Girlfriends is an American television sitcom created by Mara Brock Akil and produced by Kelsey Grammer which centres around the lives of four African-American women living in Los Angeles, California, which takes a sometimes serious but mostly hilarious look at the lives of these four women as they tackle socially relevant issues common to today's society.
The series originally aired in the USA on UPN (which became The CW in 2006) from 11 September, 2000 to 11 February, 2008. There are 172 half-hour episodes in eight seasons.
About the Show
Girlfriends is a sitcom which takes an in-depth look at the lives of four very different African-American women living in Los Angeles.
Meet Joan Clayton, the "mother hen" of the girlfriends: she's a successful attorney working for a prestigious law firm, very attractive and intelligent and she often puts the needs of her friends above her own.
Then there's Toni Childs, a childhood friend of Joan - she's a vain, self-obsessed money-hungry woman working as a successful realtor and she's generally the spoilt one of the four.
She later marries a white Jewish plastic surgeon but the marriage barely lasts a year.
Next is Maya Wilkes - she's Joan's very sassy assistant at the law firm and she's married to her childhood sweetheart, Darnell.
Lastly there's Lynn Searcy, a roommate of Joan and Toni at UCLA, and she's the genuinely nice one of the four. Born to multi-racial parents, she was adopted by a white family and only embraced her black background when she met Joan and Toni.
The girlfriends have an extra friend in William Dent, a senior partner at the law firm where Joan works. He's one of Joan's best male friends and becomes the "listening ear" when the girls need to lash out at the latest drama in their lives.
Girlfriends takes a sometimes serious but mostly hilarious look at the lives of these four women as they tackle socially relevant issues common to today's society.
Casting Departure
Jill Marie Jones (Toni Childs) left the show at the end of Season 6, saying she felt it was time to "move on". She made a guest appearance in the first episode of the seventh season.
Awards
In 2004, Girlfriends received its first Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Cinematography in a Multi-Camera Series.
The series has received NAACP Image Award nominations for four years, including a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Tracee Ellis Ross also earned her sixth consecutive NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, including one win in 2007, and received the 2005 BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Golden Brooks won the 2006 BET Comedy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and co-star Reggie Hayes won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
In 2006, the show won a BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.