‘Everybody Hates Chris’ Is the Only UPN Show To Be Nominated For This Award

When we think of iconic sitcoms, we often think of shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Friends. However, there is a slew of other amazing shows that have slipped under the radar because their run wasn’t as long as some of the other popular shows.

The hilarious and critically acclaimed Everybody Hates Chris is just one of these series. The series aired from 2005 to 2009 first on UPN and then on The CW. Though the series only ran for four seasons it aired a massive 88 episodes and was syndicated really quickly.

Fans of the show remember Chris’ (Tyler James Williams) hilarious facial expressions and the fact that his father Julius (Terry Crews) was notoriously cheap. However, it was also the only UPN show in the network’s 13-year run to be nominated for this award.

‘Everybody Hates Chris’ is based on Chris Rock’s childhood

Based on the life of comedian Chris Rock, Everybody Hates Chris was set in Brooklyn from 1982 to 1987. It chronicled Chris’ time in middle school and high school as the eldest child who often fell in the shadow of his popular younger brother Drew, and his spoiled baby sister, Tonya.

The series also followed his no-nonsense mother,  mother Rochelle, and his frugal father, Julius. The American Film Insitute praised Everybody Hates Chris saying,

The show provides a very real look at growing up in America – a challenge that demands a discussion of race and class often absent from television today.

This is how ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ ended

After four seasons, Everybody Hates Chris came to a rather abrupt end. Chris was at the end of his sophomore year in high school, but he was in danger of failing due to excessive tardiness.

In the season finale, he decides to drop out of high school and take the G.E.D. instead, The episode ends with Rochelle opening the envelope that contains Chris’s results but the audience never knew if he failed or passed.

During a recent Q&A Williams revealed if Chris passed or failed. “Yes, he does and drops out,” he wrote on Twitter. “This starts the journey to comedy. The finale was a shot for shot parody of the Sopranos finale which also aired that year.”

‘Everybody Hates Chris’ is the only UPN show to be nominated for this award

In 2006, Everybody Hates Chris was nominated for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. It was in its first year and in the final year od UPN’s existence. Williams tweeted,

We premiere on UPN and got the network their first and only Golden Globe nomination in our first season before UPN merged with the WB to create what is now the CW. We were a big part of a small collective of shows that helped launch the CW to what it is today.

Though there have been talks about a reboot for the series, since it’s still so beloved, Williams says the issue is that the entire cast is very busy. “All work regularly, in a variety of different mediums, genres, networks etc. We’ll keep trying but I’m proud of our scheduling issue,” he wrote.