''Martin'' 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 ...

that aired for five seasons on

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 ...

from August 27, 1992, to May 1, 1997. The show stars comedian

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...

as the titular character. Lawrence also played several other characters. ''Martin'' was one of

's highest-rated shows during the sitcom's run. In 2024, the cast reunited at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Broadcast history

Episodes

Premise

played the role of Martin Payne, originally a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

who lived with his girlfriend Gina Waters (

Tisha Campbell Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the NBC musical comedy drama ''Rags to ...

) in the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Martin worked for the fictional radio station WZUP; in later seasons, he became the host of the talk show ''Word on the Street''.

Characters

Main characters

as Martin Payne *

as Gina Waters-Payne * Carl Anthony Payne II as Cole Brown *

Thomas Mikal Ford Thomas Mikal Ford (September 5, 1964 – October 12, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as Thomas "Tommy" Strawn in the sitcom ''Martin (TV series), Martin'', which originally aired from 1992 until 1997. He a ...

as Thomas "Tommy" Strawn *

Tichina Arnold Tichina Rolanda Arnold (; born June 28, 1969) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in supporting roles in '' Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986) and '' How I Got into College'' (1989) before being cast as Pamela ...

as Pamela "Pam" James * Jon Gries as Shawn McDermott (seasons 1–2) *

Garrett Morris Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980. He ...

as Stan Winters (seasons 1–2; guest season 3)

Supporting characters

* Reginald Ballard as Bruh-Man (Brother Man) (seasons 2–4) *

Tracy Morgan Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy television series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2003, and played Tracy Jordan in the NBC sitcom ''30 Ro ...

as Hustle Man (seasons 3–4) * Jeri Gray as Ms. Geri * Maura McDade as Shanise McGillicuddy (season 5) * Sean Lampkin as Nipsey (seasons 3–5)

Recurring characters

Judyann Elder Judyann Elder (born Judith Ann Johnson; August 18, 1948) is an American actress, director, and writer. She played Nadine Waters on the FOX sitcom ''Martin''. She also played Harriette Winslow on CBS' '' Family Matters'' for the remaining eight ...

as Nadine Waters * J. A. Preston as Dr. Cliff Waters * Adrian Tibbs as Lil' Dawg * Ray Massara as Buckwhite * Charlie Murphy as Bro Fo' Real (Brother For Real) * David Jean Thomas as Angry Man * Jeris Lee Poindexter as Mr. Booker * Ellia English as Mrs. Booker * Laura Hayes as Maddie Brown * LaWanda Page as Evelyn Porter * David Alan Grier as Reverend Leon Lonnie Love * Roxanne Reese as Marian * Kenneth Whack as Kenji * Simbi Khali as Laquita *

Yo-Yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 440 BC. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in th ...

as Keylolo *

Kim Coles Kimberly Coles (born January 11, 1962) is an American actress, comedian and game show host. Coles is known for her roles as an original cast member on the variety show ''In Living Color'' (1990–1991) and as Synclaire James-Jones on the sitcom '' ...

as Bonquisha * Reno Wilson as Sonny * Tommy Davidson as Varnell Hill * Luis Antonio Ramos as Luis * Bentley Kyle Evans as Titus * BeBe Drake-Massey as Myra * Angelina Estrada as Gloria Rodriguez

Other roles played by Lawrence

* Sheneneh Jenkins * Edna (Mama) Payne * Ol' Otis (seasons 1-4) * Jerome (seasons 1-4) * Roscoe * Dragonfly Jones (seasons 1-3) * Bob (seasons 1-2) * King Beef (seasons 1-2) * Elroy Preston (seasons 2)

Lawsuit

In November 1996, Campbell left the series during its final season, citing "intolerable" working conditions. She filed a lawsuit against Lawrence and the show's producers in January 1997 for

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

and verbal and physical assaults. The series explanation was that Gina was "out on business", though in the two-part episode "Going Overboard" it was stated that Gina had arrived too late to board the boat for the trip alongside everyone else. By April 1997, Campbell had settled the lawsuit and returned for the last two episodes of the series under the condition that she would not share any scenes or interact with Lawrence. Campbell and Lawrence have since reconciled, and repaired their relationship.

Awards and nominations

Syndication

''Martin'' went into second run syndication on August 8, 1995, through Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution; it airs multiple times a week on the networks of

Paramount Global Paramount Global (Trade name, d/b/a Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate controlled by National Amusements and Headquarters, headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Times Square, ...

, including

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

and BET, with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

also carrying the full run of the series.

Home media

Besides being purchasable on most digital video retailers, HBO Home Video released all five seasons of ''Martin'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in Region 1.

Reunion

In 2022, cast members Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold, and Carl Anthony Payne II and other guests reunited. Notably missing from the reunion was Thomas Mikal Ford, whom died, but ''Martin: The Reunion'' paid tribute to him. The 90-minute special was released on June 16, 2022, on

BET+ BET+ is a Video on demand#Subscription models, streaming service operated by Tyler Perry Studios and the BET Networks, BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. The service was first announced on June 24, 2019, ...

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 ...

Spin-offs

''Young Martin''

On July 11, 2024, an hour-long prequel series to ''Martin'', titled ''Young Martin'', was announced to be in development by ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

''. The series is executive produced by

, Rae Proctor, Robert Lawrence and Stacy Lyles from RunTelDat, with Bob Yari, David McPherson, Rosa Peart, Greg Martin for WonderHill Studios, ''Young Martin'' follows a teenage Martin Payne residing in a modern-day

finding his path to success as he transitions from childhood to adulthood and is described as both an origin story and a reimagining of the character.

''Varnell Hill''

On April 15, 2025, ''Varnell Hill'', a spin-off series was green-lit by BET+. It will be headlined by actor-comedian Tommy Davidson, reprising his character Varnell Hill from the ''Martin'' series.

References

External links

Official Website
* {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Martin'' , list = {{NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series {{People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy 1990s American black sitcoms 1990s American multi-camera sitcoms 1992 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings American television series with live action and animation American English-language television shows Television series about radio Television series about television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Detroit Television series by HBO Independent Productions Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms