In the House (1995–1999) User Reviews (12)

A good show which had so much more potential

[enigma_meets_reality · 8/10 · 4 September 2011]

"In the House" could have been a marquee African American-led sitcom in the mid to late 90s, following end of the Fresh Prince. It wasn't short on star power as it brought together Quincy Jones as an executive producer, and LL Cool J and Debbie Allen in lead roles. The first two seasons were the crowning glory of the show. LL stepped up to the plate admirably as the level headed, injured NFL-turned landlord Marion Hill; but it was Allen's portrayal of the hapless divorcée and mother of two Jackie Warren which really brought the show to life. Their interactions provided plenty of laughter, as the more spiritual Marion clashed with the sarcastic Jackie (in addition to her clashes with her kids, her boss, her ex-husband and everyone in-between!).

The move from NBC to UPN completely modified the show's premise as well as writing out Debbie Allen's character. For me, her departure was ultimately the show's undoing. Season 3 was quite good as Marion ventured out into setting up a clinic in partnership with Tonia Harris (Kim Wayans) and Maxwell Stanton (Alfonso Ribeiro). Wayans' eccentric character somewhat made up for the lack of Debbie Allen. Ribeiro was essentially playing Carlton Banks again. There was also more emphasis on Maia Campbell's character Tiffany Warren (the only member of the Warren clan left on the show). She was easily identifiable as the guy crazy, partying type teenager. This aspect provided a challenge to Marion who was acting as her guardian after Jackie left.

By the time "In The House" entered its fourth season, it was clear that the producers were running out of ideas. Once a family oriented show, now became more targeted at the late teen/young adult audience. The result was a less comedic, more melodramatic show. I truly believe that much of it pertains to the lack of Debbie Allen at this stage. The final season was very short and probably served as a procedural one before it got cancelled.

Looking back at "In the House", it was enjoyable overall, but was inevitably let down by major casting changes. I'd have kept Debbie Allen and Jeffery Wood on the show, and perhaps introduced the clinic in Season 4. One of the earliest themes of the show was Jackie hoping to find love again. The finale could have easily centred on her getting married or something, had she stayed on.

This show was good.... up until Debbie Allen departed

[wchngliu · 7/10 · 21 June 2007]

I really enjoyed watching the first few seasons of In The House when it was just Marion Hill, and the Warren clan Jackie, Austin and Tiffany. It was very funny and enjoyable to watch.

I found the mother Jackie played by veteran actress Debbie Allen (of Fame, erm fame!) hilarious to watch at times, especially as I thought she had great delivery and comic timing, as well as the funnier lines.

Her constant barracking of her ex-husband and the mickey taking of his bald head had me in stitches.

To many people, especially the elder generation, Debbie is best known for her associations with 'Fame','A Different World'. For those of us who were born after 1980 and too young to remember either of those shows and of whom are fans of Debbie Allen, it was this show 'In The House' in 1995 that first introduced us to her as an actress, producer, director.

Of course it is never easy for a show such as 'In The House' to carry on from where it's so called 'predecessor'the Fresh Prince had left off. Although the only comparisons I can draw from both sitcoms is that Debbie Allen was the executive producer of the first two seasons of The Fresh prince and In The House, and in that in both sitcoms the lead roles were played by then famous rappers in Will Smith and LL cool J. Not forgetting also that Alfonso Ribeiro appeared in both shows, so a lot of similarities can be drawn between the pair.

However, as soon as Jackie and Austin- who for me wasn't a bad sitcom kid- departed, this sitcom was never the same as it was, afterwards. As in their place were Kim Wayans and Alfonso himself. Kim played Tonya, of whom was at first a crazed, obsessed stalker of Marion's and she was just funny. Eventually she had mellowed down afterwards and wasn't as much the same crazy Tonya as she was a few seasons ago. Alfonso played Dr maxwell Stanton and whilst his role was supposed to be a far cry from his Fresh Prince days as Carlton Banks, in truth he was basically another version of Carlton- only slightly more arrogant. Both Kim and Alfonso are very talented actors, but i felt that their talents had been wasted when they became regular characters from season 3 onwards.

In all, I preferred it when it was just Jackie, Marion, Austin and tiffany... and so by the time the mother and her son went, In The House was no longer as funny as it was when they were around. If the show had retained those two characters and not added Maxwell, Tonya and the gym, then maybe perhaps In The House would've had a slightly longer run.

