A Little Bit Strange: The 1989 Black Television show that never saw the light of day!

'A Little Bit Strange' was a pilot about a Black family of witches and wizards. The pilot was never picked up. Here's a bit of a backstory on why the pilot wasn't picked up and why today might be a chance to revisit this premise again! #sitcom #nostalgic #80s #Blacktvshows #Martin #comedy

[@Iluuvmysyders]

I absolutely would watch this today.. disney had the haunted hathaways and wizards of waverly place

[@XxQozEMotoxX]

I have this pilot on VHS somewhere. Apparently it is really hard to come by.

[@YungRoseGod]

Upload it bro

[@Guider_KeyAligned00]

Upload it

[@XxQozEMotoxX]

@@Guider_KeyAligned00 the tape was damaged. It has mold on it. Smh

[@reeldirtiestudios]

Imagine if Jordan Peele got wind of this, I bet Jordan Peele would perfectly mix comedy with horror and make an awesome show

[@marlonharrison5511]

Naw. Make it straight Comedy, there's enough Horror.

[@LiftingUrVeil-LUV]

I remember as a kid searching for that show the Sunday it was suppose to premier. I was so excited and then it never came on and I was so disappointed. I’m 42 so wow that was a long time ago lol

[@GoneBallistik658]

I remember the pilot. It was way ahead of its time.

[@susanfit47]

A Little Bit Strange was about an African-American family of sorcerers. Not hugely surprised it wasn't picked up--it's just a very standard 80's family sitcom with the Bewitched stuff rather awkwardly overlaid. Widower brings his 'normal' new wife home after a whirlwind romance and only then (!?) reveals that he's a warlock, his daughter's a witch (who causes most of the conflict by using her powers to terrorize her new stepmom), his sassy elderly mom can read minds (comedy!), etc. Cast was appealing but premise was way too gimmicky. According to a review on IMDb, the members of the family were able to conjure up anything (as was possible on prior television shows like Bewitched) and had a strange uncle named Frank who was based on Frankenstein. The pilot could've been picked for NBC's 1989-1990 fall schedule.

[@MistaJonz]

I watched this show when it premiered and even taped it sadly I lost that tape years ago and I always search for it online hoping someone else remembers it or has a copy.

[@rhondalong152]

I think Martin was the son made of mud,because in the beginning of the show they say the little boy was the warlock

[@jtkeaton]

I remember watching the pilot and being disappointed it never returned

[@bigsiscandice8818]

Cherry from Punky Brewster & Family Matters Young Martin Lawrence he also was on What's Happening Now!!

[@paulsimmons9087]

227 didn’t have the "shine on me" theme song, that was for the sitcom "Amen".

[@BishopZoneTV]

I was caught up in Nostalgia and got my black theme songs mixed up. Both went hard tho! 😂

[@paulsimmons9087]

@@BishopZoneTV facts💯

[@mikegreen6111]

The son made of mud was supposed to be like a Golem. They misfired on this one lol

[@tristiancirca89]

I was thinking that when he was complaining about the son made of mud, lol. I was like he's a golem.

[@paulsimmons9087]

The uncle is the prototype for the uncle in The Proud Family 😆

[@tyrusgilliam2030]

This show did air the pilot. The it was similar to a lady meeting the Adam's Family and little Wednesday not liking her taking her mom's place. You can't forget the Aunt, who reads minds, and encouraged the lady to not give up on her boyfriend.

[@shawnduke407]

It would be a nice Netflix or Hulu show nowadays

[@rickygoebel678]

I remember watching that one episode always wandered why it never came back

[@est1989x]

Family Matters was also on air back in 1989

[@moonshinesnowrich6474]

The bat made me think of the character in Hollywood shuffle “batty batty batty”

[@dwaynecollins535]

I just told my wife the same thing. I wonder did Robert Townsend get wind of the pilot and mixed it in. “Batty, Batty, Batty!”

[@MahoganyBeautyKC]

We have love craft country that’s kind of like it. But it would definitely do well now in the 2000’s

[@BishopZoneTV]

I believe Love Craft Country started suffering due to viewership. But a show like this could definitely work in todays tv. Especially with streaming services!

