On January 11th, Hulu added a sitcom from the 1990s called “Living Single” to their ever-expanding list of contracted series. When I saw it on my Hulu dashboard as being “new” to the streaming service, I remembered it vaguely. The show aired from 1993 to 1998 on FOX, so, growing up I had just missed the window of its peak popularity. For some reason though, I was compelled to watch it. A snippet of the theme song played in my head–it had been lodged deep, somewhere in my memories: “In a 90s kind of world/I’m glad I got my girls”. Growing up, re-runs of the show were blended in with other black sitcoms such as “My Wife and Kids”, “The Wayans Brothers”, and “Martin.” However, I rarely paid them any mind. I was a child; confused by the adult references, and ungrateful for the overwhelming presence of blackness that I was seeing on my television screen.
I watched the pilot and I was hooked. It opened with an astrology joke and ended with a jab towards men as the four main characters briefly imagine what life would be like without them. I wanted to share every moment with my closest girlfriends, wishing they were with me to watch. I fell in love with and related to each character.
Khadijah: The driven, no-nonsense main character who moved to Manhattan to start her own magazine for women-of-color, called “Flavor.”
Regine: Khadijah’s childhood friend who lives with her; as bougie as they come; she’s a buyer for a boutique and dons a new look/new man every episode.
Max: Khadijah’s friend from college; successful attorney; as petty as she is witty; lives across the street but is always in the house eating their food.
Synclaire: Khadijah’s cousin who lives with her; moved from the Midwest; innocent and goofy, she’s able to put a positive spin on anything.
The show was created and cast for black people, but this show is for everybody. In the same way that anyone can relate to Seinfeld as being reminiscent of the observational, meaningless conversation we have with our friends or Friends as being the quintessential sitcom on being a 20-something, Living Single captures the essence of being a young woman. Living Single was about the modern woman. It was about sisterhood. Audiences watched as these characters maintained jobs that they loved, navigated the dating scene and hook-up culture, and discovered themselves with the support of positive female energy. In addition, the male perspective constantly comes into play as well through their upstairs neighbors, Overton and Kyle. Living Single manages to appeal to male and female viewers, across races.
All in all, I recommend everyone give this show a chance. It’ll make you laugh every episode and you’ll be surprised at how relatable it is 20 years later.