In Living Color

Did You Know?

• The title was inspired by NBC's announcement of broadcasts being presented "in living color" during the 1960s.
• The show aired a live special episode as counterprogramming for the halftime show of Super Bowl XXVI, prompting the NFL to book A-list acts for future game entertainment starting with Michael Jackson.
• A history of the show titled Homey Don't Play That! by David Peisner was released in 2018 by 37 INK, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Production

Fox offered Keenen Ivory Wayans his own show after his success with Hollywood Shuffle and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Wayans wanted to create a variety show like Saturday Night Live but with a cast of people of color willing to take risks. His younger brother Damon had been on SNL during its 11th season, but he was fired after going off-script in a sketch because he was frustrated with limited creative freedom and screen time. In contrast, Fox gave Keenen and his family a lot of control over In Living Color, though executives were nervous about the content before it aired. Fox called the show a "contemporary comedy variety show." The Christian Science Monitor warned that its "raw tone may offend some, but it does allow a talented troupe to experiment with black themes in a Saturday Night Live-ish format." Wayans explained he wanted to reflect different viewpoints, adding an Asian and a Hispanic performer to the cast. He said minority talent is not part of the usual system, so they had to look outside typical comedy clubs, finding one performer doing her act in a theater lobby in Chicago. The first episode aired on Sunday, April 15, 1990, after an episode of Married... with Children, and drew 22.7 million viewers, ranking 29th for the week. The Miami Herald called it "smart and saucy as it is self-aware" and "audacious and frequently tasteless, but terrific fun." The Philadelphia Inquirer said it was "the fastest, funniest half-hour in a long time." The Seattle Times praised its "free-wheeling, pointed sense of humor," and the Columbus Dispatch described it as "marvelously inventive," pushing television back to the cutting edge.

Broadcast and syndication

Originally produced by 20th Television for Fox, the show spent a few years in reruns on local stations before settling in as a long-running fixture on FX and FXX, channels that were once Fox's siblings before Disney bought them. In Canada, CBC Television carried the show simultaneously for its whole run. Over time, reruns popped up on MTV2, VH1, NuvoTV, Fusion TV, BET, and Centric, and as of September 2020, it had also aired on Aspire and TV One. Unlike earlier broadcasts on FX and Viacom networks, the FXX versions are mostly uncut but still censored. Music video parodies and spoken mentions of licensed songs have been put back, but the "Bolt 45" sketch, the "drop the soap" line, and the "Men on Football" sketch with ad-libbed remarks about Richard Gere and Carl Lewis remain edited. A line from the season five "Fire Marshall Bill at the Magic Show" sketch, which referenced the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is also cut because of the September 11 attacks. From April 16 to June 18, 2008, MyNetworkTV aired The Best of In Living Color, hosted by David Alan Grier. That retrospective showed classic sketches along with cast interviews and behind-the-scenes material, running Wednesdays at 8:30 pm Eastern after MyNetworkTV's sitcom Under One Roof. In 2026, episodes were added to the streaming service The Brick TV.

Crossovers

At the 2006 BET Awards, host Damon Wayans played a character reminiscent of "Men on ..." critic Blaine Edwards. Several In Living Color alums reprised their characters on Saturday Night Live. Damon Wayans, a featured player during SNL's 11th season, hosted an episode in 1995 and brought back homeless wino Anton Jackson and gay film critic Blaine Edwards; in the Edwards sketch, David Alan Grier made a surprise appearance as Antoine Merriweather. Grier himself hosted SNL in December 1995 and January 1997 but did not reprise any In Living Color characters. Jim Carrey had auditioned for SNL's 1980–1981 season but was dropped in favor of Charles Rocket, and also auditioned for the 1985–1986 season but backed out after seeing a man threatening to jump from 30 Rockefeller Center. Carrey hosted the season finale of SNL's 21st season in 1996, impersonating Fire Marshal Bill during the monologue; his most recent hosting stint in October 2014 included a sketch with Cecily Strong playing his aunt modeled after Fire Marshall Bill. Jamie Foxx reprised his role as Wanda at the 2009 BET Awards. In 1997, three Fly Girls appeared in the 11th episode of Muppets Tonight's second season. In the 1997 film Liar Liar, Jim Carrey reprised Fire Marshall Bill in the background of a closing scene. The February 10, 2001 episode of SNL hosted by Jennifer Lopez included a sketch where she reunited with the Fly Girls, played by Rachel Dratch, Jerry Minor, and Tracy Morgan.

Attempted revival

In 2011, plans were made for a revival of the original series with a new cast, characters, and sketches. Pilot episodes were hosted and executive produced by original creator Keenen Ivory Wayans. In early 2012, Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo were hired as choreographers and cast a new line-up of The Fly Girls. However, on January 8, 2013, Wayans confirmed the reboot had been canceled because he and Fox did not feel the show was sustainable after one season. Reported cast members included Cooper Barnes, Jennifer Bartels, Sydney Castillo, Josh Duvendeck, Jermaine Fowler, Ayana Hampton, Kali Hawk, and Lil Rel Howery, with featured cast members Henry Cho, Melanie Minichino, and Chris Leidecker. Many of the revival cast members later created the TruTV sketch show Friends of the People.