In the House: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

In The House aired from April 1995 until August 1999 on NBC and UPN.

Rap star LL Col J ( real name James Todd Smith), made his tv series debut in this comedy about an NFL star who shared a house with a harried single mom and served as nanny to her 2 cute kids. Unlikely you say? Not in sitcomland. Marion( LL Cool J), a cool, self-confidant type, was on medical leave from The Oakland Raiders due to 2 injured knees( he ran into a goalpost), with little to do other than work out to stay in shape. In order to raise some extra cash he moved into an apartment over his garage and rented out his small house to Jackie ( Debbie Allen), a recent divorcee. Jackie had been rich but was now forced to go to work, and her new job as legal secretary to demanding lawyer Heather ( Lisa Arrindell), left little time for the kids. Where to turn? Nannies were hard to find. Self-centered teenager Tiffany( Maia Campbell), and hyperactive little Austin ( Jeffrey Wood), really liked the superstar over the garage-and he was home all day. Egged on by the kids, Jackie reluctantly popped the question: Would you be the nanny?

With a little persuasion superjock agreed and TV's latest unlikely " family" was born. Much of the comedy came from the conflict between reserved Jackie and go-for-it Marion. In The House was scheduled right after NBC's Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, which it strongly resenbled and which was from the same producer ( Quincy Jones).

When the series moved to UPN for it's third season in the fall of 1996, Jackie had moved back East to Nashville with son Austin, leaving daughter Tiffany in Marion's charge to finish her senior year in high school in Los Angeles. After he found out his injury would force him to retire from football, Marion along with physical therapist Tonia ( Kim Wayans), and arrogant bottom-line Dr. Max Stanton ( Alfonso Ribeiro), purchased the sports-injury clinic where his condition had been diagnosed. Marion wanted to employ holistic medicine techniques at the clinic, which was okay with arty Tonia but created conflict with Max, a slice-and-dice moneymaker. After working out their problems, they renamed it The Hill-Stanton Clinic, although Tonia and Max continued to spar. Rodney ( Dee Jay Daniels), a cute little boy hung out at the clinic for a time.

At the beginning of the1997-1998 season, Tiffany enrolled at UCLA along with her friends Carl and Raynelle ( Ken Lawson, Gabrielle Carmouche), and the clinic severely damaged by an Earthquake had to be rebuilt. Natalie ( Paulette Braxton), a childhood aquaintance working on a masters in psychology at UCLA turned up that fall and moved in with Marion and Tiffany. By late January she and Marion were unsuccessfully fighting a strong sexual attraction. In late February, Max and classy Mercedes( Lark Voorhees), whom he had been dating for months, got engaged and in early March they were planning their wedding. They were married on the season finale which also saw the appearance of James Avery and Daphne Maxwell Reid as Max's parents ( they had played Alfonso Ribeiro's parents on his previous series-The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air).

UPN canceled the series in the spring of 1998 but additional episodes were shown during the summer of 1999 at 1:35 AM on NBC ( the network that first produced the series). In the storyline Tonia had left to become a therapist for the WNBA and Marion and Max sold the clinic. Carl and Raynell moved in with Marion and Tiffany which got a little less crowded when Tiffany ran away and eloped with her boyfriend, Graham ( Mel Jackson). In the series finale, Max and Mercedes learned that they were going to have a baby and Marion got a job with an NFL team. He decided to move to NY to be closer to his girlfried Valerie and her daughter Brieanna. Now that Marion didn't need his place anymore, he gave it up to Carl and Raynelle and also to Tiffany and Graham once they returned. Marion was no longer " In The House."

An Article from The New York Daily News

RAPPER L.L. COOL AS EVER ELEVEN YEARS IN MUSIC, TV AND FILMS PROVES HE'S GOT LEGS

By KAREN HUNTER

Thursday, June 1th 1995, 2:34AM

HE'S SLOUCHED IN A CHAIR IN the green room on the set of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," looking more like a regular Joe in his no-name jeans, T-shirt and blue Nikes than a rap phenomenon named L.L.

There is no entourage or dark sunglasses, no groupies or beemers, no indictments or rap sheets.

For James Todd Scott, aka L.L. Cool J (for "Ladies Love Cool James"), being a rap star is not about any of that. It's a business. And one he has survived for 11 years.

While missing-person reports have been filed on the likes of Chubb Rock, Kool Moe Dee, Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster Flash all one-time giants who faded as fast as Michael Jackson's skin L.L. still remains.

"I can't answer why," says the 27-year-old. "All I can say is, I'm blessed. I never took any of this for granted. And I never rested on my laurels."

He has grown from a 16-year-old out of Hollis, Queens, whose every other word seemed to be "youknowhaI'msayin' " to become one of the most respected and articulate ambassadors of rap, a television star and a movie star.

"I grew up," he says. "It's like meeting a valley girl when she's 16 and then meeting her 11 years later as a graduate of Harvard Law totally different. I went through a lot at a young age, but it prepared me for this. When I was 16, it was all fun and games. Now, it's all business."

And that business keeps getting bigger. Tomorrow, his fourth movie is opening in New York. It's a low-budget movie directed by Debbie Allen called "Out of Sync," and it's the first feature-film venture from Black Entertainment Television (BET). In it, L.L. plays a radio deejay who gets caught up in gambling, alcohol and fast money.

L.L. is also starring in a hit sitcom with Allen, called "In the House," a Quincy Jones production that was just renewed by NBC. In it, he plays an out-of-work football player who takes on a job as a nanny.

"I realized early that if I was going to grow, I would have to explore other options besides rap," he says, nibbling on a Mrs. Field's cookie. "And acting was a challenge I thought I could tackle. People look at you and expect you not to be able to do it. But I like to keep them guessing, scratching their heads about me."

Speaking of heads, L.L.'s dome has been the subject of many a rumor and a tall tale. He is never seen in public without some sort of hat, stocking or visor on his head. There are lurid rumors about his head: That it is misshapen, that he was badly burned in a childhood accident.

In the season finale of "In the House," when L.L. loses a broadcasting job because he won't take off his hat, co-star Allen suggests that his head is ashy.

For the record, L.L. is bald, by choice. His head has a Michael Jordanesque shape and the look of buttery leather.

"And it's not ashy," says L.L., who has a room in his Long Island home with more than 2,000 hats. "I think all this talk about my head is funny. I started wearing hats because I liked them, then all these rumors started and I ran with it. I guess it just adds to my mystique."

His mystique will be broken when "Out of Sync" opens. L.L. finally bares his head in a love scene.

But L.L. has already proven there's more under that hat than a big head. In addition to his television, movie and rap career (he has an album scheduled for a fall release on Def Jam), L.L. also devotes a great deal of his time to Camp Cool J, a nonprofit organization that provides thousands of inner-city youths an opportunity to spend the summer at a camp with free vocational and recreational activities.

"L.L. doesn't just lend his name to it he actually puts in the time," says Charles Fisher, who runs the camp and has been a mentor of L.L.'s since the rapper was 16. "He understands the importance of giving back. And he realizes that without opportunities, there is no change. He got an opportunity now he's giving one to others."

For the best of LL Cool J go to http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+++ll+cool+j&aq=f

For LL Cool J's Official site go to http://www6.defjam.com/site/artist_home.php?artist_id=202

For more on Debbie Allen go to http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/A/htmlA/allendebbie/allendebbie.htm

For The Official Website of Kim Wayans go to http://kimwayans.com/