begin airing on the channel starting April 19, 2013.BET Networks Acquires Sitcoms 'The First Family' and 'Mr. Box Office'; Series to Air on Centric
''TV by the Numbers'', April 4, 2013. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the series aired on M3 and formerly aired on

Comedy Gold Comedy Gold may refer to: * ''Comedy Gold'' (TV series), a 2008 Australian television series *Comedy Gold (TV channel) Comedy Gold, formerly known as TV Land Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that was owned by Bell Media fo ...

. The show also airs on

TheGrio TheGrio, styled as thegrio, is an American television network and website with news, opinion, entertainment and video content geared toward Black Americans. The website originally launched in June 2009 as a division of NBC News, it became a d ...

in the United States.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mister Box Office 2010s American black sitcoms 2010s American high school television series 2010s American workplace comedy television series 2012 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings Television series about educators Television shows set in Los Angeles First-run syndicated television programs in the United States English-language television shows Television series by Entertainment Studios