Living Single – My one and Obie

Full transcript of Living Single – My one and Obie.

0:00KT: Good day, Jambo and Malo e lelei. Welcome to the first episode of year two in the For Your Reference podcast. Woo hoo. Woo hoo hoo indeed. And as my people would say, Malo e lelei. Asante sana, squash banana. We fucking love you guys so much. I know we keep shouting out our one Spanish listener that pleasures us in our sleep. But for everyone that has tuned into our podcast, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. February was done in the best and most delicious of ways. Literally,

0:40KT: we had a Reference Degustation and we also ended it in the Splooshies. Oh, nothing bits of Splooshies. We had red carpet interviews from our beloved VIP patrons as well as some guests. And there were definitely some upsets, Oti, in regards to the award winners. But if you wanna see or hear more details in regards to the Splooshie Awards, definitely check it out. It was it was the first time we've done anything like that. Right, Oti? Like, with that sort of format, with literally the bells and the sploosh whistles. That

1:20KT: was a tongue twister Yeah. It was. In the most pleasurable

1:23KT: of ways.

1:23Oti: Max, you'd hear it as a Flo Rida song

1:26Oti: pretty soon.

1:26KT: Is he still around?

1:26Oti: Oh, yeah. He won't go anywhere.

1:26KT: How funny would it be if you say Candyman five times and Flo Rida pops up?

1:37Oti: Now you know Jordan Peele missed the trick.

1:41KT: Yeah. Like the next, you know, when they do like, I got five on it and like say my name, the next one will be like a Flo Rida.

1:49Oti: Yep.

1:52KT: A Flo Rida joint. But again, we just wanted to say thank you so much. It's crazy to think it's our second year but we just wanted to have a cute little thank you and welcome.

2:04Oti: Welcome indeed.

2:05KT: We do not guarantee it's going to be clean for you to listen to with your children, but we can almost guarantee that you can probably make some children off of listening to these episodes. So as we like to do in the For Your Reference household, we are going to be starting off with your phrase or mine.

2:29Oti: Just paying homage to Kyle Barker.

2:31KT: Oh. Oh. Is that you? Great toss. And

2:35Oti: his his Kenyan march in the show. Yep. I'm giving you a Kenyan proverb.

2:42KT: Nice.

2:43Oti: We share the same sun but not our homes.

2:49KT: I think it's mind your business. You don't know what shit I'm going through?

2:56Oti: Nope. It means we all have the same opportunities to succeed in life as the sun shines for everyone, but it's what we do during the the day that will reflect on what we bring to our homes.

3:14KT: Oh, were you being sentimental in this sexual household? Oh, yeah. How dare you?

3:22Oti: Four black people living in an apartment in New York, they did some really bloody good hard work. A brownstone. Brownstone. Oh,

3:32KT: that's really sweet. And I like to extend that to our listeners. There are many podcasts and, you know, we're we're all about polyamory. We're not telling you to be exclusive with For Your Reference, although it might be nice. But thank you so much for choosing to listen and in many cases to continue to listen week after week. Thank you so much. Hey, friends and lovers. Welcome back to For Your Reference podcast,

4:22KT: or might I say welcome to the first episode of year two in the For Your Reference podcast. You've got your host, KT.

4:22Oti: And Oti.

4:22KT: And hold on to your wigs and secure your silk robe because this week we are covering Living Single.

4:39Oti: We are living

4:42KT: Same thing. Oh, stay true to the tune, mate.

4:42Oti: I had to modernize it, didn't you reckon?

4:42KT: Speaking of modernizing it, how dare I, before even talking about the stats? The creator, Yvette Lee Bowser, is actually a producer, and she's well involved in Dear White People. Oh. Yeah. Yeah.

5:06Oti: How much do you love her?

5:10KT: Well, you know, there are thoughts to be had and we're definitely going to share them today. Thank you Oti for taking the singing baton.

5:21Oti: Oh, yep. Just wait for the rapper drop throughout this epi.

5:25KT: Damn dumb. You also had some sweet singing moments in the Splooshies Awards. Oh, yeah. As always, people do. But welcome, welcome, welcome. You would have heard through the intro. We said we fucking love you guys and thank you so much. If this is your first introduction to For Your Reference, we are not going to preface anything because we're super nasty like that. But if you've tuned in more than one time, well, I guess you can't complain to our HR department, which is our dog. But again, thank you so much for tuning in.

6:02KT: I feel revved up to go, and I'm so excited that this is our first episode. Me too. Me too. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Well, let's do what we do and start off with the stats. This ever eternal, universal, all encompassing show premiered on Fox on the 08/22/1993. Mhmm. You'd love to hear about the first impressions and where we were or where we were swimming if you're part of the plan. Like I mentioned, the creator is Yvette Lee Bowser. It garnered a lot of praise. It became a fan fave and it became

6:45KT: consistently higher in ratings than Martin, which came out a year before Living Single. It also got acknowledged for some awards as well. It was nominated for a couple of Emmys. However, it didn't win it. Mhmm. But they did win some NAACP awards which is pretty cute guy. Let's just glaze over, we're definitely going to marinade maybe I'm hungry, I just ate but who cares?

7:14Oti: Calm down, Max. Damn. Hey.

7:17KT: And I wasn't even trying to be a reference. There you go. We have Queen Latifah. She was fully fledged coronated queen. A skedita? You know what? And in this show, there were moments in the early seasons where it was like a hard j like Khadijah, but then sometimes they'll do a soft j like Khadijah.

7:39Oti: Oh. Right? I I Didn't pick pick pick on that but, you know. Pickety snickety. That's what we do around here.

7:48KT: We also have Kim Coles, Erika Alexander, John Henton, Kim Fields, and Terrence T.C. Carson. Mhmm. A slew of guests, and I can't wait to talk about the guests as well as the main cast as well. But those are the stats that we have for Living Single. What a show. Let's start off with what we always do, which is first impressions. If you've listened to our podcast before, you'll know that we talk a lot about our frame of reference, all of us can be watching the same thing, but experience or things just hit different.

8:26KT: That's what the kids are saying, by the way. Feel free to note that down in your Herbert the Pervert book. Like it just hits different and, you know, your frame of reference can really influence how you feel and how you consume and how you immerse yourself in a particular world. So let's start off with Oti. I think you have more of a claim on this show because I am quite new to it. But let's start off with your first impressions. Again, this came out in 1993,

8:58KT: so I know you already had your kids and your first mortgage. As if Kyle didn't have a secret family. Oh, he I'm sure he

9:08Oti: fathered a lot of people out there.

9:12KT: So, let's dive into it. I'm assuming you're in Kenya at the time. How are you feeling? What were you going through? What was it like?