But In The House was good, i really liked it... up until the changes were made in the show.

Decent, Inoffensive Family Comedy Starring LL Cool J

[hypestyle · 6/10 · 6 December 2021]

"I guess I need a TV show to get mines, but I don't feel like kissing no director's behind..." So went the lyrics to "Ain't No Stoppin' This", an album track from rapper LL Cool J's "14 Shots to the Dome" LP, released in 1993. This is significant because barely two years later, LL's lyrical diss toward rappers who discard their artistic integrity for mainstream fame would come to ring curiously ironic by the time that NBC sitcom "In the House" Premiered.

The concept centers LL (early promotional copy for the show ditched his rap moniker for his real name, James Todd Smith) as pro football player Marion Hill. Injured and unable to continue with his career for the Los Angeles Raiders, not to mention in financial dire straits thanks to crooked management, he rents out half of his palatial home to the recently divorced Jackie Warren (Debbie Allen) who brings along her two children: elementary school-aged Austin (Jeffery Wood) and teenaged Tiffany (Maia Campbell). The main tension of the series concerned Marion coming to terms with having to trade in his bachelor sports star lifestyle for being a surrogate father figure to Jackie's two children. (Jackie's ex-husband left her and kept most of their money). The first two sets of seasons reflected a fairly typical domestic sitcom. Looking back, one could argue that part of it was almost an updated version of "Who's the Boss?" early on, without any romantic tension between the two adult leads. (Debbie Allen, by then a veteran television producer and director, is 18 years older than LL Cool J, which possibly was a reason why their characters weren't 'shipped'). This was also the second formal collaboration for Allen and LL; the former directed the latter in the film-noir based "Out of Sync", released that same year.

The first "season" was only six episodes in the spring of 1995. The second, though technically first full season, came in the fall of that year. The end of that season coincided with the end of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air", also a co-production of Quincy Jones/David Salzman, and NBC was not willing to commit to "In the House" again without its lead-in.

Fortunately, UPN stepped in to renew the show. However, the backdrop was slightly retooled. Gone were actors Allen and Wood; newly added to the show were Kim Wayans ("In Living Color") and Alfonso Ribiero ("The Fresh Prince of Bel Air").

At this point, the domestic affairs of the Warren family (mostly) weren't an issue anymore, as Jackie and Austin have "moved back East". Tiffany (assumed to be a high school junior/senior by now), meanwhile, has been left to the care of Marion as a legal guardian, so her hijinks were still allowed to happen.

Marion, meanwhile, has officially retired from football and was now the primary owner of a fitness center in Los Angeles. Wayans played Tonya, a fitness trainer at the center, while Ribiero played Dr. Stanton, a physician in residence there. In the updated format, the zany Tonya and snobbish Stanton serve as foils for Marion's straight man/everyman character, with Tiffany's teen troubles never far behind.

With the updated setting, the show lasted another two years on UPN (and apparently added six episodes for a syndication package, giving it a final total of 76 episodes).

Overall, there was nothing groundbreaking about the series, but it is generally okay. Series star LL Cool J was already a popular musician, and the series gave him plenty of opportunities to showcase his physique for the female audience. The Marion character didn't seem to far removed from LL's real life personality. His acting appearances had been sporadic up until then, so he was an unknown quantity to headline a major network sitcom at the time. Still, he proved to be game to deliver one-liners nearly as well as former rapper-turned-actor Will Smith. When Wayans and Ribiero joined the cast, more physical comedy was in the mix.

Wayans channeled her various sketch characters from the "In Living Color" show, while Ribiero as Stanton was basically Carlton with a medical degree.

The show is pretty family friendly, despite some occasional rated PG banter.

Why all these transitions?

[raysond · 25 February 2003]

It is quite amazing that this series is still seen in repeats in some syndication markets across the country. Actually,in my own opinion it wasn't a bad series by the way since it ran for four seasons on two major networks. First it was on NBC for two seasons,then after NBC canceled the series,UPN picked it up for the duration of its run. The series was produced by the same individuals who were behind another successful series of the 1990's "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".

