The Upshaws is doing it big as fans take to social media to highlight the newest comedy series on Netflix. Wanda Sykes and Mike Epps bring comedy gold to the elegance and charming essence Kim Fields carries onto the screen, and the audience can’t stop raving about it.
The series showcases a black-owned business in a realistic family setting. Although the Upshaw family may have a few wrinkles and clashing personalities, there is still love in their core.
Lucretia Turner (Sykes) sticks by her younger sister’s side, Regina Upshaw (Fields), even through the distaste for Regina’s husband, Bennie Upshaw (Epps). Lucretia and Bennie toss out sly remarks throughout the episodes and silently battle for the seat at the head of the Upshaw table.
The Upshaw children include Benard Jr. (Jermelle Simon), Aaliyah (Khali Spraggins), and Maya (Journey Christin).
The sitcom also projects the modern narrative of an integrated family – Bennie has another son, Kelvin Upshaw, who he co-parents with Tasha (Gabrielle Dennis).
Bennie owns his own shop with Lucretia as the co-owner. He works at his shop with old friend “Duck” (Page Kennedy), who has recently been released from prison and has turned a new leaf by digging heavier into his faith.
Epps and Sykes work as comedic anchors that keep the drama from overpowering the series. Their banter and rhythm have been noteworthy since the show aired in May of 2021. Sykes is working as co-showrunner and executive producer of the show. Other producers include Epps, Regina Hicks, Dan Spilo, Page Hurwitz, and Niles Kirchner.
Fields tweeted her excitement earlier in May as the series made its way to the number one spot in Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched list in the U.S. She posted, “My thumbs been hovering over the Keyboard for 17 mins waiting on my brain and heart to find the words…I’m a writer and poet, a lover of words, yet I am speechless…to be continued.”
Sykes and Epps appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show and shared their history of knowing each other in the comedy world for 25 years. According to Sykes, Mike wanted to do a show about a working-class American family in the midwest. Epps called Sykes to put the show together.
Sykes told Clarkson, “Im so glad he did call me, because it was a great idea, we wanted to just show that part of America thats not represented.”
Epps also explained the significance of the show, “We all grew up watching All in the Family and Good Times–and you know I think people who grew up in that era that are in the business–we understand those jokes, we understand the timing so when you get that group of people to write and perform it, you come up with like Wanda say, ‘some comedy gold.”
Catch The Upshaws on Netflix. Now streaming!
