''Thea'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

that premiered September 8, 1993, on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, and ended on February 16, 1994, for a total of 19 episodes. Starring stand-up comedian

Thea Vidale Thea R. Vidale (born November 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Vidale is perhaps best known for her role as Thea Armstrong-Turrell in the ABC sitcom '' Thea'', which originally aired from 1993 until 1994. Vidale is noted a ...

, ''Thea'' series marked the first time an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

woman comedian was the star of a series named after her.

Synopsis

Set in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Thea Vidale stars as title character Thea Armstrong-Turrell, a widowed mother of four children who works as a supermarket cashier during the day and runs a single-chair beauty salon called ''Styles by Thea'' from her home at night. Although the show initially attracted high ratings, viewership declined steadily over the course of the season, and the series was canceled after 19 episodes.

Cast

Main

— Thea Armstrong-Turrell * Adam Jeffries — Jarvis Turrell Jr., Thea's first son *

Jason Weaver Jason Michael Weaver (born July 18, 1979) is an American actor and singer best known for his roles as Marcus Henderson on The WB sitcom '' Smart Guy,'' Jerome Turrell on the short-lived sitcom '' Thea'' from 1993 to 1994, and the preteen Micha ...

— Jerome Turrell, Thea's second son *

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist ...

— Danesha Turrell, Thea's daughter *Brenden Jefferson — James Turrell, Thea's third son * Cleavant Derricks — Charles Russell, Lynette's husband *

Yvette Wilson Yvette Reneé Wilson (March 6, 1964 – June 14, 2012) was an American comedian and actress. She was known for her role as Andell Wilkerson, the owner of the local restaurant and hangout on the UPN sitcoms ''Moesha'' (1996–2001); and restaurant ...

— Lynette Armstrong-Russell, Thea's younger sister and Charles's wife

Recurring

*Kenny Ford, Jr. — Leonard Thurman * Miguel A. Nunez Jr. — Rickey * Arvie Lowe, Jr. — Otis *

Wesley Jonathan Wesley Jonathan is an American actor best known for his starring role as Jamal Grant in the NBC sitcom '' City Guys'' (1997–2001), Gary Thorpe in the sitcom '' What I Like About You'' (2002–2006), Sweetness in the film '' Roll Bounce'' (2005 ...

- Riddick

Episodes

Syndication

Reruns of the show aired on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

from 1994 to 1998 and returned to the same channel on

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in Mar ...

in 2008, but stopped airing a few months later.

Ratings

*Episode 1: 13.6/22, 20.7 million, #11 *Episode 2: 10.4/20, 15.9 million, #29 *Episode 3: 15.0/24, 23.4 million, #10 *Episode 4: 10.1/17, 14.9 million, #52 *Episode 5: 10.5/17, 15.4 million, #52 *Episode 6: 10.3/16, 15.4 million, #53 *Episode 7: 11.2/18, 17.0 million, #40 *Episode 8: 10.0/16, 14.6 million, #57 *Episode 9: 9.7/15, 15.1 million, #55 *Episode 10: 9.3/16, 14.8 million, #56 *Episode 11: 13.6/21, 22.2 million, #23 *Episode 12: 9.6/16, 14.9 million, #54 *Episode 13: 8.5/14, 14.2 million, #61 *Episode 14: 11.4/17, 17.6 million, #45 *Episode 15: 10.2/16, 15.0 million, #58 *Episode 16: 11.5/17, 17.3 million, #47 *Episode 17: 10.1/16, 15.6 million, #59 *Episode 18: 10.7/16, 16.8 million, #48 *Episode 19: 9.2/14, 13.6 million, #46

Award nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thea (TV Series) 1993 American television series debuts 1994 American television series endings 1990s American black sitcoms American English-language television shows Television series about families Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Houston Television series by Castle Rock Entertainment American Broadcasting Company sitcoms