Everybody Hates Chris

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Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris Season 1 title card.
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Ali LeRoi Chris Rock
Starring	Tyler James Williams as Chris Rock Tichina Arnold as Rochelle Rock Terry Crews as Julius Rock Tequan Richmond as Drew Rock Imani Hakim as Tanya Rock Vincent Martella as Greg Wuliger Chris Rock as Himself - Narrator
Narrated by	Chris Rock
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	40
Production
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	20 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	UPN (2005-2006) The CW (2006-)
Picture format	HDTV
Original run	September 22, 2005 – present
Links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Everybody Hates Chris is an American sitcom on The CW Television Network. It is inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock (who narrates the show), while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The title of the show is a play on that of the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Unlike other CW sitcoms, Everybody Hates Chris does not use a studio audience laugh track.

On September 22, 2005, the series' premiere achieved higher ratings than NBC's season premiere of Joey, giving UPN its third highest rating in history. With seven million viewers, it was fourth highest-rated program at the 8 p.m. ET time slot. It is also the first TV show to be available for free preview on Google Video.

On January 24, 2006, it was confirmed that Everybody Hates Chris would be part of the CW's fall 2006-2007 TV lineup. UPN ceased operations in September 2006. The second season began October 1, 2006. The show is now the second most watched comedy on The CW right behind the returning comedy Reba. Because Everybody Hates Chris is doing so well, there's been an early full-season renewal for 2007-2008, which will be the show's third season.[1].

1 Cast
2 Recurring Characters
3 Guest Stars
4 Recurring Themes
5 Running gags
6 Awards and nominations
7 Episode list
8 Notes
9 Goofs
10 DVD releases
11 U.S. Broadcast History
12 International Broadcasts
13 External Links

It is generally assumed that the last name of the family is "Rock," but this has not been established on the show.

Tichina Arnold as Rochelle Rock, the sassy, scary, scolding mother. Aside from having a blustery mouth, Rochelle is sweet and affectionate; she acts and speaks in the stereotypical "black female" style. Among her quirks, she cares too much about what others think, she's obsessed with Turtle chocolates, recommends Robitussin for every ailment, and makes sure her children aren't making babies--for her to raise, anyway.
Terry Crews as Julius Rock, the very worrywart, tense, and penurious father. Julius delivers newspapers for a living and has a second job. He also once had a job as a fisherman; although it paid well, the bad smell he brought home forced the family to ask him to quit. A running gag through the show is that he is able to tell exactly how much something is worth. For example (not an exact quote): "That's seventy-eight cents' worth of spilled milk on my table! Somebody's gonna drink that milk," or "That's eleven cents' worth of electricity!"
Tyler James Williams as Chris Rock, the ambitious, innocent, but hapless, scapegoat eldest child.
Tequan Richmond as Drew Rock, the mischievous, cool, talented middle child, who's always got girls chasing after him but is too young to be very concerned with them.
Imani Hakim as Tonya Rock, the sensitive daughter. She's the antagonist of her older brothers. As the youngest and only girl, she is able to get anything out of her father.
Vincent Martella as Greg Wulliger, the white, nerdy best friend of Chris, who's always of assistance to him and gets picked on almost as much as Chris does.
Chris Rock as the narrator (voice), an older Chris looking back at his youth, à la The Wonder Years.

Mike Estime as Risky, a black market dealer who sells items that are always faulty or stolen.
Antonio Fargas as Mr. Harris (also called "Doc"), the local grocery store owner.
Todd Bridges as Monk, Mr. Harris' nephew, who also works at the grocery. Monk used to be part of the military.
Kevontay Jackson as Jerome, a neighborhood troublemaker essentially robs Chris and other kids on the block by saying " Hey! Little dude from across the street, lemme hold a dollar.(to Chris)"
Keesha Sharp as Sheila Ridenhour, the Rock family's neighbour and a good friend of Rochelle's. Julius usually feels uncomfortable around her.
Aree Davis as Keisha Ridenhour, Sheila's daughter and Chris's dream girl, who unfortunately fancies Chris' younger brother Drew.
Ricky Harris as Malvo, a crook who robs Chris at Doc's and threatens to kill him if he snitches. Later after he gets out of jail, he forces Chris to chain-snatch a gold medallion.
Myzel Robinson as Fat Mike, who protects Chris from local thugs and makes friends with him.

