By Tonya Whitaker
NDG Staff Writer
Are We There Yet? has found a spot on TBS’ Wednesday night lineup with Meet The Browns and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.
Due to its immense popularity, the Ted Turner network has requested an additional 90 episodes of the comedy. The show returns at 9 p.m. Jan. 5 with back-to-back episodes.
The show, which stars Terry Crews and Essence Atkins, takes all the dynamics of an African American blended family and mixes it with a plentitude of humor. The comedy show how newlyweds Nick and Suzanne Person conquer romance and friendship, and deal with drama from the extended family.
The comedy premiered June 2 and went on to rank among ad-supported cable’s Top 10 new series for the quarter, averaging 2.8 million viewers and 1.5 million adults 18 to 49. It was also the No. 1 show on television in primetime delivery of African-American adults 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 for the second quarter.
“The show is a throwback to a lot of the great African-American comedies that have gone before,” Crews said of the show’s immense popularity. “It is a little piece of Martin, a little bit of [My] Wife and Kids, even the little bit of Cosby, but done in a new way. It crosses all kinds of generational boundaries and racial lines.”
The former NFL baller is no stranger to hit comedies. He is known for his role in Ice Cube’s Next Friday, and, more recently, patriarch Julius in Everybody Hates Chris. Crews also has a reality show on BET, The Family Crews.
This season of Are We There Yet? has its share of guest appearances from Ice Cube (Suzanne’s brother Terrance), Wayne Brady, Laila Ali, Michael Strahan, Sandy “Pepa” Denton and Sinbad. The show is produced by co-produced by Cube Vision, founded by Cube and Matt Alvarez. Four of the new episodes were directed by Alfonso Riberio, known for his role as Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
New episodes finds Nick moving into a new job as a sports reporter for a local television station as Suzanne continues to run her event planning business. The couple will continue to find their way in their relationship, from learning about each other’s history to figuring out one another’s personalities.
Teala Dunn and Coy Stewart co-star as Nick and Suzanne’s children, 14-year-old Lindsey and 10-year-old Kevin.
Crews said he sees a lot of himself in Nick Person.
“My favorite element of the shows is the fact that it is a blended family. When I met my wife (Rebecca), she had a little baby that was six months old and we were married when that baby was 2 years old,” he said. “You have to win the love of your wife, but you’ve got to win the love of those kids too.
“I’m doing this because I’m familiar with it. It’s really funny because that’s what a lot of people are into right now, and I think a lot of people relate. They’re like, ‘Wow, I have my husband’s kids or I have my wife’s kids, and how are we going to do this?’ You can easily be the wicked stepfather or stepmother in one second.
