Greetings,
If you read my post wherein I listed my Top Ten episodes of A Different World, you may recall that I praised the work that Patti LaBelle and Diahann Carroll did on that show. I even went so far as to say that I wished they would have had a show together of their own as those characters. Well, sadly, we never got that, but we did get a little something from Miss Patti LaBelle. What we got was a series called Out All Night.
Out All Night was a sitcom that aired during the 1992-93 season and was, in part, created by the same people behind The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. You can easily tell that's where it came from since both shows have the same feel to them, and, thanks to one episode which I will speak about later, they were, apparently, both in the same "universe", if you will. As I said, the star of the show was Patti LaBelle, and, as enjoyable as she is as a singer, I really do love her as an actress, especially in the realm of comedy. She plays a character named Chelsea Paige, who is a famous but former singer who decided to open up a nightclub called Club Chelsea, where we get performances by many hit acts of the day as well as those of Chelsea's (Patti's) day. This, of course, means that we constantly get guest stars for the show. Again, more on that later. Let's talk about the supporting cast and characters.
The main cast of the show is relatively small, which I think is a good thing. First, we have Charice, Chelsea's daughter, played by Vivica A. Fox. She doesn't necessarily live in the shadow of her mother's fame, but she does feel the pressure of being such at times. Then, we have Jeff played by Morris Chestnut, who is hired to be the manager of the club. He is very straight-laced and a very 'let's get the job done' kind of guy. And he is, therefore, in opposition to his roommate Vidal played by Duane Martin. He is the less ambitious, more trouble making but fun friend that you just can never get rid of. But why would you want to do that, really? And finally, we have Angus played by Simon O'Brien, who is their U.K. neighbor. I say "U.K" because I'm a hundred percent sure that he is from one of those countries, but I don't know which one. Also, he's the one white person on the show, if that matters to anyone. And they all live together in the apartment building owned by Chelsea Paige, because it was the 90's and people still bought real estate in the 90's.
That was the set up. Now the plot of every episode was full of your basic sitcom shenanigans. Nothing too groundbreaking, but still funny, and that is plenty to get from sitcoms. The one thing that was different, as I mentioned before, were the weekly, musical guests performances. We got everyone from Gladys Knight to TLC to Dionne Warwick, even Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Yeah, please do not mention to Mark Wahlberg that I brought this up, because he, apparently, gets a little upset if anyone is reminded of his past life. Now most of the performance, obviously, took place at the club. But there was at least one that didn't, and it ended up being my favorite. It's also probably my favorite overall episode. What happens is that, after Jeff and Vidal have a fight, Jeff kicks Vidal out and he ends up staying with Chelsea in her much bigger apartment. Vidal gloats about this at first, and then finds out that she is not at all a subdued, older woman in her home. Nope, she keeps him up at night, trying to make him watch Child's Play and cooking hush puppies and jambalaya, which he enjoys at first, but soon, he can't take it anymore. One night, he thinks he's got the place to himself so he can sleep, but in walks Chelsea with Natalie Cole and her entourage. They begin to sing softly and sweetly, but not for long. Within moments, they end up basically torturing him with their amazing voices. And it is fantastic. Oh, and speaking of guests stars, we also got an appearance by Karyn Parsons playing her Fresh Prince character Hilary Banks. See, this is why I think both shows were in the same realm.
So let's get to the point here. Did this show deserve a second season? I'm going to say yes. I really liked this show. I thought it was funny, I enjoyed the cast and I liked the way they incorporated music. I don't exactly know why this show didn't last beyond one season, because, again, it's very similar to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, if not in structure, then in the style of humor. That show lasted for six seasons, so I just don't get it. I guess it could have been about timing or behind the scenes conflicts. I don't know. But the bottom line is that I would have been quite happy to have gotten a few more years of this series. Like I said, I do love Patti LaBelle. I think she's hilarious and, obviously, very talented, as if I had to tell you guys that. She's just someone who I can't help but like, because she seems like she would be so much fun to be around.
Now I don't know if episodes of Out All Night can be found anywhere, sadly. I don't think they've done DVDs or anything, which I would buy. Hopefully, someone with the power to do so will see this and grant my wish. But if you can find some episodes somewhere, watch them. You'll have some fun. And, then, tell me where to get them, too.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