First off,lets talk about the first two seasons went it appear on NBC-TV from 1995-1997. It centered around the Warren family which consisted of mother Jackie(Debbie Allen),daughter Tiffany(Maia Campbell),son Jeffery(Jeffrey Wood,who looked like the pint sized version of a miniature Steve Urkel who was gone by the end of the show's first season;in turn the actor resembled a slight look alike to actor Jaleel White of Family Matters fame,but smaller)and their landlord,ex-football star Marion Hill(played by LL Cool J). When it first came on most of the episodes from the first season consisted of the relationship between the divorce mom Jackie and the landlord Marion and their involvement with the kids which was in a point funny and hilarious in some of the earlier episodes but sometimes way overdrawn and overly acted(especially with the performances from Debbie Allen who was in turn the show's executive producer during its first two seasons)in their characters which during its last season the producers made sweeping changes to the show and from there network executives over at NBC pull the plug on this series making the change to another network the next season.

In the fall of 1997,the series moved over to the UPN Network where it ran for another two seasons which ended in 1999.Its improvement wasn't all that better but without the show's executive producer Debbie Allen from the first two seasons the show flourish anyway with the star power of actor/rapper LL Cool J as the lead support. During this switch their were some numerous changes involved with the series as well,but also the producers kept stars LL Cool J and Maia Campbell and added new characters to the mix including former In Living Color alumnus Kim Wayans,Alfonso Roberio(from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,and Silver Spoons),and Lark Voorhies(from The Jeffersons,and Saved By The Bell).

The show had a lot of transitions that were involved which frankly in my book killed it. All they had to do was keep the formula simple but in turn it fell completely apart since anyway. In all a great series.

Funny and smart.

[johnnymacbest · 7/10 · 17 June 2011]

LL Cool J in his first TV show? Who would've thought that such a combination can be so successful. Not the least of which is that it has some of the best comedy antics from recent years such as Kim Wayans, one of the funniest characters on the show. Although the first season was good, but not funny, the second and subsequent seasons were by far the best. Sadly, it was canceled after six seasons. It was good while it lasted;hey I watched not just for the laughs, but also the scantily clad babes that would(quite often) permeate throughout the show. But in the end, it's all good and I'm glad to had have the opportunity to watch it while it was on the air because by far and large, In The House is one of the funniest shows that ever came out on the small screen.

LL's First T.V. Gig

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 19 March 2024]

I looked up "In the House" and was surprised that it only had one season on NBC before being dropped only to be picked up by UPN. I never remember it even being on NBC. I'm certainly glad UPN decided to run with it.

This was LL's first real T. V. gig. He was satisfactory as the retired football player Marion Hill. As for Alfonso Ribiero and Kim Wayans, this was their second go around. Alfonso Ribiero was fresh off of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and Kim Wayans was just coming off of "In Livin' Color." They were two professional additions to help a newbie like LL Cool J.

The one thing I never got was why LL always wore something on his head.

Dated, but still hilarious!

[smooth_op_85 · 8/10 · 28 July 2017]

I remember watching this on TV when I was a kid. I rediscovered this show and Debbie Allen, known better for being behind the camera returns as Jackie, the mother of Austin and Tiffany. Marion, a football player whose career was cut short by an injury.

Debbie Allen is the hilarious Jackie, whose one liners make the show's first two seasons (I am watching this on Youtube) a breeze to watch.

Austin is the cutesy nerd who predictably is the butt of all his sister Tiffany's jokes. Tiffany, a teenager whose body is more developed than her mother would like.

Much of the humor comes from some of the crazy situations of Marion and his friends, his womanizing, Jackie's ex husband and her daughter's skimpy clothes, and other situations as they arise

I feel this show is pretty watchable standard fare

Too many changes but overall good show

[tampaaries · 7/10 · 26 November 2023]

I really enjoyed watching this show as a young kid in the 90's. The first two seasons were perfect, very funny and highly enjoyable. I really liked Jackie and lil Austin. Austin was very funny and he didn't overact like some of the other younger characters that be on these type of shows and LL cool J was surprisingly good on this show, I had never seen his acting abilities but he did a wonderful job in all 5 seasons of this show. Now on to season 3 which was still a good season in my opinion but I was sad to see Jackie and Austin leave the show but LL, Tiffany, Max and Tonia held it down and kept the show enjoyable to watch. In my opinion Tonia(Kim Wayans) wasn't always that funny to me, she seem to overdue her comedy to the point you just want her to shutup. Now season 4 and 5 was truly when this show became a real bore, I mean season 4 had a few good episodes but overall it lacked the magic Season 1-3 had and something I always hate was the remodeled clinic, I liked the old clinic better because it seem much brighter and lively to me, then they remodeled the clinic and it was darker and more lame looking. Now on to the final season, Season 5. I try to forget this season ever existed. It was beyond terrible, very boring and not funny at all. Tonia(Kim Wayans) left the show and Tiffany was only in 2 episodes then she was gone and we're left with just LL, Max, some unfunny lil girl that was the daughter of Marion's girlfriend and Tiffany's unfunny friends, I personally never thought they were funny and I was hopeing they were be gone at the start of season 4. All and all Season 5 was TERRIBLE and I understand why their were only 6 episodes in Season 5. But all in all In the house was an enjoyable sitcom, had some bad moments which I mentioned above but it had alot of good moments too.

