The Wayans Bros. is an American sitcom that premiered on January 11, 1995 on The WB. The series starred Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. It ran for five seasons, and the last episode, Rope A Dope aired on May 20, 1999. The Wayans Bros. along with The Parent 'Hood were the first programs to ever air on The WB. The show also became popular for making fun of numerous celebrities (such as financial issues, appearance etc.) It has also aimed numerous statements of recording artist Keith Sweat, who later appeared on the show. The show never got the proper series finale because of its cancellation.
| The Wayans Bros. | |
|---|---|
| Opening title to The Wayans Bros. Opening title to The Wayans Bros. | |
| Created by | Shawn Wayans Marlon Wayans Leslie Ray David Steven Simon |
| Starring | Shawn Wayans Marlon Wayans Anna Maria Horsford (Season 3+) John Witherspoon Paula Jai Parker (Season 2) Ja'net DuBois (Season 3-5) Lela Rochon (Season 1) Jill Tasker (Season 2) Phill Lewis (Season 3-5) Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins (Season 3-4) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 103 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes (with commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | The WB |
| Release | January 11, 1995 – May 20, 1999 |
- For the the group of comedians, see Wayans brothers
The show originally featured the beat to A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation" as its theme song, but this was changed after the third season when Marlon Wayans cut his hair. Then it changed in the third season to just a fast beat then in the fourth season, it changed to a tune which was produced by the Wayans Bros. & Omar Epps.
Synopsis
Template:Spoiler Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans portrays Shawn Williams and Marlon Williams, Two Elder Siblings living in Manhattan, New York City, with their father, John "Pops" Williams (John Witherspoon), who owns his diner, named Pops' diner, during the first season of the show, Shawn had a Girlfriend, Lisa Saunders (Lela Rochon), who appeared in Every episode of the first season (103 episodes), but then Rochon was dropped from the show's cast, also starring on the show during its first year, was Benny Quan as Benny, the Chef, but he was dropped from the show's cast as well. In the 1995-1996 year, which was the second season of the show, new characters appeared and new attractions on the show came in, Pop's Diner was moved into the Neidermyer Building, and the owner of the original Newsstand, dies, Shawn takes the Job, after being fired from his Job at APS, and Marlon had stopped working as a chef for Pops, and worked with his big brother, Shawn.
Also starring in the Second season, was Jill Tasker as The Original Security Guard, Lou Malino, and Paula Jai Parker (who made an appearance on the show during the first season) joined the cast as Marlon's New Girlfriend, Monique, as a result, Tasker and Parker was dropped from the show's cast also midway during the second season. Anna Maria Horsford portrayed the New Security Guard, Deirdre "Dee" Baxter, from the show's second season until the series ending. Making appearances onto the show was: Ja'net DuBois, who potrayed Willona in the hit sitcom, Good Times, potrays' the Boys' Grandmother, Grandma Ellington, although DuBois was a guest star, she still had a recurring role, and Phill Lewis, as The Boys' Pal, T.C., who only appeared during the first four seasons of the show, Lewis would stari in the Disney kids sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, with Rochon gone from the show's cast in Spring of 1995, Tasker and Parker gone in the Fall of 1995, Anna Maria Horsford (from TV's Amen), was the only female cast member appearing in the final four seasons (1995-1999) of the show.
Later on in the Popular sitcom, Marlon had found a career by acting in small roles, but made it to the top with having a big role in a Musical Play, but in the final season, no one knows if Marlon had still worked with Acting and Show Business.
Episodes
Trivia
- This show, along with Unhappily Ever After debuted at the same time on the same network. Three days after The Wayans Bros. was cancelled, Unhappily was discontinued.
- The show was set in New York City, New York, the birthplace of Shawn and Marlon.
- The apartment Shawn and Marlon live in and Pop's Diner look different in the first season than the rest of the seasons.
- Before working together on the show, John Witherspoon (Pops) and Anna Maria Horsford (Dee) played Ice Cube's parents in the 1995 movie Friday.
- John Witherspoon worked with Shawn and Marlon once again in the 2006 movie Little Man.
- Although Shawn was owner of his own newsstand, in the first season he was an employee of a fictional postal service company APS.
- In Scary Movie, Shawn Wayans' character mentions that cancelling TV shows makes people go crazy claiming The Wayans Bros. was a good show.
- The segue music from scene to scene derived from many popular Hip-Hop songs that were released at the time, such as A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga" and "Jam", along with Busta Rhymes's "Woo Hah!! Got You All In Check", Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Brooklyn Zoo" and Tha Dogg Pound's "Let's Play House".
Cast
- Shawn Wayans — Shawn Williams
- Marlon Wayans — Marlon Williams
- John Witherspoon — John "Pops" Williams
- Anna Maria Horsford — Deirdre "Dee" Baxter
- Ja'net Du Bois — Grandma Ellington (1996-1998)
- Phill Lewis — T.C. (1995-1998)
- Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins — Dupree (1996-1998)
- Jill Tasker — Lou Malino (1995)
- Lela Rochon — Lisa (1995)
- Mitch Mullany — White Mike (1995-1996)
- Paula Jai Parker — Monique (1995-1996)
- Mai Reina-Gold — Natalie (1999)
- Donielle Artese — Tanqueray (1998)
Supporting Cast
- Benny Quan — Benny/Hop Sing
- Roxanne Beckford — Stacey
- Gail Neely — Gail
- Darrel Heath — Reggie
- Johnny Brown — Bookman/Maurice
- [[ ]]- Lisa
Catchphrases
- "Thank You Kindly" (Pops)
- "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" (Pops)
- "Shhhh! Don't tell noooooobody!" (Pops, Shawn, and Marlon)
- "Don't make me take off my belt!" (Pops)
- "O..Siddity" (Pops)
- "Help me, help me please!" (Pops and Marlon)
- "Yita Dee!!" (Pops)
- "Money bein' made around here, Bang!, Money bein' around here, Bang!,Range rovers, big ol' house, diamond rings... if you like them kinda things"
(Song that Pops, Shawn, and/or Marlon would sing whenever they came into money or money making opportunity) - "Stupid" (Shawn; directed towards Marlon in a high pitched voice)
- "When I hit the lottery, you won't see a lot of me!" (Pops)
- "You're Stupid" (Marlon; when trying to make a point when he is wrong)
- "Get the uhh outta here!" (Marlon)
- "Negro Please!" (Various Characters)
- "Would you stop it Stoopid!(Shawn to Marlon)
- (When told about a rumor concerning Marlon, he says) Who told you that? It was Leroy and them, wasn't it? They Lyin' they ain't have me!
- Pops, bring 'yo ass! (Shawn and Marlon to Pops)
- "Knockin' Boots" (Various Characters)
Whats that sound thats goes through the night, Sound I hear when I'm holdin you tight, Its my bell baby you just rang, Its my love going bang bang bang
DVD Releases
Only the first season of The Wayans Bros. has been released on a porn DVD which was back in February 2005. It is highly unlikely that more season DVDs will released due to the first season's poor DVD sales. Reruns can now be seen on BET network.