''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television

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 ...

created by Winifred Hervey and directed by

Stan Lathan Stan Lathan (born July 8, 1945) is an American television and film director and television producer. He is executive producer and director of Black Entertainment Television, BET's ''Real Husbands of Hollywood''. He has produced and directed nume ...

that aired on

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

from August 25, 1996 to February 17, 2002, with a total of 122 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons.

Synopsis

Steve Hightower (

Steve Harvey Broderick Stephen Harvey Sr. Also aired August 16, 2015. (born January 17, 1957) is an American comedian, television host, actor, writer, and producer. He hosts ''The Steve Harvey Morning Show'', ''Family Feud'', ''Celebrity Family Feud'', '' ...

) is a 1970s

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

legend and a very successful music star with his musical group who is now a music teacher/vice principal at

Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite#United S ...

High School on

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's West Side. Budget cutbacks meant Steve also had to teach drama and art, much to his surprise. Cedric Robinson (

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' ...

) is a coach at the high school, and Steve's longtime best friend. The principal of Booker T. Washington High is Steve's former classmate, Regina Grier (

Wendy Raquel Robinson Wendy Raquel Robinson (born July 25, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as high school principal Regina "Piggy" Grier on The WB comedy sitcom '' The Steve Harvey Show'' (1996–2002), and as sports agent Tasha Mac ...

), whom Steve affectionately calls "Piggy", because she was overweight in childhood. Steve forms a strong bond with two of his students: Romeo Santana ( Merlin Santana), a stylish, self-absorbed ladies' man, and the equally vacuous Stanley Kuznocki, nicknamed Bullethead ( William Lee Scott) – acting as their mentor, and gradually, accepts them as friends. In season 2, the show introduced a new character, a secretary named Lovita Jenkins (

Terri J. Vaughn Terri Juanita Vaughn-Riley (née Vaughn; born October 16, 1969) is an American actress, director and producer. She is best known for her role as high school secretary Lovita Alizay Jenkins-Robinson in The WB sitcom ''The Steve Harvey Show'' (1997 ...

), a woman who is fundamentally in the good mood, but nonetheless, considerably unrefined in terms of disposition. Cedric and Lovita begin dating, and eventually marry and gave birth to a child. The show also featured a succession of young actresses who served as female foils to Romeo and Bullethead; the longest-lasting of these was Lori Beth Denberg as the overachieving, socially inept Lydia Gutman. Rapper

The Lady of Rage Robin Yvette Allen (born February 6, 1968), known professionally as The Lady of Rage, is an American rapper, singer and actress best known for her collaborations with several other Death Row Records artists, including Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on t ...

also had a recurring role as Coretta "The Ox" Cox, a physically massive, brutish teenage girl in romantic pursuit of Romeo. Coretta would call Bullethead a "broke

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

" whenever he annoyed her, but would usually refer to Lydia as "Linda", "Lisa", or "Lucy" (correctly calling her "Lydia" only once). Steve was part of a fictional music group called "Steve Hightower and the High Tops," who would temporarily reunite to perform on occasion. The members consisted of Steve, T-Bone (played by

T. K. Carter Thomas Kent Carter (born December 18, 1956) is an American actor known for his roles in ''The Thing (1982 film), The Thing'', ''Punky Brewster'', ''The Corner'', ''Southern Comfort (1981 film), Southern Comfort'', ''Doctor Detroit, Corvette Summe ...

, later by Don 'D.C.' Curry), Pretty Tony (played by

Ronald Isley Ronald Isley ( ; born May 21, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers. Early life Born in 1941 to Sallye Bernice (née Bell) and O ...

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

), and Clyde (played by Jonathan Slocumb). Two of their signature songs (performed several times on the show) were "When the Funk Hits the Fan" (and later on Harvey's eponymous talk show), and "Break Me Off a Piece of That Funk." Though Cedric was not an original member of the group, he usually sang with them on several events. Minor recurring characters throughout the series included Cedric's grandmother named "Grandma Puddin'" (played by Cedric the Entertainer) and Regina's boyfriend, former NFL star Warrington Steele (played by Dorien Wilson).