9:22Oti: I watched this, I think, in around the 1998 sort of period. Alright. I think we were binge watching it with my brother and sister, and it was just one of the shows that I really just resonated with. It was Fresh saying just successful black people doing their thing without really paying too much attention to

9:54Oti: the skin color. It's just normal life. Like, it's just successful people, you know?

9:54KT: And and that's actually what I wanna mention as well. We'll continue to talk about first impressions. But what I really loved about this show was they was like, the characters were so proudly black, but they weren't they didn't have to constantly remind you that they were black. Yeah. You know what I mean? And especially in this, like, it's so you know, it's very important to make sure you put your most diverse person in the front of the office, you know.

10:32KT: Diversity inclusion is starting to launch as well. But you know what I mean? Like, it was just good to have it without having to announce the fact that this is something that you can relate to or it's something to be proud of or it's something to give accolades to. Yeah. It just was. It

10:53Oti: really was. And I think one of the things that really made me gravitate towards the show here's a sorry. This is a sort of tangent, but I started watching Friends before I started watching Living Single. How dare you? And just it was just completely different. And I think back in the day, it was just blowing my mind how we would sit through season after season without breaking and by God, mate. It was amazing.

11:25KT: Like, tasty morsel. What's what's your bold British man? Is it Ross Kemp? Yeah. So this is not a KT Kemp expose. Everyone knows that the executive of NBC said if he could have any show, it would be Living Single and the next year later, Friends turned up on NBC. So, you know, if if you wanna hear about KT expose, we can talk about that, but that's not what we're going through today. I think it's a fun little fact that people like to throw out there that, you know, deserves the accolades.

12:02KT: You know what I mean?

12:04Oti: Like, it's crazy. It's crazy because watching with you for the second time, I felt like, of course, there was a lot of things that I missed. Mhmm. And there's a lot of, like, funny moments that just went through my head even though it was enjoyable for me at that time. I came to understand it more and it's just more shocking that it didn't get the sort of acclaim that it deserved.

12:28KT: Yeah. Because even in the fifth and final season, it was just abruptly canceled. Yeah. Yeah. And I guess that's an interesting sort of phase because you were watching it when you were pre teen teen? Pre teen? Yeah. So you you're watching it in a different sort of age bracket and now you're watching it in your delicious most delightful of ages now. Most teens, yeah. Well, yeah. We're all legal in the For Your Reference household. Yeah. For sure. The things we do to each other is questionable,

13:04KT: but we're all very legal in the For Your Reference household. So I guess it'll be interesting as well as we talk through the show for you to give your perspectives of, you know, whether you found more layers or whether it just didn't stand up to time. I think that will be quite interesting as well, but that's interesting. And the fact that it came on to air in Kenya as well. Oh, yeah. Or were these were these on the side where you're blue movies?

13:30Oti: No. Were these were being aired on on national television. They would do it, like, the whole sort of Saturday night or Like, bring the family around and Yeah. Just just have some fun, and it would be this and then we'll switch it off to Martin. Martin. But, yeah, it was just completely a good experience.

13:52KT: Definitely. Let's just quickly go through my first impressions. Now, if you've got any pearls now is your time to clutch them. I had never heard of Living Single growing up.

14:07Oti: Dear.

14:07KT: You see how what I have to put up with? Yeah. He doesn't have pearls, so he's clutching something else.

14:16KT: But I don't and correct me, Australian friends and lovers, I really don't think Living Single was being aired. Really? Yeah. Because we had it's called TV One in Australia, which is where I found 30 Rock. For some reason, 30 Rock, while it was still airing, was on this channel. But it just to give you a tasting sort of reference, it would play M*A*S*H. It would play what's the one with is it Gary Coleman and they're living in an apartment? Diff'rent Strokes? Yes.

14:48KT: And they were playing The Cosby Show. They were playing Cheers. Yeah. They were playing all these sorts of yes. They also play JAG. They also play at NCIS. Go and pop the kettle on because we're having a geriatric episode. How

15:06Oti: young are you? You're referencing NCIS in this.

15:10KT: No. I think everyone's I think everyone's original first knee has disappeared if you're watching NCIS. But my point is it had shows that were older that were in syndication. Yeah. And I don't ever remember seeing Living Single. That's not to say that it didn't like I said, we couldn't afford the premium package in Australia in my circles.

15:37Oti: Yeah. So the Mormon don't endorse Living Single, The brown Mormon.

15:43KT: But yeah. So again, I'm I'm not saying that it wasn't airing in Australia, but I had never come across it. Wow. Yeah. And then I don't even I think you were talking about two d or something. And that's how we came into the conversation about Living Single. And I'm like, I've never watched this before. And just to, I guess, finish off this sort of first impressions, you know, there are so many nostalgic shows that just don't hold up. Mhmm. Martin. Now,

16:14KT: Martin Lawrence, if you ever wanna come to our podcast, I will be your best friend. And I will I will still be your best friend. I doubt that. Yep. Sodium friends and lovers, listen to our Bad Boys for Life, Bad Boys trilogy episode because I I talk about Martin Lawrence, he was a punk ass bitch as Marcus. Mhmm. But we tried watching Martin as well. Martin and that first episode, it just didn't age well. Yeah. It just didn't age well.

16:50KT: And you've tried to get me to watch Friends like six times. Mhmm. And I think we did a Twitter poll on this already, but I I'm a completist. If you told me a show is good, I am watching it from the start. Yeah. And if it's shit from the start, then you can bugger off. And that's the case with Friends. Like, it's it's terrible. I know people talk about pivot

17:14KT: or whatever the fuck. We were on a break. I can reference shit. Okay?

17:14Oti: You're not allowed to reference shit you don't know. You don't you don't watch it. Those references are invalid to you.

17:26KT: Have you just ignored the last 55 episodes where we just do we reference responsibly? No. We do not. We don't many responsibly. But again, we're all legals and that's all that matters. But, yeah, like, we've tried to watch shows that were older and they just didn't stand up, especially with sitcoms. That becomes a finicky sort of genre if that's what you wanna call it Yeah. As well and I definitely wanna talk about the sitcom sort of format especially in regards to Synclaire.

17:58Oti: Yeah. And and I guess one of my fears in trying to recommend Living Single to you to watch it was that because sitcoms are quite weird now because we can't really find a good sitcom at the moment.

18:13KT: I think it just got lazy. It became stale. Yeah. Yeah. Like when's the last sitcom you can remember that was good? Is How I Met Your Mother a sitcom?

18:24Oti: Yes.

18:25KT: Because I tried watching that and that was fucking shite. Come and fight me, bitches.

18:31Oti: Was good for it was good for the first

18:34Oti: five seasons.

18:34KT: To know that you motherfuckers sat around waiting ten years to find out. You all fucking deserve it. Oh.

