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Between Brothers aired from September 1997 until August 1999 on FOX and UPN.
Buddy comedy about 4 Black men sharing an apartment in Chicago. Charles and James ( Kadeem Hardison, Dondre T. Whitfield), were brothers. Charles the responsible older one , was a sports writer for The Chicago Examiner, while irresponsible James sold real estate. Mitchell- The Mooch ( Tommy Davidson), a junior Highschool history teacher had just returned to the apartment after his second wife Audrey had thrown him out. Dusty ( Kelly Perine), the short fellow with the loud clothes had moved up from Indiana to take a job as a weekend tv weatherman on WEQT-TV, channel 64. Terri ( Rachel Crawford who was dropped from the cast in November), was a friend who worked at their hangout The Corner Pub, and Stuart ( Brian Doyle-Murray), was Charles's boss at the paper. Most of the episodes focused on their job and dating problems and the not-always-helpful advice they gave to each other.
When the sitcom returned for it's second season as a midseason replacement in January 1999 and now on UPN, the new episodes included Mitchell's dippy sister May ( Sandy Brown), who moved to Chicago and got a job working as a waitress at The Corner Pub. Cynical Stuart , who had been a minor character in the FOX episodes was more prominently featured on UPN.
A Review From The New York Times
Television in Review
By ANITA GATES
Published: September 11, 1997
Sitcom Siblings And Their Sitcom Pals
'Between Brothers'
Fox, tonight at 8:30
The first episode of ''Between Brothers'' begins with a nice Seinfeldian premise: James (Dondre T. Whitfield) is upset because his brother, Charles (Kadeem Hardison) hasn't listed him as the person to contact in case of emergency on his gym-membership application. From there, however, the show, which has its premiere tonight, turns to more predictable sitcom plotting. James, a young man who balances his checkbook by not paying his half of the rent, sets out to prove that he can be responsible. He volunteers to be the designated driver for everybody at the local bar one night, but things go awry and Charles's first date with a beautiful woman is ruined.
The brothers' wacky friend Mitchell (Tommy Davidson) turns up at their door, Felix Unger style, luggage in hand, having been thrown out by his wife for the zillionth time. Their other wacky friend Dusty (Kelly Perine), who makes his entrance Urkel-style, is a television weatherman with unfortunate taste in clothes. As one character says of Dusty's colorful jacket: ''Tahiti called. They want their flag back.''
The actors have nice comic timing and some good lines to work with, although the writing is uneven. Dusty promises to be there for James, no matter what. ''Rain, sleet, snow, hail,'' Dusty vows. ''Of course those are my heavy work days.'' Mitchell, a schoolteacher, reports that when his wife had divorce papers served on him while he was in the classroom, he graded them. ''She may be getting the house,'' he says, ''but she also gets an F.''
If the show does come together, maybe a future episode will explain what prompted Charles and James to take an apartment with a magenta refrigerator. ANITA GATES
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