Martin

Martin, starring Martin Lawrence, is considered quite possibly the funniest black television sitcom of all time. Martin ran for five seasons on the Fox network throughout the 1990’s. Martin was year in and year out one of the networks highest rated sitcoms during its run of five years. Martin chronicled the adventures of a young dj, who eventually became a TV host, his girlfriend, and his posse of friends. He also portrays a host of wild characters on the show ranging from his neighbor Sheneneh; his mother Mama Payne; Otis the security guard; Jerome the gold-toothed player, and many more. The television show still to this day continues to come on and has even been released on home video thru HBO, Home Box Office.
Martin was one of the few shows with a predominantly black cast that was seen as appealing to society as a whole. Not everyone liked the show but nonetheless it was one of the highest rated shows of its time. I myself have the entire five season show on DVD. Martin is one of the few shows that survived the new industrial logic that said companies and networks have joined forces to become more powerful, bigger, and have more influence. Companies now have more power and can make more money by merging than if they would have decided to stay solo. Gray says that predominantly black shows are not as appealing to society as a whole; consequently many black shows have been cut from the lineup. Martin was discontinued for other reasons. Its lead character stated many times that he wanted to focus more on a movie career and there was a well publicized rift between him and Tisha Campbell which resulted in her suing Martin Lawrence for sexual harassment.
Martin stood up and raised the bar for many African American shows of today. It provided something different on TV where the majority of shows where filled with white casts members. It was one of the few black shows appealing to most of society.