18:47Oti: But, yeah, I was scared because you they have that laugh track, and I know you have a thing about laugh tracks

18:47KT: and I fucking hate it.

18:47Oti: Just because Tina Fey didn't put laugh tracks doesn't mean that everyone else should drop it.

18:47KT: She should put fanny flutter tracks because I'm fanny fluttering all over her shit.

18:47Oti: Oh, you can funny flutters all over but no one would know who she is anyway.

19:09KT: Doug. Look at you, Oti. Usually, Oti references stuff that are years old but he just referenced something that was very recent. Oh, you're welcome. Sarang it's a BTS reference.

19:22Oti: But yeah. It's it's I I was really scared in how you would perceive this because this is a show that really kinda meant a lot growing up. Just watching it and having fun with it and it's one of the shows you can just completely

19:38Oti: lose yourself into.

19:38KT: And I think it's the first sitcom that we covered. Yeah. For the reason that I for my aversion to sitcoms.

19:46Oti: Yeah.

19:47KT: Yeah. Look at that. Breaking borders here. Yeah. And wait for our Christmas special where we actually give a rating out of 10 because I am going to knock everyone's socks off. But wow. Let's let's give some general notes about the series and we can also continue to talk about sitcoms as well because I think it is quite important. I I guess I also just wanna say that, you know, sometimes people's critique of a TV show or a movie is that it feels dated. I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment. Like, can say something is,

20:25KT: you know, contemporary for the time, like Nausicaa was very eighties with the synth and the shoulder pads and the frizzy hair but this show, Living Single felt very nineties but I don't think with the negative connotation people use, yes, you could see that it was in the nineties, but it doesn't mean it doesn't still slap. Yeah. That's another that's another word that the kids use, Herbert the Oti.

20:57Oti: I think Anders do that. Creel. It's it's it's quite weird that you took to it this much.

21:09KT: Oh, like from the pilot, I instantly loved it.

21:13Oti: Yeah. Ridiculous. I did not expect that at all.

21:17KT: Yeah. Because I think you didn't realize you were setting it up for success by showing me bullshit shows like Friends and How I Met Your Mother. As soon as we saw Living Single, I'm like, this is fucking solid. Like, five minutes into the pilot, I cared about all of them. Not Synclaire, but I didn't like, I cared about all of the characters and I wanted to see them try to navigate their twenties. You

21:43Oti: could just imagine how sort of pivotal this was in that sort of period because me watching it in 1997 felt like groundbreaking shit. And then just imagining that it was years before

21:59KT: Yeah. Like, I didn't I didn't think that people that. And to have that and In to have your twenties at that time, it would have been very Yeah. I don't know. For me, it would have been very meaningful to have that in real time. And also, you know, you talked about it earlier, just like just the fact that it was just normal.

22:17KT: Like, it didn't have to be such a big song and dance that they were successful. Yeah. And the fact that you had four leading women in this, like Yeah. Stand aside, Sex and the City and all, like Which Oti loves as well.

22:34Oti: I have a lot of sisters.

22:37KT: Sister wives. Yes.

22:41Oti: Like, they're breaking the mold in a lot of ways, and people are not just giving it credit for a lot of things because you'd get, like, Sex and the City, they said, oh, this is so innovative having four leading women and all. But now, me, Living Single was doing it first.

22:56KT: And they were tackling real life shit. Exactly. And I think, you know, for all of the accolades that we're giving, the the most poignant point is that it was fucking great. It wasn't just the cultural sort of accolades. It was the fact that it was actually a great show with characters that you maybe not resonated with, but you wanted to see how they continued in their hijinks. Oh yeah, for sure. And that's not an easy thing to do. It really isn't,

23:24Oti: it's not.

23:26KT: So yeah, definitely a great show all around and obviously there are comparisons with Friends. I usually have a segment where I talk about foundational qualms that get that get in the way of discussing the actual show. But, you know, we can be chums, which is a 30 Rock reference with Michael Sheen. And if you guys haven't watched 30 Rock, if you hear without knowing the actor, if you hear the name Wesley Snipes, do you imagine the actor or do you imagine a pale Englishman? Zorz Hussein. Most

24:05Oti: of us grew up watching Wesley fucking Snipes, so we assume that name belongs to the one and only.

24:15KT: And if you're wondering, why, KT? Why do you continue to quote 30 Rock? Well, it's my fucking podcast. But also, Queen Latifah showed up on 30 as Congresswoman Bookman. So it's the reference circle of life, if you're welcome. But speaking of Queen Latifah, let's talk about the characters.

24:38Oti: Mhmm.

24:40KT: We have Kim Fields as the and in this show, but let's talk about Queen Latifah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. She she She even made the intro.

24:51Oti: She's she's the glue. She's she's the responsible

24:54KT: glue? That's a lyric reference.

24:57Oti: When I talk like this.

25:00KT: I was actually talking about the theme song

25:03KT: of Living Single.

25:03Oti: Oh, I was quoting daddy rock me.

25:07KT: Nice. I prefer that, actually. Anyway

25:10Oti: but she's the glue in this group. She's the responsible one, kind of.

25:17KT: Yeah. Like, she's kind of maternal, but not maternal. Yeah. Yeah. She she's there for

25:22Oti: pretty much the the three other girls. And, like, there are times when I had qualms with a character because I felt like it was outside of what she would probably do. I think Yvette kind of veered off, in my opinion Okay. Some of the quintessential character traits in this. Mhmm. Because later on, like, let's say Consistent. Yeah. Like, let's say, Queen Khadijah's interaction with Regine. Regine. There's a two people that have known each other since they were wee baby Seamus's. Mhmm. And then

25:59KT: That's a reference.

25:59Oti: When when when when Regine has problems later in the season or there's some things, there's an argument, like, Khadijah won't just care. She would not give a fuck. She would not even apologize for being in the wrong when we know she is in the wrong.

25:59KT: Oh, yeah. Definitely. She she definitely treated people

26:20KT: differently. She gave Synclaire a lot of graces that she would never give to Regine's character. Yeah. Even if you're a cousin, who treats their cousin not well? Well, there are some cousins there there are some cousins I hope to never see again. But I I wanted to talk a little bit about Queen Latifah in general. Mhmm. I fucking love it. Oh, she's amazing. I support everything she does. I wasn't sure how I felt about the rom com with her and Common, but hey.

26:48Oti: What rom com?

26:50KT: This didn't hit Kenyan shores? No. I think it was called like Just Wright or something. And they kind of like fell in love. I don't know. It was I didn't even know what why I was watching. Maybe it was a fever dream. But I remember A fever dream. Wow. Nice. Great reference. You should start a podcast. Yeah. But there was Queen Latifah and there was also a Common in like a rom com together. So that was a bit weird. But the interesting thing before watching Living Single,

27:19KT: you introduced me to Set It Off. Mhmm. I've always heard about Set It Off, especially the the soundtrack, which is great. The Bad Boys soundtrack is also great. So I have great things to say about Bad Boys in that regard. But, yes, Set It Off. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Yeah.

