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Martin
File:MartinL.JPGThe Martin cast. From left to right: Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford), Gina Waters (Tisha Campbell), Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence), Pamela James (Tichina Arnold), and Cole Brown (Carl Anthony Payne II).
Created by	John Bowman Martin Lawrence Topper Carew
Starring	Martin Lawrence Tisha Campbell Carl Anthony Payne II Tichina Arnold Thomas Mikal Ford Jonathan Gries (1992-1994) Garrett Morris (1992-1994) Reginald Ballard (1994-1997) Tracy Morgan (1995-1997)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	132 (List of Martin episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	August 27, 1992 – May 1, 1997

Martin is an American television sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions (a subsidiary of HBO) that aired for five seasons from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on FOX. The show starred comedian Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell.

In contrast to the popularity of Fox, Martin was one of the highest rated show for FOX in the show's five year run. Reruns of the sitcom air in syndication in select cities, and also air daily nationwide on the TV One cable television network.

Overview

The show revolves around a young disc jockey then talk show host named Martin Payne (played by Martin Lawrence), who works for the fictional radio station WZUP then TV station Channel 51, and his level-headed girlfriend and later wife Gina Payne (née Waters) (Tisha Campbell). A common theme of the series is Martin's derisive and brash nature; episodes are often centered on Martin's inconsideration towards his friends and neighbors. Other characters included Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford) and the dimwitted Cole Brown (Carl Anthony Payne II), Martin's closest friends. Pamela "Pam" James (according to the season 5 episode, I Martin, take thee Pam, she may be Pamela Payne) (Tichina Arnold), Gina's loud-mouthed best friend, was consistently portrayed as Martin's rival; she would often antagonize him by making fun of his small stature. Pam and Tommy repeatedly teased a relationship, while Cole initially harbored an unrequited crush on her. According to Gina's oringinal marrage license she is married to Martin.

As the series progressed, a storyline saw Martin lose his job with WZUP and move on to become a talk-show host for a small Detroit TV station, a position which he retained until the series' end where he and Gina moved to California where his show would be national.

Recurring characters

One of the trademarks of Martin was Lawrence playing multiple characters in the series, utilizing various costumes and prosthetic applications.

• Sheneneh Jenkins: Was the most popular character Martin played. , a stereotypical, flashy "Detroit ghetto girl" and owner/operator of Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon, whom Lawrence played in drag. Mama Payne and Sheneneh were the only two characters Lawrence played in drag on the show and both characters hated Gina. Though she was awkwardly tall and large, Sheneneh often characterized herself as a "la-a-a-dy." She's portrayed as being feisty and very mouthy. She lived in an apartment across the hallway from Martin's, and factored into many of the sitcom's stories by picking fights out in the hallway, especially with Gina and Pam. Sheneneh had several girlfriends who appeared occasionally. In the final episode, although her name is mentioned, Sheneneh does not appear.

• Bonquisha (played by Kim Coles): A stylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon

• Keylolo (played by rapper Yo-Yo): A stylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon

• Laquita (played by actress Simbi Khali): A stylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon and her loudmouth girlfriend.

• Rhodesia (played by Kelly Jo Minter): A stylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon.

• Edna (Mama) Payne: Martin's shrill, extremely frenetic, and easily excited mother, who was overprotective of Martin and disliked Gina immensely. Ironically, Lawrence's mustache was never covered with stage make-up while in this role, which Gina usually pointed out when Martin and her talked about his mother.

• Otis: (played by Lawrence) An abrasive, stern potbellied old man, who was always seen while on his job as a security guard. Otis is abrasive towards every stranger he comes across, whether they seem like trouble or not. Because of his immense stomach, old age, and geeky appearance, Otis seems like a weak old man who just tries to make everyone think he's capable of taking them out. Because of this, he's often challenged in some way, usually to physical fights, which he is more than willing to get involved in. Surprisingly enough, through his loony wrestling style, he's always successful and easily beats up his competition.

• Jerome: A loudmouthed, flashy Detroit pimp. He ran an illicit casino, wore a family-heirloom gold tooth, often partied, and regularly hit on Pam.

• Roscoe: A 10-year-old kid with a consistently runny nose and a smart mouth. Lawrence played the role by standing still on his knees, and attaching shoes to his kneecaps.

• Dragonfly Jones: A martial arts "expert", who was beaten up in nearly every appearance. He always seemed to owe money to a real martial artist who was actually a student of his named Kenji, who would then beat Dragonfly up when he refused to pay him.

• Bob: A white man who worked in the marketing department of Gina's company who is best described as a stereotypical surfer-dude-cum-redneck. He spoke in a Southern Californian accent mixed with a Southern twang and often used words like "dude" and "man" even in professional settings. Lawrence achieved his appearance as this character with stage make-up and a prosthetic nose attachment to make him appear white, as well as wearing a long, blonde mullet wig to complete the look.

• Elroy Preston: The fictional "Godfather of Black Surf Music" who is now basically forgotten and washed up. Preston worked as an auto mechanic, and was best known for randomly breaking into song while performing his mechanical duties. This character often distracted himself and irritated others when reminiscing on things that involved his trademark song, which consisted of Preston singing "Don't you know no good!" over and over.

• King Beef: He was some actor in a huge bodysuit. Whenever trouble arouse, he always felt the need to dance. It didn't matter if he was on the run from Godzilla. He always found time for dancing.

