If a television show ran for eight seasons and 172 episodes, starred a BET Comedy Award winner, and inspired a spinoff series that went on to run for nine seasons of its own, you’d think almost everyone would know
of it, even if they hadn’t
seen it, right? Yet on the 20
th anniversary of
Girlfriends’ debut, not even leading lady Tracee Ellis Ross can pinpoint why the show never got its just due.“I don't know how to answer that question. I am extremely proud of our show. It still holds up over time,” Ross tells
eTalk. “It was a show that was led by four Black women, about women. And not only that, but it was about our relationships with each other and our relationship with our lives. It was not about our relationship with men. And I found that really interesting and exciting.”
A record-breaking seriesGirlfriends starred Ross as Joan, Golden Brooks as Maya, Persia White as Lynn, and Jill Marie Jones as Toni. When it kicked off in 2000 it aired on UPN (which eventually became The CW), and it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on television during that time. By the show’s eighth and final season, it was also the
second-highest-rated comedy among Black viewers (its spinoff,
The Game was the highest). Had it run for one more season it could have beat
The Cosby Show with the most episodes produced for a Black sitcom (
Cosby topped out at 201).“We were on the shoulders of the legacy of other shows of Black women like
Living Single, and coming out of
Cosby and
A Different World, and we were a part of a family of shows that were incredibly important during that time—
Moesha,
Sister, Sister, or
The Game, which was a an offshoot of our show,” Ross says. “I think what we did was important, and I wish that our world had been less segregated at that time.”
Meaningful representation behind-the-scenesGirlfriends wasn’t just about delivering and delving into the Black female experience onscreen, it was also representative behind-the-scenes. Created by Mara Brock Akil (
Black Lightning,
The Jamie Foxx Show, Moesha), the series had a majority Black female writers’ room, a Black cinematographer in Donald A. Morgan, and more than half of the episodes were directed by people of colour (including Debbie Allen).“The writing was exceptional. We were women who were all different shades of Blackness, all different kinds of Blackness. It continued to kind of expand the idea of who we are as women, and how we fit into this very wonderful tapestry that is humanity,” says Ross.[video_embed id='2033137']RELATED: Will Smith shares first photos from the ‘Fresh Prince’ reunion [/video_embed]
Facing systemic racism in the industryDespite
Girlfriends’ huge success with Black audiences, its ratings may have been even greater than were ever reported. By the time the series was in its fifth season, ratings company Nielsen reported that the show had spiked 19 per cent in young-adult ratings—an unheard of swing for any aging series. As it turns out, the viewers may have been there all along. At the time
UPN revealed that Nielsen was undercounting Black women, a large segment of their audience.That isn’t the only instance of the series facing systemic racism throughout its run. Ross reveals that during the entire time she was on the series she was never asked to guest on any of the late night series that typically love booking comedians and actors on to help round out their nightly lineups.“I can’t speak for anybody else but I was the lead actress on a show that was running for eight years. We had a huge audience and the actual quote that we got from
The Jay Leno Show was, ‘We love Tracee. Call us when she gets something.’ I will never forget it,” she says. “I was like, ‘Get something like what? What am I supposed to get?’ I was so confused.”
Content that still holds up todayTwenty years ago,
Girlfriends was a show that tackled diverse topics that still seem groundbreaking on TV today. It was one of the first series to feature the rise of the natural hair movement onscreen, and it wasn’t scared to incorporate storylines tackling political and social issues into its narrative. It all felt timely to fans back then, and Ross says she feels the show is just as relevant in 2020.“We were dealing with a lot of very real topics. We dealt with HIV, chlamydia, sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, colourism, classism… all of these kinds of dynamics that come up as Black women, we were really diving in on 20 years ago, and I just feel so proud of the work we did, particularly because of how relevant it still feels,” she says.
Ross adds that she’s excited Netflix is releasing
Girlfriends on September 11 in conjunction with the show’s 20
th anniversary (unfortunately Netflix Canada is not following suit), because it gives a whole new audience an opportunity to see the show for the very first time.“Back then, social media didn’t exist. The internet was not what it is now. And ‘Black Girl Magic,’ the phrase, didn't exist yet. What I always like to say, even about the term Black Girl Magic, is we've been extraordinary and magical and beautiful forever. But that term has allowed us to have a frame so that people can see us,” Ross says.[video_embed id='2032499']BEFORE YOU GO: Tyra Banks shares how they're keeping people safe on 'DWTS' [/video_embed]
BLACK-ISH - "Feminisn't" - When Bow learns that Diane and Ruby don't believe in feminism, she brings Diane to meet the women in her feminist group. Bow's friend Abby thinks the group needs to be more inclusive, so Bow invites three of her girlfriends to join. Meanwhile, Junior and Jack help Dre after he realizes he is out of touch with modern-day feminism on "black-ish," TUESDAY, OCT. 8 (9:30-10:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (Kelsey McNeal via Getty Images)
GOLDEN BROOKS, JILL MARIE JONES, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, PERSIA WHITE