27:39Oti: For sure. Like, it's it's one of the movies that will also stand the test of time because I made you watch it quite recently. I knew it was there. I just never watched it. And we had a good old time.

27:51KT: I felt a lot of feels though in that film. I wasn't expecting that. Yeah. But the thing I really love about Queen Latifah is, you know, she was fully fledged in her music career and she was actually quite big at the time. Mhmm. Yet she fully embraced the ridiculousness and the salaciousness of the show. You know what I mean? You know, sometimes you can, like, you can see leading characters

28:19KT: or the more famous sort of characters of a TV show or a movie and you can see that they're just there because they Playing to their hype. Yeah. Yeah. Because they have to be. And I really loved seeing Khadijah James in every single scene that I could get her in. It was so fun to just see her let loose and look like she's genuinely enjoying it. Even mentioning earlier when she made the intro song, I don't think enough accolades,

28:45KT: you know, laid out for Queen Latifah because, yeah, it's normal now. Like, it's normal now to have writers slash directors slash, you know, music creatives that kind of do anything and everything. Like Donald Glover, for example, in Atlanta. Like, him and his brother produced the music on that show. But this was happening back in the nineties. So I feel like all of the accolades as much as we can afford should go to Queen Latifah because she's so fucking great, man. Oh, she is.

29:15Oti: She really is. She brings a lot of heart into this. Oh, yes. She's the one that's closest to everyone.

29:23KT: Yes. She's she like you said, she's the glue. She's the center point. Yeah. She

29:28Oti: went to college with Max. She though a childhood friend with Regine, Synclaire is the cousin. Mhmm. And it's interesting just to see how she interacts with these characters for the, I'd say, four seasons because you know how I feel about the fifth season. I feel the same way. I'm glad that she ended up with

29:50KT: what's his name? Scooter. Scooter.

29:52Oti: She ended up with Scooter. It was ridiculous that she pushed him away. And I guess that's just, I guess, her character and how she is. I think it's just young and twenties. Yeah. When when you're keeping like, when when you your your job means everything to you and you're working until, you know, burning the midnight oil as they say, trying to get everything done because she was pretty much running the office overseeing everything because Synclaire is useless as. Yeah. She had some quite lazy characters in there as well. But wow.

30:23KT: And this is this is something that I think in the Bad Boys episode I talked about. It seems like as I get older, I want more quality, you know, I'll spend a bit more on a better wine and I invest more in fully developed sort of characters, Right? I understand that sitcoms are there and they're episodic and you come back every sort of week. However, what that means is you sacrifice character development. And we especially see that in Max, which I wanna talk about when we get to her character. But in that regard

31:08KT: with Khadijah, she had very incompetent people and I would count at least three specific times in memory throughout the series that her coworkers, not even her coworkers, her employees were so fucking ungrateful.

31:23Oti: Yeah.

31:24KT: And I get it's cute. We can laugh about it because, you know, we don't have any staples. That's not a trademark, that's not a reference unless you want it to be. I just I didn't care for that because you could see that this was Khadijah's creation and she loved it and she sacrificed so much. She poured her heart into this magazine.

31:46Oti: And to have these people complaining every step of the way, giving the glory to that fella that bought them out at some point, it just bothered me. Yeah. It felt like she wasn't really appreciated that much Yeah. For the things that she was doing. She was definitely breaking ground for a lot of women in a in a in a in a industry. Yeah. And, you know, like, seeing that she she was treating Flavor pretty much as her her own baby. Yeah. And she sacrificed a lot

32:19Oti: just to get Flavor over the line to make Flavor profitable, and she's quite proud because she did not want to borrow money from anyone despite Max's offering multiple times. It's just one of those things where, you know, sometimes you it's you can accept a helping hand.

32:36KT: Yeah. But I get that. Like, I fully relate to that. And it's embarrassing how many episodes I've mentioned it. But when it comes to money, especially money and family, I am not about that for many reasons. And I really resonated with Khadijah when she just didn't wanna accept help. You can call it pride but I can understand a 100%

33:02KT: where she was coming from in that particular regard.

33:02Oti: Yeah. I can understand that but then your business goes under, you're living in the street, where's your pride then?

33:11KT: You know what I mean? Right next to your splooshies, babe. Oh, but she's a solid character and I know we'll continue to talk about her as we cover other characters. I do just wanna mention that Queen Latifah's real life mother, Rita Owens, as well as Kim Fields' real life mother, Chip Fields played their mothers on the show. Yeah. Very cute. It is very cute. Super cute, yeah. Let's go down the IMDb billing. We have Kim Coles playing Synclaire.

33:45Oti: Now this is a character that I think a lot of people will find hard to love.

33:52KT: Well, is a question I have for you because I am watching this all in a bubble. Right? I wasn't watching it when it was essentially live and people were watching it and you were discussing it and, you know, that sort of thing. Do you know what the general sort of feeling was about Synclaire? Because flat out, I was not a fan.

34:11Oti: I did not mind her watching it when I was younger. Uh-huh. But rewatching it with you, I was like, was she always like this? Yeah. She was annoying as. And I feel like once we got farther towards this season, it got slightly better, but you could still see this sort of I didn't think it was better. They just didn't show her as much. She was she was overacting in places. She felt quite stiff in some areas. And now that I'm thinking about it, like, because as they say,

34:47Oti: Friends pretty much stole the tapestry for this. If you're to compare Synclaire to Phoebe Uh-oh. It's just that Phoebe was done so much better or at least Lisa Kudrow could definitely act.

35:05KT: It's been a while since I've set out a disclaimer, friends and lovers. KT in the For Your Reference household in 2020 does not endorse nor does Oti reflect the feelings of Oti.

35:20Oti: Like you can love both shows. Doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

35:25KT: You can love both, but I definitely don't stand by you. That's

35:30Oti: very clear. No. For sure. I give props to Living Single for being the OG and being there and having set the trend. But there are aspects in Friends where I feel like they executed certain areas better, and this goes to show it's more with the budget that they had. And they had more time. They had they they they were learning from the first pancake. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Succession reference. Exactly. So they had a lot more going for them in terms of executing those such sort of weird kinks better than what

36:06Oti: Synclaire did because I just it was so hard watching her, especially in the first two seasons. It was also cringe.

