Darryl Hughley (standup comic D L Hughley) was an upwardly mobile black man who had made his money as “the vending machine king” and spent it on moving his family from the inner city of Los Angeles to a nice home in an all-white suburb in the San Fernando Valley.
Not one who easily adapts to change, Darryl was worried about losing his “blackness” and to compound matters, his new WASP neighbours, Dave (Eric Allan Kramer) and Sally (Marietta DePrima) Rogers, were really nice, his daughter Sydney (Ashley Monique Clark) had begun playing with a white doll, and his 8-year-old son, Michael (Dee Jay Daniels), rejected Motown for Hanson!
Darryl’s black best friend and employee Milsap (John Henton) was a shaved-head type from the inner city who played on his fears, but his wise, tart-tongued wife Yvonne (Elise Neal) was there to bring Darryl down to earth.
At the end of the third season of this ABC family comedy (which owed more than a little to The Jeffersons), Darryl and company took a cruise and found themselves stranded in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. In a cliffhanger ending, they feared the end was near and confessed their sins to each other.
As the 2001-2002 season opened, however, a short clip announced that the cliffhanger was a bad idea and that viewers should forget all about it!
During the final season, Yvonne’s outspoken sister Shari (Adele Givens) moved into the apartment over the Rogers’ garage, and Darryl’s niece Carly (Kelly Rowland) – an aspiring singer who was estranged from her father – moved in with the family. Meanwhile, Michael, who was having trouble at school, was diagnosed with dyslexia.
In the two-part series finale, Darryl and Milsap attended their 20th high school reunion and Milsap found out he had become a father after the 15th reunion.
Darryl Hughley
D L Hughley Yvonne Hughley
Elise Neal Sydney Hughley
Ashley Monique Clark Michael Hughley
Dee Jay Daniels Dave Rogers
Eric Allan Kramer Sally Rogers
Marietta DePrima Milsap Morris
John Henton Shari
Adele Givens Carly
Kelly Rowland
Darryl’s black best friend and employee Milsap (John Henton) was a shaved-head type from the inner city who played on his fears, but his wise, tart-tongued wife Yvonne (Elise Neal) was there to bring Darryl down to earth.
