'' was a
Situation Comedy produced for the
UPN network from
1996 to
2001 . It starred
R&B singer
Brandy Norwood as Moesha Mitchell, a high school student and her family living in
Los Angeles .
The show focused on the life of a middle-class family through the eyes of a typical teeange girl. Her father, Frank, a
Saturn car salesman, has remarried Dee, a teacher at Moesha's school, much to Moesha's dismay. It was created by the Ralph Farquhar, along with the writing team of Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The setting for the show include the Mitchell household and the teen hang-out, The Den.
The show was first aired in the U.S. on January 23, 1996. However, the show was originally slated to air on the
CBS network in 1995. CBS passed on the show and was later picked up by UPN to air in early January of 1996 as a mid-season replacement. ''Moesha'' later made history as being the first longest-running series on UPN. The show ran for six seasons.
The show dealt with "real teen social issues", such as teen pregnancy, drug use, race relations, pre-marital sex, the death of a parent and day-to-day issues faced by teenagers at home and in school.
In one of the most controversial episodes, "Secrets & Lies", the Mitchell family learned from a visiting family member that Frank is the actual father of Dorian. The shocking news of Frank's infedelity turned the family upside-down and resulted in Moesha moving out of the house and Dorian's rebellion.
With all the success that ''Moesha'' had accumulated, rumors speculated that Brandy wasn't getting along with members of the cast and production team. An allegded fued between Brandy and Countess Vaughn appeared in many
Tabloids . However, they are on good terms now. Shortly after, feeling the pressure to do a sitcom and pursue her music career, it has been rumored that Brandy had collapsed on the set of ''Moesha'' due to diet pills. She was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with dehydration, having nothing to do with diet pills, which she never took.
Co-creator and producer Vida Spears, was fired and many claimed Brandy and Sonja Norwood were responsible for the firing. Spears wanted the show to continue its portrayal of a happy-go-lucky family, while Brandy wanted more control over storylines. With the arrival of
Ray-J to the show, the storylines were revamped from his character being portayed as Frank's nephew to his illegitimate son. Co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph voiced her opinion that she was leaving and limiting her role on the show, only appearing when necessary.
The show is currently syndicated on local stations and
The N .
Giving her popularity for four years on ''Moesha'', Countess Vaughn left the show in 1999 for her own show, ''
The Parkers ''. The show premiered on August 30, 1999 on UPN airing, for a time, after its parent series. It centered the adventures of Kim attending college along with her mother played by comedienne
Mo'Nique .
Several ''Moesha'' cast members (including Brandy Norwood) have made crossover appearances on the show from time to time to provide continuity between the two shows. Leaving ''Moesha'', Yvette Wilson later joined the cast as Andell in 2000.
Throughout the series, Moesha has been seen having numerous hairstyle changes. Brandy's trademark to fame have been her braids.
''Moesha'' has been a target for such shows and movies.
- Clueless - In a Halloween-themed episode spoofing the popular '' Scream '' films, Cher ( Rachel Blanchard ), Dionne ( Stacey Dash ) and Amber ( Elisa Donovan ) try to catch a stalker. Later, Amber hints at a ''Moesha'' crossover after calling out Moesha's name when the girls are looking for Murray and Sean. Ironically, Shar Jackson and Lamont Bentley appeared in a later episode reprising their ''Moesha'' characters.
- A Very Brady Sequel (1996) - Jan Brady ( Jennifer Elise Cox )) runs into her psychiatrist, Mrs. Cummings ( RuPaul ). She gives Jan some advice. Shortly after, Mrs. Cummings' daughters are shown having an agrument where one utters the phrase, "Moesha! Moesha! Moesha!" The phrase was used for laughs since a smiliar catch-phrase was stated in the original series. Coincidentally, Jennifer Elise Cox reprises her role in an episode of ''Moesha'''s fourth season.
- MadTV - Debra Wilson , a popular featured player on the show, spoofs Brandy Norwood in some sketches.
- The Proud Family -In the episode "Hooray for Iesha", the show parodies ''Moesha'' revolving around Penny Proud's favorite television program, ''Iesha''. The plot of this episode is about the show ''Iesha'', which is cancelled without resolving the previous seasons cliff-hanger ending, with Iesha's little brother running away. This is almost reminiscent to the final episode of ''Moesha''.
- Crenshaw High, the school that Moesha and her friends attend, is the same high school used for characters in the film, '' Love & Basketball ''.
The sixth season became a melodramatic sitcom. Some ''Moesha'' purists have labeled the series as a "dramedy". At the final episode of the season revealed Myles being kidnapped by a rival of Dorian and an unknown pregnancy test found in the trash at Moesha's dorm. A seventh season of the show was planned, but Brandy grew tired of her role and decided to leave the show to focus on her music career. Certain plots were to be resolved on ''
The Parkers '' even with
Ray-J joining the cast, but to no avail. A movie was also planned to end the series, but Lamont Bentley unexpectedly died in a car accident. Therefore, the show ended in a cliff-hanger, never to be resolved.