36:14KT: Yeah. And we talked about stunting character development within the format of a sitcom, and Synclaire suffered severely in that particular aspect. It's fun, it's super cute, gah, she was very goofy, she was the easy breezy, just flowing along with the wind. That's not a fucking phrase, but come and fight me. But the problem that I had with her character is when they started to dive into meatier sort of storylines, very early on, I think it was in the first season, Synclaire felt entitled to a promotion

36:56KT: And that's when I started to get pissed off with her character because she's terrible at what she does. If she had one iota of self awareness, she would know she's fucking shite. Yep. And she should just be grateful for the fact that Khadijah even gave her a job to start off with. And then for her to demand and be childish and petulant to be entitled to think that she should get that job or get that promotion,

37:23KT: that was very frustrating with me. And again, maybe I'm just KT Clint Eastwood and I'm just old and bitter shouting on my porch, but I can't deal with characters that have that lack of self awareness.

37:38Oti: If they're not related with Khadijah, mate, she would struggle as hell in this. Oh, yes.

37:44KT: And do you think Regine will be friends with someone like Synclaire? No. They just wouldn't vibe because Regine is all about real, we'll come to her in a second. But yes, Synclaire became a problem and you say that it got better. I think they just didn't show her as much. And the unfortunate thing about that is in lieu of not showing Synclaire as much, they they upped the exposure on Max.

38:07Oti: Yes. But I feel like one of the things that worked with Synclaire is Obie. Because Obie was really solid in his role, and I feel like if he wasn't You mean Montel Obie Jordan? Or Yeah. If if Obie wasn't as good as he was,

38:24Oti: that that that dynamic could not have worked at all.

38:24KT: He's actually a great example of a character that doesn't necessarily grow in development, but they're still

38:37KT: so great to watch.

38:37Oti: Yeah. And it's Like, you still enjoy them. And it's, like, good. He didn't suffer fools. I'm sorry we've just kind of switched to Obie for a bit, but he didn't suffer fools. When he'd call out when people were acting out, even if it's Synclaire herself, she would call he would call it out immediately. And he'll be like, no, mate. Yeah. No, Shorty. Like, he he would stop that in its tracks. And that's what I loved so much about Obie.

39:05KT: Oh, yeah. Definitely. He had a he had an endearing nature about him. And I guess to some extent, you could say Synclaire also had an endearing nature, but that nature disappeared. Woah. Woah. Woah. But that nature disappeared when she became entitled and she felt like she deserved shit. How about when she started going to those art classes and then Obie came and he became the star favorite?

39:33Oti: And then she threw a tantrum. She couldn't handle it. Yeah. And she definitely did have her dark sides because there are moments where you're like, that seems a bit out of character. But until you had Obie's uncle come in Yeah. And he was like, no one is that good. Yes. No one Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. There's definitely some hidden shit in that. Look a bit closer because that was me. But yeah. And I think he nailed he hit the nail on the head.

40:04KT: But it's true. Like, unless you've lived in a chamber and you haven't gone through shit in life, how could you possibly be

40:12KT: that happy?

40:12Oti: Yeah. You can't. Like, it's

40:15KT: And I feel like, you know, whenever you meet someone, if you have nothing else to describe them, it's usually that they're nice. You know what I mean? Like, are they ugly? Yes. Are they dumb? Yes. What can I say about them? Oh, they're nice. They're very nice. Because you saw like, you can say she's nice but she turned into a real bitch which is fine because we're all bitches really. KT in 2020 in the For Your Reference household. But yeah, I just I didn't care for her

40:51KT: and her wanting to become an actress was pretty interesting because she was so deluded but again, maybe that's what actresses are. I don't really know. But she was very indulgent, I think is also the word for Synclaire.

41:05Oti: Yeah. She was.

41:07KT: Yeah. I guess while we're talking about the couple, let's talk about Obie. John Henton that actually plays Obie is actually from Ohio. Mhmm. Cute. Right? Cleveland,

41:19Oti: Ohio.

41:20KT: I feel like I have a grasping of American accents, but I guess I don't because I didn't realize that Ohio has, like, a distinct accent. You know what I mean? You know, like, how you have, like, the South. Like, there there are specific New York, Boston. By the way, my impersonations of accents is just screaming this. LA.

41:46Oti: Oh, wow.

41:50KT: Yeah. But he like, he was fun and he was, like, he was literally just himself. Like, he was having a good time.

41:57Oti: He was such a good friend to Kyle. Yes. Like, he made sure that he kept Kyle real. Like, all all the relationships he had in this were was quite good. I didn't care so much for the new guy that added in the dynamic between the two. Mate, he's not even in my notes here. Yeah. He he didn't hang out with a lot of people, so it was weird when they added a new character and they automatically became friends. They didn't even explain it. It was just like, I

42:24Oti: didn't buy that. Obie wouldn't have a friend like that. Rewind. You get Kyle because Kyle grew up together. Him?

42:32KT: Not me. Rewind back earlier when we were talking about influencers. You said automatically became friends. Conspiracy. Just took Oti's breath away. You did. I really liked Obie and I liked that he in the most coolest sort of laid back way challenged people's perception that he was just simple. You know, because he was a handyman. There were many even Kyle. Even Kyle will misconstrue,

43:05KT: you know, Obie's love for life as being simple. You know what I mean? And I really appreciated that. You know, Obie did it in in his own way, but he had that big dick on the table. You know what I mean? Oh, he really did. He has big dick energy. Oh, yes. I wonder when is the last time anyone has said that? Is that still a thing? Is that

43:27Oti: am I dredging things from

43:31KT: No. I'm I'm sure last. I'm sure it's still a phrase, but I don't remember the last time I've heard someone say it. Oh, well.

43:38Oti: Well, he has it, though.

43:40KT: Well, guess in 2018, Living Single celebrated its twenty five year reunion. So I'll see you in twenty five years Oti. We will see oh Jesus. We'll see how well our episodes age.

43:54Oti: Evergreen

43:55KT: evergreen they'll be. The show about the pastors?

43:59Oti: No. That was not a reference. I'm just saying our shows are evergreen. All the trash. Called Greenleaf. It is called Greenleaf.

44:10KT: I'm talking about the Tyler Perry cut that he refuses to pay writers to edit for him.

44:17Oti: Oh, wow.

44:19KT: But, yeah, I I really liked Obie. I think if we're talking about couples, pseudo couples, let's let's fall into Max and Kyle. Do you wanna start with them together or them separately? Separately.

44:31Oti: Okay. You wanna start off with Max? Let's start off with Kyle because I feel like Max will be quite heated.

