Acting as a spin-off to Moesha, the show initially received mixed reviews and was criticised for its outrageous characters. Co-created by the makers behind Moesha, The Jeffersons and Family Matters, the plot centred on Kim and her mother, Nikki Parker studying at Santa Monica jr college and earning their degrees. After becoming a young mother after giving birth to Kim, Nikki dropped out and never got the chance to finish high school, let alone go to college, and with that, the now older-yet none-the-wiser Nikki enrols at the same college as her daughter. Though it is not groundbreaking by any means, as a genuine comedy, The Parkers was broad and accessible enough that it managed to put a smile on my face, as well as make me laugh several times.
Entertainment-wise, it was also one of the better sitcoms that didn't come from one of the big four networks and was the first spin-off African-American show since A Different World and Family Matters to have a female character as the lead; I have to say I wasn't an avid watcher of Moesha, which was more teen-orientated, but The Parkers got my attention because of the comedic nature it gave off. The running gag with Nikki chasing the Professor, with it, this can be seen in today's lenses as problematic as it glamourises stalking and toxic relationships and characters such as Kim being dumbed down and being a white blonde stereotype. Nikki degraded herself in her attempts to gain Professor Stanley Oglevee's affection. Many sitcoms present the ''will they/won't they'' romance saga involving the male character and female character, with one of them developing their feelings towards the other person - but this is played out in the Parkers with the rejection element construed as obsessive, degrading, desperate and way out of line through Nikki's tactics. Tactics of which that had this been a male character going after a female character, words 'restraining order' & 'sexual harassment' would spring to mind.
As Moesha's slightly ditzy friend, the supporting character, Kim then became the joint lead, as well as breakout character, along with her mother, Nikki and in 1999, UPN launched The Parkers. By 2000, The Parkers emerged as one of cable TV's standout comedy hits during its debut year, at the time when sitcoms on mainstream U.S TV were being phased out in favour of reality TV and dramas. In the U.K, the show aired on weekdays on the then-satellite TV channel, Trouble from 2000 to 2004. The channel, whose key demographic were teenagers and young adults, primarily aired 1990s to 2000s U.S sitcoms.
There were some problematic episodes; Nikki believing she was pregnant by the professor and of whom was going to trick him into marrying her, and any episode where she was lusting after the professor when he said no multiple times, and some not so good ones, i.e. Stanley's no-good twin brother lusting after Nikki, and Nikki believing it was the professor being in love with her, Kim looking after her niece and her turning out to be the demon spawn from hell from season 1.
The fact that the personality-devoid Stanley Oglevee treated her badly -and yet somehow, in the end, realises he has feelings for Nikki, that they get together and fall in love and get married. All this after she stalked him and was dogging him for nearly 5 years, that he showed no actual interest in Nikki in the romantic sense and that he hated every minute of her presence. Given everything that has happened and the 'efforts' he went into to stop her from getting anywhere near him, especially when he was dating other women such as Stanley's on/off girlfriend, Veronica, it was... absurd how the writers came to this conclusion. & Nikki dumping the guy who she was about to marry, in Johnny. Of course, many fans wanted Nikki to get together with Johnny, rather than the professor, after being rejected by him time and again - Yet because it is sitcom law the writers had to pair Nikki up with Stanley, as Stanley is one of the main characters, alongside Nikki. Nikki was clingy and Stanley was a jerk: they had no emotional connection with one another, - and still, according to the writers opposites attract, somewhat as they try to convince us that Stanley was made for Nikki.
The mother-daughter combo dynamic, with the casting of Mo'Nique and Countess Vaughn, worked better than the professor/Nikki storyline, as it evolves over time. Nikki realising that Kim is no longer little anymore and is old enough to take care of herself and Kim seeing to that Nikki has a whole lot more to offer than just being her mum; aside from that, overall, it was hilarious and amusing. But when it tried to be deeply thought-provoking and serious, with Nikki's progression, because of the silly and goofball nature The Parkers elicited, that and the romance storylines with Nikki pursuing/chasing the professor and the T and Stevie thing that felt forced and shoe-horned in, I couldn't take the series seriously enough. Another problematic thing about Nikki was of her s**t-shaming skinny women, which back then was amusing, yet viewing it today, it was pretty cruel and mean in nature.
Whilst the wackiness and absurdist comedy will take some viewers out, for other audiences in search of laughs and humour, The Parkers is, nonetheless, occasionally silly and hilarious, with its nutty, screwball approach to sitcoms; many of which tend to go down the serious route through its storylines. It is a different show compared to its predecessor, Moesha; it's arguably more entertaining with more emphasis placed on generating laughs, although the last few episodes of the final season of The Parkers steered the series not quite so in the wrong direction, - rather it headed in a direction that by the last episode, it practically ran out of steam, as well as with an ending that is in hindsight & regarded by many fans of The Parkers, as one of the worst TV sitcom series finales of all time.
With all that being said, as a TV show, The Parkers was and still is a whole lot of fun and it was anything but dull.
Waiching
Season ratings:
Season 2: 8.5
Season 3: 8.5
Season 4: 8
Season 5: 8
Final score (out of 10): 8.5
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