Where is Martin?: The streaming era hasn't been kind to classic 1990s Black sitcoms

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-...oms-streaming/

Martin Lawrence's classic Fox sitcom Martin is unavailable on any streaming service. Until HBO Max launched on May 27, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was also unavailable to stream. And it took until 2018 for Living Single to be available on a streaming service (Hulu). Why has it taken so long for streaming services to embrace Black sitcoms from the 1990s? "The ’90s and early aughts, which produced both Living Single and Friends, was a particularly ripe decade for Black sitcoms," says Helena Andrews-Dyer. "Often described as a golden age for storytelling centered on African-American lives, the era produced hits such as Martin, In Living Color, The Fresh Prince, Moesha, The Jamie Foxx Show, Sister Sister, Half and Half, The Bernie Mac Show, The Steve Harvey Show, The Hughleys, Girlfriends and a dozen more debuting on major networks. But in the years since, the vast majority of these popular shows have gone the way of the dodo. Sure there might be a season or two on DVD (what’s that?) or individual episodes available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video or iTunes, but most of the vast vault of this specific cultural history is nowhere to be found on the streaming platforms fans engage with most. In fact, no ’90s-era black sitcoms are currently available on Netflix, which has been lauded for its 'Black Lives Matter' catalogue of documentaries, films and original series. For its part, Hulu streams Living Single, Family Matters, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, Everybody Hates Chris and The Game. And Amazon Prime has classics like The Cosby Show and A Different World." Bentley Kyle Evans, an executive producer on Martin who created The Jamie Foxx Show -- which is also unavailable to stream -- called the scant number of revered shows available to watch featuring all-black casts “sad.” “You don’t even hear about shows like Malcolm & Eddie and Tracy Morgan’s first show. It’s as if they never existed,” Evans said. "The fact that Martin, which arguably produced as many unforgettable characters and one-liners as Seinfeld, is not available on streaming is particularly grating....Martin, especially, was such a cultural hit. People are still wearing T-shirts and quoting all his lines. There’s a hunger for it."

[TVFactFan]

The series is complete on DVD so it's not a huge deal