Kenan Thompson Kenan Thompson (; born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since Saturday Night Live season 29, 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the ...

and

Kel Mitchell Kel Johari Rice Mitchell (born August 25, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, rapper, singer, and TV host. He was an original cast member of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' for its first five seasons (1994–1999), where he ...

appeared in several episodes as "Junior" and "Vincent" (which ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy children's television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tol ...

'' cast member Lori Beth Denberg starred in).

Wayne Wilderson Wayne Wilderson (born January 30, 1966) is an American actor who has had guest spots on many successful television programs. Early life and education He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from Breck School in 1984 and received a ...

played Byron, a "bougie" type character who was a television producer and a member of the Onyx Club (a professional men's group that Steve and Cedric tried to join). Dwayne Adway played Jordan Maddox, a professional basketball player who was briefly married to Regina before dying during their honeymoon. Ernest Lee Thomas made a few appearances as the Reverend who eulogized Maddox, and who married Cedric and Lovita.

Episodes

Cast

Main

as Steven "Steve" Hightower *

as Cedric Jackie Robinson * Merlin Santana as Romeo Santana * William Lee Scott as Stanley "Bullethead" Kuznocki *

as Principal Regina Grier-Maddox *

Tracy Vilar Tracy Vilar is an American actress. She is sometimes credited as Tracy Villars. Career She is best known for her roles as Ro-Ro on the CBS sitcom '' Partners'', Sophia Ortiz on The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, styl ...

as Sophia Ortiz (season 1) * Netfa Perry as Sara (season 1) *

as Lovita Alizay Jenkins-Robinson (seasons 2–6) * Ariyan A. Johnson as Aisha (season 2) * Lori Beth Denberg as Lydia Liza Guttman (seasons 4–6; recurring season 3)

Recurring

as Vincent (1996–1998) *

as Junior (1996–1998) *

as T-Bone (1996–1998) *

as Pretty Tony (1996–2001) * Jonathan Slocumb as Clyde (1996–2001) *

as Coretta "The Ox" Cox (1997–2000; credited during season 4 episodes as "Robin Yvette") *

as Byron (1998–2001) * Dorien Wilson as Warrington Steele (1997–1998) *

Samm Levine Samuel Franklin Levine (born March 12, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Neal Schweiber on NBC's ''Freaks and Geeks'' and PFC Hirschberg in the 2009 film ''Inglourious Basterds''. Levine was also the sidekick and fi ...

as Arthur Rabinowitz (2001) * Don "D.C." Curry as T-Bone (2001) * Dwayne Adway as Jordan Maddox (2000)

Special guest appearances

Marissa Jaret Winokur Marissa Jaret Winokur (born February 2, 1973), sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress and singer known for her Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, Tony-winning performance as Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway theatre, ...

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before ...

Meagan Good Meagan Monique Good (born August 8, 1981) is an American actress and model. She first gained critical attention for her role in the film '' Eve's Bayou'' (1997) prior to landing the role of Nina in the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Cousin Skeeter'' (199 ...

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician. He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show '' Jerry Springer'' from 1991 to 2 ...

* Bow Wow *

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American record producer, singer, and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B and hip-hop fusion genre, new jack swing. Musical artists who utilized Riley's production and songwri ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

Sean Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Ve ...

Kim Fields Kim Fields Morgan ( Fields; born May 12, 1969) is an American actress and director. She first gained fame as a child actress on the television series ''Good Times'' (1978–1979), and rose to greater prominence for her role as Dorothy "Tootie" R ...

Isabel Sanford Isabel Sanford (born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford; August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms ''All in the Fam ...

* Judge Greg Mathis *

Antonio Fargas Antonio Fargas (born August 14, 1946) is an American actor known for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation and comedy movies, as well as his portrayal as Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series ''Starsky & Hutch''. Early life Fargas was born in New York C ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An Contemporary R&B, R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong ...