44:37KT: Shout outs to T.C. Carson because in our Googling, he is the voice of Kratos Yeah. In God of War. Yeah. How amazing is that? That is so good. Especially because the first God of War, you were flicking a lady's bean. Yeah. And it Wait. What were you doing? Beating myself that I couldn't I didn't hear it because his voice is quite distinct. No. You said you were beating yourself. That's the punch line. Yeah. I know. But wow. But he had a voice. He couldn't not have ever been on stage. He couldn't

45:15KT: like and he's got a voice. He's definitely a performer. A thespian. A thespian. Mhmm. And I enjoyed him. I I enjoyed his character. I don't think I would want to be around him in real life though. Oh, I saw it. I'm not I'm not picketing my snicketing right now, but sometimes straight males just loom over you. It's weird. It's a weird feeling like it's like, can I just have one exchange

45:48KT: with a straight male and not feel like they're going to hit on me or say something creepy?

45:48Oti: Well, Kyle wasn't hitting on everyone. He was

45:48KT: Have you watched the show?

45:59Oti: Among his friends, he didn't hit on Khadijah.

46:02KT: Kind of.

46:03Oti: It was then revealed that they were in a relationship with Regine, which was

46:08KT: like, okay. I didn't see that. You can't you can't deny the fact that Kyle liked to flirt. Well, he didn't flirt with Synclaire. There you go. So does that prove everything? Yep.

46:20Oti: Okay. Like, he is a flirt, but I felt I felt like he knew the boundary when it came to friends because he he was there for a lot of the sort of especially Regine who I think saying he doesn't have heart, but you can still be a flirt and also have heart. Yeah. Like, I feel like especially when it came to his interaction with Regine, that's why we came to see his kind of softer, friendly side apart from when he's talking with Obie. Yeah.

46:48Oti: You could tell there was something more there that they just understood each other. And it was also nice and loving and how they treated each other as well. Like, some some things that Regine wouldn't necessarily be able to talk to with Khadijah and Max seriously,

47:04Oti: not Max at all. Mhmm. But you found that Kyle was always there to just provide that shoulder to cry on when if she needed it. Mhmm. And that's one of the things that I love about him. No. But I'm saying they can exist together. Like you say, Friends and Living Single can exist together.

47:19KT: He was a fucking flirt, but he was also a great guy. Yeah.

47:23Oti: He was a great guy. I'm just gonna stick with he's a great guy.

47:27KT: He's super cool guy. No. But I enjoyed Kyle's character. I thought that it was interesting to see that he lived beyond the realms of fuck boy because he actually cared about Max. A lot of the complications and it might just be because the show needed to continue going in a sitcom sort of format was Max's resistance to accept the relationship as a relationship. Yeah. And you can see that Kyle actually cared for her. Yeah. It it's weird because

47:57Oti: in on one hand, you have he he's a flat and all, but he was ready to just be serious when it came to Max. Like, when he came to talking about his feelings and what that they were experiencing, he was like, okay. I can talk about this, maturely. I want to talk about this maturely, but he wasn't afforded the same sort of feeling or avenue to do that.

48:23KT: I wonder if you would defend him so fervently if he wasn't wearing a Kenyan sweater

48:30KT: in a few years.

48:30Oti: He loved that Kenyan tee. He loved everything Kenyan. We stan a good Kyle Barker.

48:37KT: Kyle Barker. I don't think it was addressed whether he was Kenyan or whether he studied there,

48:44KT: but Oti enjoyed it all the same.

48:44Oti: I did. I did. And I think one of the best things they covered in the show when it came I think most of the time, we don't get to see this in television. Yeah.

48:55Oti: And I think one of the few things that we get with Living Single is they cover a lot of sort of issues black people face that are not necessarily out there. Mhmm. And one of those is his hair because we get judged a lot by how your hair is. And I remember coming here to Australia in the first time, and I think went to the barber and he wanted to do some sort of outlandish hairstyle. I was like, mate,

49:20Oti: no one will fucking hire me. Just do it plain old.

49:20KT: Because we went to we went to the modern day equivalent of like a discotheque. Like, it was a very hippity hip barbershop

49:33Oti: No. Like that we went to. Like, I feel like if I put dreads on, I would people would automatically judge me as a sort of person, and it wouldn't be, like, a corporate look. There's, like, an internal dialogue that goes on in regards to And Kyle Kyle standing up for his hair, you know, and just it was refreshing because I can't I can't remember that episode from when I was a kid and watching it, but rewatching it now, was like, fuck.

50:04Oti: They covered this. I wish I knew that in my younger years before when I could pull fucking dreads. I would have done that. I would have gone to walk in fucking dreads and be like, this is my African hair, bitch.

50:16KT: Will you Be proud. Will you fuck in dreads? Because that's all I care about. That's all I care about. But it is very interesting that you mentioned that because it is quite a big thing and I guess I'll be the one to say it. I know there's a lot of dialogue about, you know, African or African American hair and the stigma in regards to how people perceive it. I don't I don't fully understand that. I remember Chris Rock had a documentary.

50:51Oti: Yeah. Like Was it called Good Hair or something? Yeah. Like, even having long hair and just it it it's a thing. Like, if you have long hair, it has to be kept. It has to be brushed. You know? Like, it it doesn't it it can't be too long to be an afro. Otherwise, you're now distracting people, and it's not appropriate enough. Okay. It has to be a certain level. Not it's just ridiculous.

51:16KT: From memory in that particular

51:16Oti: Or at least when I was growing up. Maybe things have chilled now.

51:16KT: From memory in that particular episode, the white executives didn't have a problem with it.

51:25Oti: Yeah. It's more the, you know, the brothers feeling like, wait, you gotta represent.

51:31KT: That's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. Like, regulating within your own culture. Continues to get a lot of love as we recently watched Living Single. Let's talk about someone's inability to love. Maxine Shaw, Attorney at Law.

51:50Oti: She was one of my favorite. She was my favorite character the first two seasons when she had a purpose, she knew what she wanted in life, she was a go getter, she did everything. Mhmm. And then all of a sudden, something just switched, changed. Mark's sure, annoying, doesn't want to face feelings, doesn't want to do anything seriously. No conversation with Max was serious

52:18KT: at all. Yeah. But I don't think that changed. The problem was there wasn't any change and she kept like they showed her more on the show. So there was less room to hide from that. And again, in the sitcom sort of format, she refused to grow as a character, whether that was a creative sort of decision or whether it was a way to keep the episodic sort of formula going, she didn't develop as a character. So, it's like in real life, how you have a friend that you love so much,

52:53KT: but no matter how many times you try to help them, they just don't fucking do better. You know what I mean? And then after a while you're like, okay, well piss off, come back to me when you're ready, I love you, I'm here for you but you're pissing me off, get lost. Right? That's how Max was, at least personally that's how I felt about Max's character. She just didn't progress, she chose not to and it was weird because at the start of the series,

53:22KT: she was talking about how her fiance because I think they were engaged, right? Greg, I think his name was. He walked out on her, right? And she was so jaded by that and it was as if she wasn't ready to give up that stage in her life but then when she finally gets love and receives love so generously she doesn't accept it.