Travis T. Flory as Joey Caruso, the racist school bully who routinely picks on Chris.
Jude Ciccolella as Dr. Raymond, the principal at Chris's school.
Jacqueline Mazarella as Ms. Morello, Chris' sweet, supportive teacher. In her attempts to be polite, she always unintentionally comes off as racist.
Jason Alexander as Principal Edwards, the eccentric new principal of Corleone, who tricks Chris into confronting Caruso, and in a later episode, is stuck indoors with Chris during a snowstorm.
Lynda Scarlino, as Mrs. Milone, the school monitor, who's often unfairly disciplining Chris when he hasn't done anything wrong.
Sam Mandel as Fisher, Fisher helps Chris forge Chris's report card. He later helps Chris get Chris's fathers Playboy magazine from Mrs.Milone

Jimmie Walker as Gene, Rochelle's father, who dies of a heart attack at the dinner table on his first appearance on the show. However, he reappears to comfort Rochelle as a ghost later on in the same episode.
Loretta Devine as Maxine, Rochelle's mother who picks on her a lot and caused a lot of chaos when she visited for her husband's funeral.
Earthquake as Uncle Mike, Rochelle's freeloading, lazy brother who was kicked out of their mother, Maxine's house. Uncle Mike drives Julius crazy.
Monica Calhoun as Aunt Charlotte "Grievey", one of Rochelle's sisters who only appears at funerals and cries a lot.
Ikonastarr as Aunt Mousey, another one of Rochelle's sisters who talks like a mouse and only speaks when spoken to
Wayne Brady as Uncle Louis, Julius' successful, highly skilled, and charismatic younger brother, who Julius is very jealous of.

Jackée Harry as Vanessa, Rochelle's vivacious, sprightly girlfriend and one of the gossipy workers at the local beauty salon.
Tasia Sherel as Pam.

Whoopi Goldberg as Louise Clarkson, the antagonistic neighbor, who insults Chris and infuriates Rochelle.
Gary Basaraba as Art, Greg's divorced father who never lets him have friends over.
Paige Hurd as Tasha, Louise's granddaughter who lives with her grandmother and sees Chris frequently.
Orlando Jones as Mr. Newton, the substitute teacher, who wants his students to get A's.
DJ Quik as Hilly Hill, the DJ, who takes over Chris's DJing duties at a party.
Richard Lewis as Kris, a mysterious man whom Chris befriends at the hospital.

Much like the comedy series Family Guy and Scrubs, Everybody Hates Chris will often make a joke, then cut to a clip that enacts what was said - whether it be a hypothetical (and always humorous) situation, or an exaggeration of a situation the family is said to have experienced in the past.

Each episode title begins with "Everybody Hates..."

Every episode ends with the words "Everybody Hates Chris," heard in song.

Although an episodic sitcom, in which characters' situations change from episode to episode, there are several character tendencies, thematic elements, and sayings that continue throughout the series. These include:

When someone asks Julius about something that costs money he says you got some ..... money
Drew, Chris's younger brother is taller and looks much older than Chris does
Whenever Chris' uncle refers to Julius, he'll holler "BIG MAAAAN!!!"
Whenever Vanessa comes over, she and Rochelle are usually excited in their wild fashion about something, often over tickets to concerts.
Julius, being a very cheap man, will always know the exact monetary value of anything being wasted by the family.
Rochelle is always making sure no one thinks of her or her family as poor. ("Girl, whatchoo talkin' 'bout food stamps? Who's sellin' food stamps? I ain't sellin' no food stamps!") Yet she judges everyone else because she is a "ghetto snob."
Rochelle uses a range of vibrant and colourful threats usually involving slapping. ("I'll slap the caps off your knees!")
Whenever Chris is in trouble, especially with Caruso, Greg runs away.
Whenever a girl talks to Chris, Greg always tells him "You are so in there."
Whenever Rochelle leaves a job her last words before actually going are always "I don't need this. My man has two jobs."
Rochelle is in love with Chocolate Pecan Turtles candy.
Any girl Chris is interested in, will ultimately be attracted to Drew.
Drew usually liberates himself from any accountability for misdemeanors in the house by saying "It wasn't me."
Tonya never resists the opportunity to get Chris into trouble.
Most episodes end with somebody yelling "CHRIS!" (most of the time it's Rochelle)
Tichina Arnold, along with two other women, sings the show's title at the end of the 2nd and 3rd (and final) segment. The latter is sung with more feeling. Both versions were heard in every episode of season 1; the latter is usually the only one heard at the end of Season 2 episodes.
Julius and other characters buy various items from Risky that are always faulty, and most likely stolen.
Rochelle always reminds her kids that she "ain't raisin' no babies" whenever a male-female relationship is discussed.
A neighborhood troublemaker essentially robs Chris and other kids on the block by saying "Lemme hold a dollar"
Rationalities that involve circular logic, mostly written by Ali LeRoi, are often used by Chris and Rochelle. (For example, Tonya waking up Julius will lead to Julius hitting Chris, which will lead to Chris hitting Tonya, which will lead to Julius killing Chris, which would result in Julius going to jail)
When a character is let down, Greg and Drew often make the situation worse by saying "If I were you, I'd..." be either extremely depressed, crying or on the brink of suicide.

2006 Golden Globe awards

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy (nominated)

Clockwise from bottom: Chris, Tonya, Julius, Rochelle, Drew, Greg.

