Here and Now (1992 TV series)

Here and Now is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 19, 1992 to January 2, 1993. The series starred Malcolm-Jamal Warner in the lead role, who prior to this series co-starred in The Cosby Show which ended its run in April 1992. Bill Cosby served as one of the show's executive producers along with Warner serving as executive consultant credited as M.J. Warner. The song "Tennessee" by Arrested Development was used as the show's theme song.

Here and Now
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Tracy Gamble Jerry Perzigian Don Seigel Richard Vaczy
Written by	Walter Allen Bennett, Jr. Bill Boulware Tracy Gamble Barry Gurstein Brian Kahn Mike Milligan Jay Moriarty Jerry Perzigian Marco Pennette David Pitlik Don Siegel Richard Vaczy
Directed by	John Bowab
Starring	Malcolm-Jamal Warner Charles Brown S. Epatha Merkerson Daryl "Chill" Mitchell Rachael Crawford Jessica Stone Pee Wee Love Shaun Weiss
Opening theme	"Tennessee" by Arrested Development
Composer(s)	Stu Gardner
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	15 (2 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bill Cosby George E. Crosby Tracy Gamble Mike Milligan Jay Moriarty Richard Vaczy
Producer(s)	Barry Gurstein David Pitlik
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	SAH Productions, Inc. NBC Productions
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Original release	September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19) – January 2, 1993 (1993-01-02)

Synopsis

Alexander "A.J." James (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is a recent college graduate who majored in psychology now attending post graduate school. He returns to his old neighborhood in Harlem to become a counselor at a local youth center.[1] While working at the center he is living with Sydney (Charles Brown), his non-biological uncle who works as a doorman for a living. The series co-stars included S. Epatha Merkerson as Ms. St. Marth as the head of the youth center (Brenda Pressley played the role in the pilot episode),[2] Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as T, a former delinquent now working at the center, Rachael Crawford as Danielle, Sydney's daughter, A.J's "cousin" and occasional love interest and Jessica Stone as Amy a fellow post grad student attending the same school as A.J., also working at the center. Pee Wee Love and Shaun Weiss also co-starred as A.J.'s counselees, Ramdall and William respectively.

The series bore many similarities with Warner's previous series The Cosby Show, mostly in relation to Warner's characters. Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show and A.J. on this series were both psychology majors and worked at youth centers. Warner stated that difference between A.J. and Theo was that A.J. was "more hip and street wise".[3]

Cast

• Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Alexander "A.J." James
• Charles Brown as "Uncle" Sydney
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Claudia St. Marth
• Daryl Mitchell as T
• Rachael Crawford as Danielle
• Jessica Stone as Amy
• Pee Wee Love as Ramdall Freeman
• Shaun Weiss as William

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	TBA	TBA	September 19, 1992 (1992-09-19)
2	"Lovers and Other Dangers"	TBA	TBA	September 28, 1992 (1992-09-28)
3	"Trust Me"	John Bowab	Mike Milligan & Jay Moriarty	October 3, 1992 (1992-10-03)
4	"One on Won"	John Bowab	Brian Kahn	October 10, 1992 (1992-10-10)
5	"Guess Who's Coming to the Center"	TBA	TBA	October 17, 1992 (1992-10-17)
6	"A Halloween Kiss (a.k.a. The Halloween Show)"	TBA	TBA	October 31, 1992 (1992-10-31)
7	"Love Handles"	John Bowab	Bill Boulware	November 14, 1992 (1992-11-14)
8	"Great Expectations"	John Bowab	TBA	November 21, 1992 (1992-11-21)
9	"A.J.'s Big Leap"	John Bowab	Barry Gurstein & David Pitlik	November 28, 1992 (1992-11-28)
10	"Take My Grandparents... Please!"	TBA	TBA	December 5, 1992 (1992-12-05)
11	"Blacksliding"	TBA	TBA	December 12, 1992 (1992-12-12)
12	"Pre-Ring Circus"	TBA	TBA	January 2, 1993 (1993-01-02)
13	"Pennies from Heaven"	TBA	TBA	UNAIRED

Broadcast history

The series aired on Saturday nights on NBC premiering on September 19, 1992 leading off the network's Saturday night lineup at the time. It was ultimately canceled on January 2, 1993 due to low ratings with two episodes unaired out of the fifteen episodes that were produced. Bill Cosby later admitted that he felt the show's cancellation was justified due to the series not being very well written.[4]

References

1. "Angel Street" & The Bedevilment of Blacks On The Tube, The Crisis Nov-Dec 1992
2. VARIETY TV REV 1991-92 17
3. The Cosby Book By Ronald L. Smith Copyright 1986, 1993
4. Life After The Cosby Show (Article on Bill Cosby), Ebony May 1994

External links

• Here and Now on IMDb
• Here and Now at TV.com
• Here and Now at epguides.com