Nikki Cox Nikki Cox (born ) is an American actress, known for her roles on the television series ''Unhappily Ever After'', ''Las Vegas'', ''The Norm Show'', and '' Nikki''. Career Cox began her career at the age of four, when she appeared as a dancer ...

Boris Kodjoe Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (; born March 8, 1973) is a German actor and former model, based in the United States. His breakthrough role was as sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtime drama series '' Soul Food'' (2000- ...

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

Bumper Robinson Larry Clarence "Bumper" Robinson II is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Damas in ''Jak 3'', Bumblebee and Blitzwing on '' Transformers: Animated'' Rook Blonko and various other characters in '' Ben 10: Omniverse'', and Fa ...

* Adrian Zmed * Jennifer Lyons *

Ja'net Dubois Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5 – February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois (), was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood ...

* Megalyn Echikunwoke

Seasonal ratings in the United States

Series end

In 2001, Harvey decided to pursue other projects. He wished to end the show after the fifth season, but at the insistence of the WB network, filmed a 13-episode sixth season. The series ended with Regina mulling over a job offer to be a principal at a private school in California. Steve, who refused to go with Regina, acts supportive despite his feelings. Regina ends up taking the job; with encouragement from Lydia, Bullethead, and Romeo, Steve decides to go after her to reveal his true feelings. Lydia, Romeo, and Bullethead have all graduated by the series' finale. Meanwhile, Cedric and Lovita win the lottery and Lovita goes into labor (Terri J. Vaughn's real-life pregnancy was written into the show that season).

Syndication

The series was first distributed to syndication to

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

, and independent affiliates in the United States by Columbia TriStar Television Distribution in September 2001, and remained airing in broadcast syndication in some U.S. markets on various local stations (such as WCIU and

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...

in Chicago) as late as 2008. From 2001 to 2005, reruns aired on Secaucus, New Jersey Based UPN station,

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...

. From 2014 to June 2016, after

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

's sexual harassment allegations, ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'' reruns were replaced on The WB's New York flagship station,

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City, serving as the ''de facto'' flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local market ...

by reruns of ''The Steve Harvey Show''. The show has started airing again in syndication as of 2015. The series 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 ...

until March 2009, and was on TBS in the United States until September 24, 2011, and aired on the UK channel

Trouble Trouble may refer to: Film and television * ''Trouble'' (1922 film), an American silent comedy-drama film directed by Albert Austin * ''Trouble'' (1933 film), a British comedy film * ''Trouble'' (1977 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Trouble'' ...

. It was broadcast on

Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...

until March 16, 2009. As of 2019 and 2023 reruns of the show can be seen on

BET Her BET Her is an American basic cable television network currently owned by the BET Media Group subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. The channel originally launched in 1996 as BET on Jazz, a spin-off from BET with a focus on ...

getTV Get (Great Entertainment Television, stylized as get. since 2023, and formerly stylized as getTV) is an American Digital subchannel#Commercial networks, digital multicast television network owned by the Sony Pictures Television#Sony Pictures Tel ...

and

Aspire TV Aspire TV may refer to: * Aspire TV (American TV network), an American pay television network * Aspire TV (Australian TV channel), a former home shopping datacasting television channel in Australia {{disambiguation ...

. , the series is currently available for streaming online on

Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...

and

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

and Amazon Prime in the United States and the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

's streaming service, CTV Throwback in Canada. In 2022, Sony Pictures' channel Throw Back TV on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

posted several clips and episodes from the series for streaming purposes, led to the show's distributor Sony Pictures Television launched the channel dedicated to the series on August 24, 2022. In November 2023, all six seasons of the series have also made available for streaming online on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Home media

In 2003,

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library ...

released ''The Best of the Steve Harvey Show, Vol. 1'', on Region 1 DVD. The disc features five episodes of the series.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steve Harvey Show 1996 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings 1990s American black sitcoms 2000s American black sitcoms 1990s American high school television series 2000s American high school television series 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 2000s American multi-camera sitcoms 1990s American workplace comedy television series 2000s American workplace comedy television series American English-language television shows Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in Chicago Television series by Brad Grey Television Television series about educators The WB sitcoms