BERNIE MAC SHOW, THE: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere in this comedy series about the changes in the life of successful stand-up comedian Bernie Mac after he agrees to take in his drug-addled sister's three children. The program punctuates the narrative with confessional sequences in which characters address the camera, and subtitles occasionally appear onscreen providing additional information about the unfolding drama. This episode opens as Bernie Mac extols the virtues of his favorite vice: a good cigar. Soon he receives a phone call from his drug-abusing sister, who is being sent to prison for theft. She asks Bernie to take in her three children. Bernie's business-executive wife, Wanda, tells the camera that she is not sure that Bernie is up to the task, but Bernie states that he does not want the children sent to a foster home. As soon as he arrives at the airport to pick up the kids, Bernie realizes that he may have underestimated the responsibilities involved in raising children: eight-year-old Jordan has wet his pants and refuses to get off the plane, thirteen-year-old Vanessa is in the throes of petulant adolescence, and five-year-old Bryana is confused about where she is. Bernie brings the children home and takes them on a tour of his mansion while he compiles a list of things he insists they are not to touch "or even look at." Later that night, it becomes clear that Jordan has a health problem: he cannot stop coughing. Bernie loads the kids into his sports-utility vehicle and takes them to the drug store, where he learns that Jordan is pre-asthmatic. As Bernie tries to learn about Jordan's condition, the children run wild through the store, earning Bernie a number of dirty looks and raised eyebrows. Bernie finally loses his temper, shouting at all three children and causing a scene. The next day, Bernie is shocked to find that Vanessa has called a social worker to come to the house and investigate Bernie's parenting skills. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: FOX
- DATE: November 14, 2001 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:45
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:68739
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama; She Made It Collection (Gail Berman); African-American Collection - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: Fox - TV series, 2001-2006
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Larry Wilmore … Executive Producer, Created by
- Warren Hutcherson … Co-Executive Producer
- Kriss Turner … Supervising Producer
- Bernie Mac … Producer
- Steven Greener … Producer
- Michael Petok … Producer
- Ken Kwapis … Producer, Director
- Teri Schaffer … Producer, Writer
- Marshall Boone … Associate Producer
- Jason Fisher … Associate Producer
- Stanley Smith … Music by
- Bernie Mac … Cast, Bernie Mac
- Kellita Smith … Cast, Wanda Mac
- Dee Dee Davis … Cast, Bryana
- Jeremy Suarez … Cast, Jordan
- Camille Windbush … Cast, Vanessa
- Reginald Ballard … Cast, W.B.
- Matt Bessar … Cast, Brad Cooley
- Ed Cambridge … Cast, Grandfather at Airport
- Luck Hari … Cast, Pharmacist
- Daniel Smith … Cast, Grandson at Airport
- Matt Winston … Cast, Airport Official
- Cal Gibson … Cast
- Carlos Mencia … Cast
- Kelly Perine … Cast