[@shauntewilliams4730]

I absolutely think this could work today and she be explored sci-Fi fantasy is for me 😊

[@BryanMorganSmith]

4:00 A bay singing James Brown songs. 😂🤣🦇

[@Jerry-xs1uz]

I remember it and it was AWESOME 👍. Like a Reversed BEWITCHED!!!!

[@anumbus]

In addition, notice that most of the comments that say this could work today, are also saying it would work for Disney Channel. It might even work for Nickelodeon but those are networks that are focused on mostly a kid demographic. NBC primetime lineup isn't for that demo so, it would be completely out of place with shows like Cheers which was the biggest show on NBC at the time besides The Cosby Show.

[@DiscoHank]

1987-89 seems like there were a lot of good Black concepts that didn’t make it too long, like Avery Brooks “A man Called Hawk” and Tim Reid’s “Frank’s Place.”

[@devares2006]

And those 2 shows were pretty good.

[@behappybemad2828]

Y’all need to watch Nigerian movies they have spiritual themes like this in there movies all the time and their movies are really good

[@bigsiscandice8818]

Yup my grandparents used to watch Frank's Place

[@paulsimmons9087]

I agree that the show would do well today because so many people are involved in witchcraft....🤦🏿🤷🏿

[@kendrickjenkins4206]

Hell yeah💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾

[@gotenhuggins270]

It's kinda funny they have these white shows doing witchcraft magic n etc

[@behappybemad2828]

People been involved in witchcraft.. black people are so close minded…if the show/movie isn’t about race and complaining about white people it’s not good to them

[@motifnvolume]

Gotta try Rubys' Twisted, looks goood! Good episode as always!

[@dennisgrier2687]

This show gets at least 5 seasons on Nickelodeon/Disney

[@Grrovejet99]

Memory unlocked

[@Noreaga914]

This would’ve been fuqn amazing

[@latieraqueen7Pacheco]

It would of lasted on the Disney Channel. It's the weirdest show I ever heard of though.

[@grumpygremlin2379]

I remember that either the son or the daughter had a history paper due. He or she resurrected George Washington or one of the early presidents to ask him questions.

[@Filmation77]

This could be rebooted for The Syfy channel . i think you could redo this,cause no one saw this original series,so it would be totally original and everyone complains about theres nothing being orginal. but then some haters might say " oh its a black version of FX's "What we do in the Shadows"

[@Filmation77]

9:17 Well ,Wonder woman was made out of clay,PInocicco was made out of wood and became a real boy. So.....

[@fishermcberg7435]

Reel Dirtie... if Jordan Peel makes this I'm definitely going to act in it... heck help direct and write too... some1 shd pitch him this

[@Chef78123]

And they have Stranger things now!! OK then

[@Eriugena8]

compared to full house and growing pains, this show had the potential to be a les miserables, or goethe's Faust. not sure what was up with the mud though, except for Adam in Genesis

[@johnconnor210]

With the right writers and directors this show could probably work. Especially with the Harry Potter and witches of Waverly place having success. I could definitely see this on Disney Channel or Disney plus.

[@anumbus]

The only way this show could work today is if it wasn't a comedy. If they did it like American Horror Stories on FX. I was also there when this pilot was done. It was terrible in every single sense of the word. It was poorly written, cheesy and was an exercise of every stereotype about black people at that time. Martin Lawrence was fresh off of doing What's Happening Now but, this was before Def Comedy Jam and the Martin sitcom so, he was unknown at the time but he was up and coming. Cherie Johnson was fresh off of Punky Brewster but she wasn't yet casted as Maxine on Family Matters so for the most part, the actors on this show were either up and coming, b-listers that just wanted to be on a black show on NBC during the Cosby Show/A Different World Era or virtual unknowns that was filler. You are correct about it being a creation of white writers and executives. Hip Hop was settling into popular culture at that time but, this was 1989. Hip Hop was becoming more conscious, pro black and socially controversial so, having a rapping golem ( son made out of mud) rapping like his rhymes were written by a 40 year old suburban white man named Bob that never wrote a rap or listened to a rap in his life tasked with the lyrics, this was a recipe for disaster. Even the idea of a character that turns into a bat and singing only James Brown songs a decade after James Brown was no longer a radio mainstay and was becoming increasingly infamous for drugs and jail sentences was in poor taste at best.