53:47Oti: No,

53:49KT: she doesn't. Saying that marriage isn't for her which is fine and we've talked about that on the podcast and other episodes, but it was frustrating. It was frustrating to continue to see her, like you said, not take things seriously. And it became bothersome to because even once Max and Kyle had hooked up, you knew that they were too fiery to stay as a stable couple. Like it wouldn't have been like Synclaire and Obie. Like they're still there for the hijinks but you know they've got a stable relatively stable sort of relationship.

54:26KT: With Kyle and Max it was fiery. It was fire and ice. KT RR Martin. Does anyone reference him anymore? You're welcome. But it was so cataclysmic, their dynamic. Right? But once because you knew they had to they had to hook up in this show. Mhmm. They had to. And once they hooked up, it it fostered a very weird sort of environment. I think for the first couple of episodes after it happened, they kind of ignored

54:57KT: the fact that it happened. And then they just went back to the same dynamic, the dynamic that works, the dynamic that everyone loves. She's sharp, she's witty, Kyle also has his little snipes at her as well but then it all came out like it all came off very empty because as much as they talk shit about each other, they were in each other. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Not to say that you can fuck someone and not hate them. Hello? But it's it's more that your words mean nothing.

55:31KT: Calling Max a gargoyle means shit all because you fucking love it. Yeah. Unless you're into gargoyles.

55:38Oti: And we we don't we don't gargoyle shame around you. Oh, no. We don't. Those are pretty little cute gargoyle going out. You know?

55:46KT: I don't know where this is going. Good. I don't know if I'm ready. Go upstairs. You'll find your costume. We've talked about cosplays before. Not cosplay. Oh, like, tell me cosplays aren't sexual. Come and fight me. Mhmm.

56:03Oti: I I really loved her. Like, she I felt like she was the best character in this early on. And then maybe maybe I just didn't pay attention because maybe they just showed more of Max, and that's why it felt like it was a change in her character. But, wow, She was so one dimensional. It was ridiculous. I don't think there was even a scene without her eating anything.

56:31KT: Yeah.

56:32Oti: Oh, bloody hell. And the fact that Kyle is pouring his heart out and she will just make the like, a really throwaway comment without any thought. Yeah. Oh, bloody bloody hell.

56:50KT: And I think there was at least a five year or maybe six year age gap because Kyle turned 30 and they had a little like sort of dynamic in that episode about the age gap, but she was way too old to be acting the way she was acting. Yeah. And if you're not in for a serious relationship, that's also fine as well because she was still young at the time.

57:12Oti: For sure, for sure.

57:15KT: But that's not what she was getting into. And I think that was very frustrating as a character. I just wanna touch on something because my lady love that pleasures my lady gardens all the time, Issa Rae. She talks about Living Single being a big influence on her growing up and also on her show Insecure. Can you draw any parallels to these characters? Not that you have to. It's just a cute little thing.

57:15Oti: Issa and Max? How? Is

57:52Oti: that what you're asking me to compare? No. I'm just asking you in general. Oh, between the two shows. Oh, alright. Maybe what's Issa's best friend? Molly. Molly. Yeah. Maybe Molly has a bit of Max in her. Yeah.

58:11KT: But I think Molly had too many feelings.

58:15Oti: Yeah. Molly has

58:17KT: overload of feelings. Yeah. As as opposed to Max. But again, like, you don't have to compare shows and we didn't need to do that. I just wanted to mention Issa Rae because that's what I do. Again, this is my podcast. Oti earn owns like 2%.

58:34Oti: Don't worry about her. We Got Y'all. You

58:39KT: are really bringing the references today, Seth. Yeah.

58:43Oti: Putting the podcast name to the test.

58:46KT: And I would say my favorite character before we quickly talk about guest stars, Regine Hunter. Smooches.

58:57Oti: Well, that felt wrong. You need to say that. It felt wrong,

59:02KT: but it looked also right.

59:06Oti: Oh, wow. She she definitely took the mantle off Max as my favorite character in this because she was so much more than her diva sort of attitude. Oh, yeah. She she was so much more than that. Yeah. When she needed to empathize, she did. She struggled so much, and I felt like she got the short end of the stick on a lot of the sort of storylines. Yeah. Like, everything wasn't just working for Up until the last episode where she got her man quite randomly,

59:36Oti: like the two last episodes two second last episodes of the show. Yeah. And all, like, okay. Fine. I didn't think too much about it back then, but rewatching it, I was like, yeah. She's not gonna show up until after this.

59:51KT: This is it for her. She wasn't a plot device. I guess, there a term for it? She was the punching bag of the show essentially. She was the. Yeah. Well, she has a bag to punches anyway. Like, oh my. Did you know the breast reduction was actually her real life breast reduction and they wrote it into How the cool is that? I don't know, man. Like, I keep my titties to myself. Well, I'm thinking of going through a sort of the sort of same procedure. These moves, mate. I'm not I'm not giving you mine.

60:23KT: Oh, you're talking about a reduction. I thought you're talking about an enhancement. Oh, mate. Nah.

60:28Oti: That would be too kinky.

60:30KT: It's it's 20 well, I'm looking at I'm looking at an organ that I want of yours.

60:34Oti: But wow. I feel like how she got out of that and not having to go see a therapist. At least she she had a lot of self help books.

60:46KT: And Yeah. I've never found them helpful.

60:50Oti: Well, you have to find something to cling on to because Wish she

60:53KT: it. Want it. Do it. Brian Griffin. I

60:58Oti: felt so sorry for her in a lot of these episodes. Like, things weren't just walking out for her. People would make fun of her.

61:07Oti: Like, it was just too much sometimes.

61:07KT: I think also when you talk about, like, sit coms and, you know, bougie sort of characters, they might not necessarily be rich but they're very bougie. Usually, the default for those sort of characters is that they're ditzy but

61:25KT: Regine wasn't that. She was smart, she was capable, she was great at what she did. I didn't care for the episode where Khadijah completely just disregarded her when they were doing the business pitch. Yeah. I I did not like that as well. I like the idea of nude people in the park or was it in Russia or something on her ad and, you know, when Regine threatened to move out and Khadijah didn't care about it, we already talked a bit about how Khadijah

61:53KT: it's weird. Right? And in that case, it really is like a mother. Like, you know how your mom can like treat your siblings differently? And apparently you can handle more beatings more than your other siblings so you get beaten more. Yeah. Like, I feel like Khadijah gave a lot more hard love

62:12KT: to True. To Regine. Regine's dad. Than anyone else. Oh, yeah. Definitely. She never accommodated Max the fuck out. Thank you. No one ever pulled Max up on her bullshit. No. No one did. Because the hijinks needed to ensue. And you can't do that if you have any sense of self awareness. And I guess that's where I find, you know, qualms with the sitcom sort of format. But even in saying that, it didn't stop my enjoyment for this show. No. I felt like I lived with these characters for five years. Although

62:47KT: I've done share houses before and I'll never do that again. Oti is stuck with me unfortunately. But I really felt like I lived and breathed in that world even though it was just what in a few weeks time, we managed to watch all a 100 and something episodes. And it was such a glorious time. I really enjoyed

63:11KT: immersing myself in Living Single.

