Streaming tips

Five classic black sitcoms...

Moesha

Netflix recently acquired streaming rights to several classic black sitcoms and inaugurated its “Strong Black Lead” strand by releasing all six seasons of Moesha, the 1990s comingof-age comedy starring singer Brandy Norwood. Other pickups, including Girlfriends, will follow in upcoming weeks. Netflix

Living Single

Before Girlfriends, even before Friends, Living Single created the template for a comedy about a group of 1990s urban professionals who spend most of their off hours together. Crucially, they occupied neighboring apartments not in Manhattan but in brownstone Brooklyn. And Queen Latifah headlined. Hulu

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Now this is a story all about how Will Smith graduated from novelty rapper to multimedia superstar. If you grew up with Will, Uncle Phil, Aunt Viv, and Will’s rhythmically challenged cousin Carlton, this is a great time to revisit old memories. HBO Max

The Bernie Mac Show

The Cosby Show is probably not going to be streaming anytime soon, but here’s a secret: The Bernie Mac Show is nearly as good. For five seasons, the late comedian played the flummoxed surrogate father of three children, offering hilarious nuggets of hardearned parental wisdom in fourth wall– breaking vignettes. Hulu

Everybody Hates Chris

Comedian Chris Rock mined his 1980s Brooklyn childhood for comedy gold in this standout series of the midaughts. Rock’s supremely funny narration pairs nicely with the work of a great cast, which includes Terry Crews as young Chris’ father. Hulu