In Living Color was the brainchild of Keenen Ivory Wayans, the eldest sibling of a large and extremely talented family whose guidance toward his brothers and sisters would help shape his creation into something truly memorable, the likes of which had never been seen prior on US television. In 1989, Keenen set about making a pilot episode for something he knew was going to be different. It wasn't just going to be a show performed by black people for black people but was to be a multi-ethnic series. Using this as his basis he recruited two white actors who were fairly unknown at the time - James Carrey (now known as Jim) and Kelly Coffield.
In addition, the show introduced more upcoming talent, in the form of Tommy Davidson, Kim Coles, David Alan Grier, T'keyah "Crystal" Keymah and finally his siblings Kim Wayans and Damon Wayans. The cast was formed and the pilot was filmed. Things went quiet for a while until word of mouth spread about this amazing new show that dared to be different and one year later FOX television picked it up. In Spring 1990 In Living Color premiered on prime-time television and became a smash sensation overnight. It's easy to consider In Living Color as being a groundbreaking show, so truthful in that its approach to many issues attributed to its huge success in America, thanks in part to the cast's delivery. Keenen Ivory Wayans has always been passionate about dealing with current world issues, states of affairs and how every man or woman is treated in the world today, no matter the colour of their skin. It wasn't until it first aired that people got a taste of what Keenen and his crew were trying to achieve. By being let loose to run wild and bring their separate talents to the screen, improvising and bringing fresh, new lovable characters along the way they would help to get the message across to a wide audience in a no-holds barred satire that defied the set conventions of most TV shows being produced.
Saturday Night Live was their only main contender but the advantage of In Living Color being videotaped meant that they had more freedom to get away with whatever they liked, Keenen would later deal with the censors and the show would air without much outside intervention. They simply didn't care about what the critics or public would think. If the show was deemed offensive then it was simply misunderstood, such has been the case for many a satirical show finding itself under fire. However, In Living Color was embraced whole heartedly and after the first season's run (13 episodes) it had become a phenomenon. Characters such as Damon's Homey the Clown, Carrey's Vera De Milo and again Damon's Anton to name but a few stayed in the public's mind. Season 2 would follow in the fall of that same year, such was popular demand. From episode one it was clear to see that this cast had an amazing chemistry and it stuck all the way. Audiences fell in love with James Carrey and Damon Wayans, both of whom would later go on to achieve massive success in their careers ahead. The show paved the way for new talent and those who love Carrey, the Wayans brothers and company today may have missed out on their earlier work. The series was aired in the UK courtesy of Sky One back in the early 90's but few actually remember the show following its relegation to post midnight slots.
Awards & Nominations
•1994 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program - Michelle Cole (costume designer) For episode #507.
•1993 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography - Rosie Perez (choreographer) For episode #419.
•1993 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program - Michelle Cole (costume designer) For show #417.
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography - Rosie Perez (choreographer)For show #307.
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program - Michelle Cole (costume designer) For show #302.
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences - Martin Ansolabehe (designer)
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series - Pauletta O. Lewis (key hairstylist), Victoria Wood (hairstylist), Pinky Cunningham (hairstylist) For episode #310.
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Series - Stephanie Cozart Burton (key make-up), Sheryl Ptak (key make-up) For show #327.
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program - Pam Veasey (head writer), Greg Fields (head writer), Les Firestein (head writer), Keenen Ivory Wayans (writer), Fax Bahr (writer), Fred Graver (writer), Adam Small (writer), Michael Anthony Snowden (writer), Steve Tompkins (writer), Damon Wayans (writer), Larry Wilmore (writer), Marc Wilmore (writer), Harry Dunn (writer), Michelle Jones (writer), Becky Hartman-Edwards (writer), Buddy Sheffield (writer), John Bowman (writer).
•1992 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program (Series) - , Keenen Ivory Wayans (executive producer), Tamara Rawitt (producer), Kevin Berg (co-producer) For show #329.
•1991 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Costume Design for a Variety or Music Program - Michelle Cole (costume designer) For show #220.
•1991 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program - Damon Wayans (member of repertory company) For show #212.
•1991 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program - Keenen Ivory Wayans (member of repertory company) For show #205.
•1991 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program - Keenen Ivory Wayans (executive producer), Tamara Rawitt (producer), Michael Petok (co-producer) For show #225.
•1991 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program - Pam Veasey (head writer), Greg Fields (head writer), Les Firestein (head writer), Keenen Ivory Wayans (writer), Fax Bahr (writer), Fred Graver (writer), Adam Small (writer), Michael Anthony Snowden (writer), Steve Tompkins (writer), Damon Wayans (writer), Larry Wilmore (writer), Marc Wilmore (writer), Harry Dunn (writer), Michelle Jones (writer), Becky Hartman-Edwards (writer), Buddy Sheffield (writer), John Bowman (writer), For show #213.
•1990 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Achievement in Choreography - Rosie Perez (choreographer) For episode #105.
•1990 Emmy - Nominated Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program - Pam Veasey (head writer), Greg Fields (head writer), Les Firestein (head writer), Keenen Ivory Wayans (writer), Fax Bahr (writer), Fred Graver (writer), Adam Small (writer), Michael Anthony Snowden (writer), Steve Tompkins (writer), Damon Wayans (writer), Larry Wilmore (writer), Marc Wilmore (writer), Harry Dunn (writer), Michelle Jones (writer), Becky Hartman-Edwards (writer), Buddy Sheffield (writer), John Bowman (writer) For show #101.
•1994 Image Award- Won Outstanding Variety Series.
•1992 Image Award- Won Outstanding Variety Series.
•1992 Nova Award - Won Most Promising Producer in Television Keenen Ivory Wayans.
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