Martin Lawrence Once Shared 1 of His Favorite Episodes off of His Hit Sitcom ‘Martin’
Comedian Martin Lawrence appeared in a reunion special for his classic series Martin not too long ago. The hit show helped launch Lawrence’s career, catapulting him to superstardom. Looking back on the series, there were a few episodes that stood out more than most.
1 of Martin Lawrence’s favorite episodes was never shown on TV before
Lawrence’s Martin was one of the most popular shows on television at the time. Thanks to the series’ endearing legacy, it continues to reach new fans to this day. In 2022, the Bad Boys star reunited with Tisha Campbell and a bunch of other familiar cast members for Martin: The Reunion. At the time, Lawrence reflected on the series, and expressed gratitude that the show’s success allowed for a reunion special in the first place.
“It’s truly a blessing to even be here and to be able to have a reunion and go back and to reminisce on your work. And watching and enjoying your labor that you put in, and the fun that you had, and the camaraderie, and the chemistry, and just everything you had with each other,” Lawrence told Forbes.
During the interview, he reminisced on his time on the show. Martin spawned five seasons and 132 episodes, some of them being written by Lawrence himself. With one episode Lawrence pointed out being an all-time favorite.
“One of my favorite ones is the boxing episode. That’s the episode I wrote. I wrote that episode and we had ‘The Hitman’ Thomas Hearns on there. That was one of my favorite episodes to do because I get beat up and at the end of that episode, I come out with the big head all swollen up and everything else. And you had never had seen nothing like that on TV, not on a sitcom. So that’s one of my favorite episodes,” he said.
Martin Lawrence once explained why his show ended
Martin already left a sizable impact on pop culture after just five seasons on the air. But the show might’ve been able to go on for longer. In an interview with GQ, Lawrence shared that it was ultimately his decision to walk away from the series.
“It just was time to end. Let’s just put it that way,” he said.
Lawrence asserted that a lawsuit filed against him was one of his main motivators for exiting the successful sitcom. His co-star and onscreen partner Campbell once sued Lawrence for sexual battery and making verbal threats against her. Campbell would eventually leave the show because of these alleged offenses. Lawrence, however, released a statement through a spokesperson, denying the accusations. He believed all of these issues was due to a contract dispue.
“Martin has long been Tisha’s champion and protector, and is thus deeply hurt by these allegations,” the statement said according to the Roanoke Times. “There is no merit to the lawsuit, and it will be vigorously defended.”
But years later, Campbell and Lawrence would reconcile. Although he confided that they never really spoke about the accusations.
“We don’t need to talk about something that just didn’t happen. So I just decided to walk away from the show. I just decided to end it. People said that I got canceled, but that wasn’t the case. I decided to just leave the show,” he said.
He also harbored no ill will or grudges against Campbell.
“I love Tisha. I’ve seen her then and now, now and then, always with nothing but love. I have nothing but love for her, and I always have,” he said.
What Martin Lawrence wanted audiences to take away from ‘Martin’
Despite being a sitcom, Martin had a few important life lessons for its audience. But the esteemed comic was one lesson Lawrence wanted fans to take home above all else.
“It is not to take life so seriously,” he said. “To live life and know that it’s about laughter. And comedy is about anything that you can do to get a laugh and have fun with respect and love and all good intention and everything. But to not to take life so seriously, and to live and to laugh.”