An absolute NBC turned UPN classic!

[Catherine_Grace_Zeh · 9/10 · 18 May 2014]

"IN THE HOUSE," in my opinion, is an absolute NBC turned UPN classic! I haven't seen every episode, but I still enjoyed it. It's hard to say which episode was my favorite. However, I think it was always funny when a mishap occurred. I always laughed at that. If you ask me, it was nice that all of the main characters had stayed with the show throughout its entire run. It seems that no one stays with a show throughout its entire run. Everyone always gave a good performance, the production design was spectacular, the costumes were well-designed, and the writing was always very strong. In conclusion, if some network ever airs it in reruns again, I hope you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good.

In The House Rocks.

[mastuhoscg · 10/10 · 3 November 2023]

I enjoyed watching "In The House" because it was a really funny show which was NOT only cool but it was also entertaining. My favourite character from this sitcom was Marion Hill (he was portrayed by LL Cool J) because he was so spiritual, cool, nice & really reasonable. I even like how much he was a good role model for Tiffany & Austin during the show's first 2 seasons alongside a really fair landlord for them & their Mom Jackie until season 3 when Jackie & Austin moved to Nashville & Tiffany stayed in Los Angeles so that she could finish High School. I also liked the character Tonia because she was so funny especially with her somewhat crazy personality. What I like the most about this sitcom was the theme song which was used during the time UPN picked up "In The House" during season 3 when the show's original Network NBC cancelled it due to low ratings after the first 2 seasons aired. I like both the family oriented & adult oriented versions of this show as they were really cool. I even liked the colourful opening sequences which were used during the first 3 seasons as it was so artistic & beautiful looking.

Too much transition

[COMPFUNK2 · 25 April 2002]

Nothing was actually bad per se about any of the four seasons of this show (well, maybe the fourth season), but looking at it from a casting point of view, it was all over the place. The first season revolved around the Warrens--mother, Jackie (Debbie Allen); daughter, Tiffany (Maia Campbell); and son, Austin (Jeffery Wood)--who lived in a duplex alongside the landlord, a retired football player named Marion Hill (LL Cool J). Tonia Harris (Kim Wayans) changed from chasing Marion to becoming his best friend--as well as changing from a recurring character to a permanent character--as the season changed. Also, at the end of the season, Jackie and Austin moved away, leaving Tiffany to live with Marion. In order to afford to take care of her, Marion opened a health clinic with Tonia.

Several new characters popped up in the second season. The main new character was Dr. Maxwell "Max" Stanton (Alfonso Ribeiro), a conceited clinical doctor who also became part owner of the clinic. Also, Tiffany was given some friends, Carl (Ken Lawson) and Raynelle (Gabrielle Carmouche), who popped up here and there. But the most unnecessary character was a kid named Rodney (Deejay Daniels). He came out of nowhere and nobody ever bothered to ask whose kid he was. He didn't bring much to the show, which is probably why he was gone by mid-season.

Things were going fine until the beginning of the fourth (and final) season. The only people that were left were Marion, Max, and for some reason Carl and Raynelle. Because Carl and Raynelle were still merely recurring characters, the fourth season had more guest stars than regular cast members (the beginning credits only listed LL Cool J and Alfonso Ribeiro). The plots were very bland and uninteresting, particularly because the funniest characters and jokes were brought out by actors that were no longer there.

Overall, In The House was a good show, but it would have been better if the producers could make up their minds about the cast.

I MISS THIS SHOW

[skmt · 13 July 2001]

This is truly a great show. The writing is great. I wish it hadn't been canceled. LL Cool J is very good in the comedy sitcom. His character Marion is very funny. Kim Wayans character Tonia is real ghetto. The combined antics of the characters make a show that will keep u laughing for a while.