63:11Oti: Yeah. Like, you can't not you you can picture yourselves in a few weeks time putting the Casual Lord episode here and there just to unwind.

63:24KT: Unwind indeed. It's a great show.

63:27Oti: And I'm proud that we covered this because it it doesn't get as much love today as it should.

63:34KT: Uh-huh.

63:35Oti: And And I'm speaking beyond the communita, you know, like, those are some solid writing and some solid covering on issues, world issues Oh, yes. That you don't necessarily see every day.

63:50KT: Well, was even the arc of Khadijah going to a therapist and that was quite a big thing as well. Yeah, imagine back then.

64:03Oti: You can't like there's still stigma about seeking mental health.

64:08KT: Yeah because to do that is to admit something's wrong with you. Exactly. Which is wrong which is completely wrong to say but you know that that's the connotation.

64:18Oti: Yeah yeah a connotation that needs to be done away with and It's good that they tackled that. Yeah. And just trying to normalize it back then was just like, wow.

64:28KT: I'm in for this. But even unemployment because Max for like what? Eight, ten episodes was out work. Regine also was out of work as well. So I think that tackled it quite well as well because you have these highly qualified young professionals that were also struggling to get work. Yeah.

64:50Oti: Yeah. It's it just painted a picture of day to day. Like, you could you could overlay it right now and it'll still resonate quite deeply.

65:01KT: Oh, totally. Like, in 2020, it doesn't feel like a 2020 show, but the messages still resonate.

65:09Oti: Oh, for sure.

65:11KT: Let's talk about the guests. Who? Do you care where we start? Because I know where I'm starting. Oh, yeah. Tell me. Want to start at the chest of it all. Morris Chestnut.

65:31Oti: Oh, yeah. A young Morris Chestnut as that. Hey, I I

65:37KT: would take a geriatric Morris Chestnut. I I I saw you rubbing the mushrooms, so don't pretend that you don't remember him on the show. I think he was in the first season. It was very early on and he just played a neighbor. It was essentially just to get him onto the show so they could ogle over him. Yeah.

65:37Oti: I enjoyed the fact that they had a lot of sort of

66:01Oti: guest appearances in this. Yeah. We got TLC, you know, that was amazing to watch. And Shemar Moore, who actually tongued Synclaire for real.

66:16KT: Shemar less.

66:20Oti: Got a stan baby girl, mate.

66:23KT: If we're talking about love interests, Terrence Howard. Oh. A baby Terrence Howard was also on Living Single. Oh, wow.

66:33Oti: He looks so nonthreatening then.

66:36KT: No. I wouldn't meet him in a dark or light alley.

66:42Oti: Well, I feel like he he his face just became more threatening as he got older.

66:50KT: Yeah. I still wouldn't mess with him, though. I still wouldn't. We also had Brian McKnight. That

67:01Oti: was quite nice to see Brian McKnight. We're sorry we didn't get to see him sing.

67:04KT: Just one last cry, babe. Yeah. Great song.

67:08Oti: Good song.

67:10KT: Speaking of feelings, Gladys Knight.

67:13Oti: Oh. Yeah. She played Obie's mom.

67:17KT: So nice. Yeah. She was also in 30 Rock. I didn't do this on purpose. It's straight off the cuff, friends and lovers. Regina King. Oh. She was like in the latest sort of seasons as a potential sort of roommate. Yeah. Can she do any wrong? She cannot do any wrong.

67:37Oti: I'm just waiting for a Boondocks. What is it? A new season or a remake? Whatever they wanna do with it, just need more Boondocks.

67:47KT: Just give us more. Just give us more Huey and Riley. Do you think we'll ever cover Watchmen on the For Your Reference podcast? Yeah. But not before Boondocks. Nice. I like that. And even even if Watchmen tries to come to the For Your Reference, I'll move out of the way. Everyone should know what reference that is. Just so so I guess just wrapping up here, Yvette, the series creator, loosely based this on characters that she worked on for A Different World, which was a spin off from The Cosby Show Yep. I believe.

68:29KT: Do you did you see any sort of parallels there at all?

68:32Oti: Not that much. The last time I watched A Different World was quite a long time ago, but I saw the characters as guests, which was good to see. Uh-huh. But, yeah, that was pretty much it. And

68:45KT: we're done. We can go home. We can go home. Oh, but what a show. It's it's delightful. You would have heard in our Succession episode, we stumbled across Succession and binged it out of no way. And it was nice to do the same thing with the older show. And I really enjoyed it. It will always hold a very close place in in my being because I don't have a heart, unfortunately. I'm still working on it. But what a great show. Mhmm. Let's finish off in a segment we call For Your Reference.

69:26Oti: I think you already know what I'm gonna reference here. I have no qualms. Like, yes, it sucks that they got more money. It got more popular. It got more advertising. They made it bigger, and it's Friends. And as much as it's it felt or it is stolen

69:47KT: We can't be friends.

69:54Oti: There's still something there. And I know a lot of people who just would not give you the time of day because they just start Living Single. And fair enough. For those who are open minded.

70:08KT: Woah.

70:11Oti: Are you throwing the towel in the ring? Is that what the thing take that back. For those who are willing to be taken on a journey, that's slightly similar with a different kind of hue to them. You know, just give it a shot. You'll be surprised. It has some really good moments in there.

70:28KT: Vomit. Are you done? Yeah. Okay. Are you done?

70:33Oti: I am done.

70:36KT: I will reference Insecure. Oh. Yeah. I really latched on to the characters in Living Single and I also love the characters except for Lawrence Uh-huh. In Insecure, and I cannot wait for it to come back. I think it's coming back in April. It's coming back this year. Definitely. But we're definitely so excited. You know what excites me, Oti? What? Some good old Twitter bans. Twitter ban, dan? Some Twitter Bangtan. Bangtan. Sonyeondan. That's BTS.

71:11KT: That's another reference. You're most welcome. On Twitter and Instagram, we are For Your Ref Pod. And you can write us an email at hello@fyrpodcast.com. We also have a Patreon. We're one Patreon away from having a KT streaming party. Oh. What? What? Get ready for all the references and all the Splooshies. We fucking love you guys. Go and watch Living Single, and have a great week. See you. Smooches.