“In Living Color” Cast Talks Launching The Iconic Sketch Show, Spike Lee’s Disapproval And The Show’s Everlasting Success

The cast and crew of #InLivingColor shared stories and behind-the-scene events they’ve never told before about the monumental sketch show. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the cast reflected on the 25th anniversary of the show, opened up about the controversy of the sketch comedy program’s with Fox network and revealed #SpikeLee wasn’t fond of the show initially.

In the beginning, cast member and the show’s creator, #KeenanIvoryWayans, was approached by Fox to create a new program rather than a film – what Wayans was actually interested in. “I had done a movie called I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. And it was a big success. And I had set up screenings of the movie for all the studios’ film departments. But Fox didn’t come. Instead they sent the TV execs. And so when I got a call, I thought I was going in to meet with the film side of Fox and instead ended up in a meeting with the network.”

FOX Entertainment President, Garth Ancier said he kept the idea for the show in note cards. “I kept index cards of promising ideas on a corkboard behind my head. One card just said “black Laugh-In.” We needed someone to bring it to life.”

When the cast and crew finished with the pilot, they say they knew it would stir some people up. “By the time the pilot was finished in 1989, I had left. Peter Chernin took over. But I saw it and I know a lot of people at Fox were offended by it. I made my thoughts known to Fox Chief Barry Diller that it was a valuable show and to go forward with it,” Ancier explained. “It was just wildly funny, and network television had never done anything this pointed about race in America, said Fox Entertainment President, Peter Chernin. In Living Color’s popular sketch “Men on Films,” which featured #DamonWayans and #DavidAlanGrier as two gay men critiquing films, was one sketch in particular that execs questioned.

In addition to some viewers taking offense to the ground-breaking show, filmmaker, Spike Lee also shared his disdain for its comedic content. “Spike Lee hated the show. He got really mad at us because he thought we were over-the-top about Do the Right Thing. He did not like us making fun of him. People would get angry when we poked fun at them. Arsenio Hall too — anybody that we really poked fun at,” said Grier. Wayans says by the fourth season, Fox began to neglect the show’s production, promoting him to leave.

“What started to happen into the fourth season was that it was a business. Fox started to rerun the show before it got into syndication. They were using the show to launch other shows. And they were devaluing it. I felt like they were exploiting me. So I left [in the middle of the season],” Wayans said.

The show’s cancellation created many side-eyes directed at Fox. “After Keenen and Damon left, people at Fox told us to stop communicating with them. I think we had Stockholm syndrome,” said Les Firestein, a writer and producer for the show. Firestein continued, “When we were canceled [in 1994], I believe we were a bigger hit in the ratings than Seinfeld. My feeling is that the reruns prematurely aged the series. Also, I believe there was an ethnic cleansing at Fox. They were trying to become more mainstream. They started canceling African American-centric shows like South Central and Roc.”

Despite the show’s end, it became greatly known for its progressive content, nearly all Black-led cast and being a catalyst for the careers of #JimCarrey, #JamieFoxx, and #JenniferLopez. To read the full interview, visit THR’s website.