Wayans Bros, The

1 9 9 5 – 1 9 9 9 (USA)
101 x 30 minute episodes

Brothers Marlon and Shawn Williams were constantly seeking their fortune via a series of intricate plans.

Shawn, a driver for the APS overnight delivery service, was the more serious brother, hoping to get promoted or find a new career that would give him enough money to marry his girlfriend, Lisa (Lela Rochon), a college student whose father was a successful physician.

Marlon, his free-spirited kid brother, worked part-time in the kitchen of their father’s small Manhattan diner, ‘Pops’ Place’, located adjacent to the lobby of the Neidermeyer Building.

Happy-go-lucky Marlon always seemed to be getting himself and his brother in some kind of trouble.

Pops (John Witherspoon) wanted to be proud of both of his sons, but Marlon’s antics didn’t make it easy. Benny (Benny Quan) was the short-order cook at Pops’ Place and Lupe (Joanna Sanchez) the waitress who also worked the register.

Shawn was eventually laid off and bought the newsstand in the lobby of the Neidermeyer Building with money he borrowed from his dad. Marlon worked busing tables at the diner and helped out at the newsstand.

Added to the cast was Monique (Paula Jai Parker), a sexy woman from a rich family whose financial reverses had forced her to take a job as a clerk in the hotel’s card shop.

She and Shawn sparred verbally while Marlon had the hots for her.

Lou (Jill Tasker) was the feisty but petite security guard at the Neidermeyer Building, replaced late in the year by hefty Dee (Anna Maria Horsford).

Two recurring characters were bumbling White Mike (Mitch Mullany) and TC (Phill Lewis), a con man forever looking to make his big score.

During the 1997-1998 season, Marlon tried to get work as an actor.

In the season finale, an electrical fire destroyed Shawn’s newsstand, but he rebuilt it. Marlon got a regular role on the NBC sitcom Everybody Loves Everybody and Shawn became his business manager – for 50% of what he earned.

This is the series that put the famous brothers on the map and ensured that they became known for their slapstick (and sophomoric) sense of humour.

Marlon Williams
Marlon Wayans
Shawn Williams 
Shawn Wayans
John ‘Pops’ Williams 
John Witherspoon 
Lisa
Lela Rochon
Deirdre ‘Dee’ Baxter
Anna Maria Horsford
Benny
Benny Quan
Lupe
Joanna Sanchez
Monique Lattimore
Paula Jai Parker
Lou Molino
Jill Tasker
TC (Thelonius Capricornio)
Phill Lewis
White Mike
Mitch Mullany
Grandma Ellington
Ja’net DuBois