Jamie King is a hopeful actor hailing from Terrell, Texas and the son of a singer, who has arrived in Los Angeles to pursue a career as an entertainer and to make it big in Hollywood. In a fish-out-of-water scenario and in his quest to fulfil his lifelong dream and to support himself, he works in his aunt and uncle's hotel, the financially-strapped 'King's Tower' owned by Helen and Junior King, whilst honing his musical talents.
Amongst his coworkers during the series were Francesca 'Fancy' Monroe; a desk clerk who is elegant, beautiful, smart and prefers to keep things strictly professional and of whom doesn't want to date any of her employees, and Braxton P. Hartnabrig: a stuff-shirted, brooding, bourgeois- type, who acts as the King's Tower's accountant, & draws comparisons with Carlton Banks of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in terms of wit and sarcasm. Braxton acts as the comic relief with his encounter with Jamie and the pair traded verbal jabs with each other. Jamie's romantic endeavours towards Fancy became an overriding subplot over the course of the series as he tries to win over her attention.
The show's messages focus on the importance of hard work and family, but it also has an uplifting and playful tone, thanks to Foxx's energy and sense of humour; whilst some have argued The Jamie Foxx Show constructs a situation that ought to allow the star to let loose (probably akin to Mork and Mindy for Robin Williams) only for him to be restrained.
Starring future Hollywood movie actor, Jamie Foxx, The Jamie Foxx Show - co-produced by Bentley Kyle Evans who was a showrunner on Fox's Martin, starring comedian, Martin Lawrence -, is Foxx's self-titled series, coming off the back of the cancelled, In Living Color, wherein he made his TV debut; & became the WB's highest-rated series of the 1996-97 season ahead of fellow WB shows, The Steve Harvey Show and Brotherly Love. The Jamie Foxx Show filled the gap for African-American sitcoms that was left after The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came to an end in 1996 and Will Smith was embarking on a Hollywood film career and Martin went off the air in 1997 after a 5-season run.
Although it wasn't a major success on the ratings side of things that was comparable to that of NBC's big-hitters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends and Frasier, given it aired on The WB, which was a relatively new network at the time, The Jamie Foxx Show did help launch Foxx's career as he transitioned from the small screen to the big screen as a major movie star. Come 2001, the sitcom reached 100 episodes in total. It also featured appearances from guest stars such as then NBA- player, Gary Payton, rapper and actor, Ice Cube, singers Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight & Diff'rent Strokes' Gary Coleman who played Arnold Willis.
Whereas many will choose to dismiss this sitcom and Jamie Foxx's antics, he manages to sell it and through his charisma and not-too-wacky demeanour, makes it more entertaining and appealing to endure, whilst the rest of the cast are as solid or good as Foxx. Usually, most or some sitcoms have one or two strong players within their ranks, but here, I'd say everyone is pretty much even. Whilst this is Jamie Foxx's show, Garcelle Beauvais is equally sound (and in all honesty her roles right after The Jamie Foxx Show, do not come anywhere close as good as she was and is here), and she compliments Foxx really well as his female counterpart and love interest. I'd add my two cents by saying the first two seasons focused a lot more on the punchline and being silly and humourous and the last two seasons tended to be serious as they tried to consolidate the Jamie and Fancy relationship and retooling the storyline, with Jamie quitting his job at the hotel and in becoming a singer. Thanks to Beauvais, I like the counterbalance that she provides that offsets Foxx's goofiness & shenanigans by being the grounded, emotional core in their on/off relationship as Fancy, and in which his goofiness as Jamie King, isn't too over-the-top, brash and wacky.
I like the humour, the characters are likeable (in addition Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Elia English are all great) and I enjoyed the series more as it went on, whilst the final season, despite it not being as strong with the added new characters, of whom offered little to the series, nor were hilarious, it was still well done; with the Jamie and Fancy relationship managed far better than say the Caroline and Richard relationship during that penultimate season of Caroline in the City. In-between Fancy and Jamie getting and being together, they see and date other people, but as we notice with these things and other sitcoms, these relationships don't last very long. Jamie Foxx and Garcelle Beauvais made for a tempting and pleasing onscreen sitcom couple.
As so-called second-tier situation comedies are concerned, The Jamie Foxx Show was and is one of the more entertaining and hipper offerings around, particularly from the 1990s. It's fun, fresh and on several rewatches, still holds its own.
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