[@fromthesidelines]

Even if "A LITTLE BIT STRANGE" *HAD* been scheduled as a weekly series in the fall of 1989, it would have been cancelled after only a few episodes. NBC's new sitcoms that season- "SISTER KATE" and "THE NUTT HOUSE"- weren't around long enough to last a full season. In fact, the network was "running out of gas" (as far as inspiration and hindsight) in choosing new comedy and drama series, because NONE of them survived a second season.

[@BishopZoneTV]

True but I would have love to see a full episode or 2.

[@fromthesidelines]

Have you ever seen an episode of "NEARLY DEPARTED"- Brandon Tartikoff's 1989 effort to produce a "TOPPER" for the 1980's? Even with Eric Idle as the star, the series was *terrible!* Six episodes were taped, but only four were telecast. Obviously, that was a factor in NBC's decision not to schedule any further fantasy sitcoms......

[@anumbus]

@@fromthesidelines I 100% agree with you. NBC never had a good track record with doing fantasy based shows especially during this time period. The only show NBC did during this Era that was successful that falls into the fantasy genre was Quantum Leap.

[@fromthesidelines]

It was quirky- and popular- enough to stay on the network for five seasons, through 1993.

[@Frazur]

Wow!, I used to like Sister Kate

[@justinjusroccaldwell1985]

Black People Were Still Scared Of The Occult At The Time... Now We're Ready Thanks To Bobby Hemmitt, Brotha Panic And More...

[@Dantana773]

In 1989 I would have watched it Just because of the cast of black actors even tho It seems like the show would have been cheesy and Lame because it was written by Non black people. I agree it could work in this era if written and produced by the right people.

[@redlionjr6012]

Coulda never got Martin Wow!

[@bigsiscandice8818]

Cannot for get Rags To Riches starring Tisha Campbell

[@pinktrillness]

Shawn Skie just got arrested for S.A.

[@skiniminonochie]

So they redid this with a white family and called it the Wizards of Waverley.

[@est1989x]

They were Latino

[@gocpng4699]

The Happenings Here On Earth

[@nehemiahpouncey3607]

Hey isn't that the girl from family Matters Lara's friend?

[@SoftspokenHensci]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@excaliber8713]

I disagree with that KZbin comment , tho . It’s like you believe that one comment

[@BishopZoneTV]

Which one?

[@excaliber8713]

@@BishopZoneTV that KZbinr comment you used . That says it was Connery and wouldn’t had worked . That’s what i disagree with . Let’s not forget “Family matters “ premiered in 89 as well. The show could have gotten better i mean it was only 1 episode . That KZbinr got mad at a pilot and pilots are changed always it’s just to get jr ball rolling .

[@rhondalong152]

Maybe try it again, now. We've seen worse

[@badandboujee4087]

The network did the right thing by canceling this. The premise sounds terrible & cheesy. I can’t picture this competing with Family Matters & From House.

[@bfred8714]

Nooo not slavery times

[@DreeZakaJedi]

Hennessy White is bs

[@larissabrewington9065]

What is 'white shit'? Wizardry? Then you turn around and describe the show as 'ahead of it's time'!🤨 You're sounding like one of those black people who describe those black people who speak with any kind of articulance as 'talking white'? You later read an article that calls the show cheezy... Why not just go with that?

[@BishopZoneTV]

You lack comprehension skills. And clearly didn’t watch the entirety of the video. I said it was some “white shit” cause the show was created by White people and they used Black stereotypes for these Black characters personality. I said the CONCEPT was ahead of its time cause their was no show with an all black cast dealing in the genre of fantasy and humor in 89. I even later said the concept can work today just hire some Black writers and creators so they can avoid the obvious degrading tropes that the White creators used for the show. Stop projecting and actually listen to what I was saying. Smh

[@excaliber8713]

@@BishopZoneTV yeah but blacks are T a monolith . If “the Munsters” could work then why not this ??

[@BishopZoneTV]

@@excaliber8713 I never said a concept like this couldn’t work. The problem was that they had White writers writing stereotypical roles for Black characters. There was nothing wrong with the premise.

[@excaliber8713]

@@BishopZoneTV well that’s the 80s for you !

[@excaliber8713]

@@BishopZoneTV you don’t know that ! Just assuming . The show could have changed . It was only a pilot you admitted to not even seeing it ! So how do you know ????

[@Jerry-xs1uz]

I would love to see Jordan Peele do a remix with these same characters