• Brother Man: (pronounced "Bruh Man", played by comedian Reginald Ballard) who was the stereotypical Black Southerner. Bruh Man lived on the fifth floor, yet always put 4 fingers up, directly above Martin, and often climbed down the "f-a-a-a-ah 'scape" to break into Martin's apartment, taking food, borrowing assorted items and generally lounging around as if he lived there. One memorable quote was in an episode where Martin had recurring dreams about Pam. Martin wakes up around 3 0'Clock and walks into his living room to find Bruh Man making a sandwich. After some words Bruh man says "What you doin up. I usually have the place to myself 'round this ho-o-our." Bruh Man often wore clothes a size too small which fit badly and had a characteristic gait consisting of a lazy-looking slow plodding walk with his head cocked to one side. In one episode, Martin referred to Bruh Man's gait as "the slow bob", due his head bobbing motion as he walked slowly.

• Ms. Gerry: (played by Jeri Gray), a tough trigger-happy senior who, regardless of her age and diminutive size, had no qualms about "whoopin' ass." Most of her physical confrontations were with Martin in mundane, everyday situations, such as standing in line at the DMV or at the unemployment office.

• Hustle Man: (played by comedian Tracy Morgan), always came around to sell whatever crazy items he had from the 'hood, always greeting with his trademark "What's happenin', chief?" One time one of Hustle Man's crazy items was an array of several roasted pigeons impaled by a branch (as if barbecued on it) which he attempted to sell to Martin and his friends while they were snowed in.

• Nipsey: (played by Sean Lampkin), the rotund, good-natured bartender who owned Nipsey's Club, the group's favorite hangout.

• Shawn: played by (Jonathan Gries). Martin always found himself having rather strange conversations with Shawn. Shawn usually did things that upset Stan and once even tried to get a record deal from Snoop Dogg. Shawn was later fired, along with Martin, when Stan sold the radio station.

• Stan: (played by Garrett Morris), was Martin's and Shawn's boss and the owner of WZUP radio station. He always had on bad cologne and woefully outdated clothing from the 1970s. Martin knew Stan to be cheap and somewhat untrustworthy, and just when Martin didn't think Stan could sink any lower with his schemes, Stan always surprised him. Furthermore, Stan got into trouble with the IRS due to unpaid taxes, so he sold the station and fled. He came back for one episode in Season 3 to form a partnership with Martin, and together they opened a restaurant --Marty Mar's Meatloaf and Waffles. Needless to say, their joint venture was not successful, whereupon Stan left and was never mentioned again on the series.

Cancellation

FOX cancelled Martin toward the end of the fifth season, some time after Lawrence began abusing drugs, which affected his performance on the show. As a result of his drug use, Lawrence eventually suffered some psychological effects, the fallout of which may have been the death knell of the series.

During the show's run, Campbell sued Lawrence for sexual harassment, alleging that Lawrence acted inappropriately while he and Campbell taped scenes of sharing a bed. The episode in which the alleged harassment took place was "Back in Trouble Again" (Season 5, Episode 2). Campbell alleged that Lawrence was prone to excessively angry outburst during tapings, once threatening the cast with a firearm. Campbell's appearances on the series began to dwindle, until she refused to appear in the same scenes as Lawrence, a point which many believe to be the shark jumping point of the show.

Campbell's diminished presence contributed to Martin's "jumping the shark" in the eyes of many viewers, and ratings dropped. Despite Lawrence's problems, FOX showed interest in bringing the show back for a sixth season but Lawrence never showed for a meeting to discuss that possibility (reported in the Hollywood blurb in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution in 1997). As result, Living Single was brought back as a mid-season replacement. Meanwhile, FOX waited for things to stabilize between Lawrence and Campbell. Lawrence had even suggested who might take over the role of Gina. However, the decision was soon made to end the series, and FOX agreed. To this day, Lawrence and Campbell are still said to be personally feuding, although it is said that Campbell has stated in a radio interview that she is still very grateful to Lawrence for giving her an opportunity to be a part of his show.

Following the conclusion of the series, the stars went on to have successful careers:

• Martin Lawrence has starred in several highly grossing comedy movies.
• Tisha Campbell-Martin recently starred on the sitcom My Wife and Kids with Damon Wayans.
• Carl Anthony Payne II and Thomas Mikal Ford continue acting in film, television, and theatre.
• Tichina Arnold continued in film and television and is currently a main cast member of Chris Rock's semi-autobiographical CW sitcom, Everybody Hates Chris, as the matriarch, Rochelle and co-starred with Martin Lawrence in the film "Wild Hogs" playing his wife.

During Lawrence's appearance on Inside the Actor's Studio, Lawrence decided to do improvise dialogue based on most of his multiple characters from the show in his normal self. Some characters were not acted out because they were similar to the key recurring characters.

Episodes

Special guest appearances

DVD releases

HBO Home Video has released the first four seasons of Martin on DVD in Region 1. The fifth and final season will be released on October 7, 2008

Character Absence

• With the exception of "Martin Payne", none of Lawrence's other various characters appeared in the series finale.

References

1. Martin Lawrence, Sheneneh Jenkins, TV Comedy Series, Sitcoms
2. Back in Trouble Again
3. Jump The Shark - Martin
4. "Martin Season 5 DVD News". tvshowsondvd.com. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
5. Martin DVD news: Go to the bathroom before you read this - Season 1 News!!! | TVShowsOnDVD.com
6. Martin DVD news: Season 2 Announced! | TVShowsOnDVD.com

External links

• Martin at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show

• 1992 television series debuts
• 1997 television series endings
• 1990s American television series
• Black sitcoms
• Fox network shows
• Television series by Warner Bros. Television
• USA Network shows
• Television shows set in Michigan