2006 NAACP Image awards

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series — Tyler James Williams (nominated)
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series — Tichina Arnold (Won)
Outstanding Comedy Series (Won)
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series — Ken Whittingham (nominated)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — Terry Crews (nominated)

2006 Writers Guild of America

New Series, Television — Aron Abrams, Rodney Barnes, Chris Rock (nominated)

Main article: List of Everybody Hates Chris episodes

When about to go to commercial (During season 2) the people singing "Everybody Hates Chris," does not play. They will sing at the end of every episode.
Occasionally bits of Rock's stand-up routines are referenced in the scripts. For example, in at least two episodes Robitussin is requested for purposes other than cough, referring to a bit on Rock's Bigger & Blacker album in which he hails it as an inexpensive panacea. Also, the first episode has a focus on 'the big piece of chicken' something that was also mentioned on Bigger and Blacker.
Everybody Hates Chris is one of five successful sitcoms that carry the tradition of being produced two decades later than the time period in which they are set. Everybody Hates Chris takes place in the 1980s and was produced in the 2000s. Others shows following this pattern include M*A*S*H and Happy Days, which began production in the 1970s and depicts the 1950s; The Wonder Years, which was produced in the 1980s and depict the 1960s; and That 70's Show, which began production in the 1990s and depicts the 1970s.
There is a discrepancy between Chris Rock's actual age and the age of his character on the show. Having been born in 1965, Rock would have actually been 17 in the 1982/83 setting of the first season.

During the first season, which is set in 1982/83, songs from the Tears for Fears album Songs from the Big Chair are played in the background. Songs from the Big Chair was not released until 1985.
Also during the first season, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship plays in the same setting, but the song was not released until 1987.
During the second season, set in 1985, Chris and Greg skip school to see the new hit movie "Ghostbusters". However, Ghostbusters was in theaters the previous summer, in 1984.
Advertisements on The CW features clips of the show with a laugh track, which is not present in the actual show.
In the episode "Everybody Hates DJs" the front cover of "The Art of the DJ," the magazine Chris reads, has a picture of DJ Quik who didn't release his first album until 1991.

Season Releases

DVD name	Cover Art	Release date	Ep #	Additional information
The Complete First Season		October 10, 2006	22	Commentaries by the cast and crew, Everybody hates the making of Everybody hates Chris, Everybody hates the set, Everybody hates video cameras, bloopers, deleted scenes, cast auditions.

Some of the music found in the show has been replaced by alternate songs and/or covers of the songs in the DVD release. This is mentioned on the back of the DVD packaging and is most likely due to licensing issues.

September 2005 - May 2006 -- Thursdays 8:00pm/7:00pm
October 2006 - present -- Mondays 8:00pm/7:00pm

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States		UPN (Season 1) and The CW (Season 2-)	September 22, 2005	Mondays 8:00pm ET
Australia		Network Ten	March 5, 2006
Austria	Alle hassen Chris	ORF		Saturdays 2:50pm
Brazil	Todo Mundo Odeia o Chris (Record only)	Rede Record & Sony Entertainment Television(cable)	November 8, 2005	Fridays 8:00pm
Croatia	Svi mrze Chrisa	Nova TV	March 25, 2007	Sundays 1:00pm
Denmark		TV2 Zulu	September 16, 2006	Saturday 8:00pm
Finland	Lapsuuteni luuserina ("My childhood as a loser")	Nelonen	February 27, 2006	Monday 8:30pm
Germany	Alle hassen Chris	Pro 7	September 16, 2006	Saturday 2:00pm
Hong Kong	阿傑出少年	TVB Pearl	February 19, 2006	Sunday 8:00pm
Ireland		TV3	April 2006	Monday 8:00pm
Italy		Paramount Comedy channel	May 8, 2006	----
Israel		Bip	2006	Sunday
Latin America		Sony Entertainment Television	November 2005	Fridays 8PM Ven// 7PM Col
Malaysia		8TV	September 27, 2006	Wednesdays 9:30pm
New Zealand		TV3	April 2006	Wednesday 7:30pm
Norway	Alle hater Chris	TV2 Zebra		Sunday 10:05pm
Philippines		JACK-TV	2005	Thursday 9:00 pm
Portugal	Todos Contra o Chris	2:	September 2006	Weekdays 8:40pm
Saudi Arabia and Arab World		Showtime Arabia, Paramount Comedy Channel and Paramount Comedy Channel +2
South Africa		SABC 1	July 2006	Fridays 7:00pm
Thailand		True Series	April 18, 2006
United Kingdom		Five (first run), Five US (re-runs) and Paramount Comedy 1 (syndication)	March 19, 2006	Sunday 8:00pm
Spain	Todo el mundo odia a Chris	Cuatro TV	2007
Switzerland	Tout le monde déteste Chris	TSR1		Sundays