Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
From Free net encyclopedia
Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was a television sitcom that aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997. Mark Curry played the title role; it also starred Holly Robinson. The show took place in Oakland, California.
Contents |
Synopsis
The show began in 1992 on Tuesday nights. In the first season, the characters were Mark Cooper, Vanessa Russell, and Robin Dumars. They all lived as roommates in one house that was owned by Mark (Vanessa and Robin were the tenants). In the pilot episode, Mark got a job as a substitute teacher for a science class. Though later, he got a job teaching physical education, which is what he wanted to teach. Robin was a music teacher in the same school that Mark taught. In the middle of the first season, Mark lost the house and it was purchased by the parents of Tyler Foster, who were Mark's neighbors. After purchasing the house, Tyler's father told Mark, Vanessa, and Robin that they were allowed to stay in the house for one month. However, after Tyler told his parents that he liked Mark, Vanessa, and Robin, they decided to let them stay.
Mark briefly played basketball with the Warriors but was soon cut from the team.
The show moved to Friday nights in the second season as part of the TGIF block. In the second season premiere, Tyler mentioned that Mark had purchased the house back from his parents. Also in the second season premiere, Mark's cousin Geneva Lee, and her daughter, Nicole Lee, moved in with Mark and Vanessa. Robin was no longer living with Mark and Vanessa. Geneva was a music teacher at the school Mark worked at (the same occupation that Robin had). Around the time Geneva and Nicole joined the show, the school Mark worked at got a new principal, P.J. Moore (played by Nell Carter), who was Mark's babysitter when he was a child. In the fourth season, Geneva became principal.
In 1996, Mark proposed to Vanessa in the episode Will She or Won't She. This episode was a cliffhanger season finale that was aired on May 10, 1996. The following season premiere episode (The Ring) was not aired until June 21, 1997, more than a year later. Vanessa accepted Mark's proposal in this episode. The Ring was the first episode of the fifth and last season of the series. The last season was 13 episodes long, half the length of most television seasons, and was aired in the summer, when most television shows are in reruns. In addition, this season was aired on Saturday nights -- a move away from its traditional Friday night slot on TGIF.
The series finale (Getting Personal) was aired August 30, 1997. In this episode, Vanessa wrote a personal ad in the newspaper and wanted Mark to figure out which ad was hers and to answer it. Mark decided to answer all ads in the paper, tell everyone to look for the man with the rose, and then not wear a rose. Mark figured that Vanessa would be happy enough that Mark answered her ad and would not worry about the rose, and that the other women would not get mad at him because, without a rose, they would not know that Mark is the one who answered their ads. Earvin knew about Mark's plan and decided to go to the restaurant with the rose so that he could get a date with one of the women whose ad Mark had answered. Vanessa and the other women figured out that the same man had answered all their ads. They decided that the man with the rose would be the dead man with the rose. When Earvin showed up, they all got mad at him, thinking he was the one who answered their ads. The finale ended with a goodbye from the cast.
On an interesting note, the series finale was preempted, halfway through, on the west coast, as ABC News was breaking the story of Princess Diana's car accident in Paris, which would mark the demise of the princess. There were a few complaints from viewers, but nothing of significant note as the show aired on a Saturday Night, and was one of the lowest rated programs on ABC at the time. The show, however, aired in syndication.
Trivia
- In the first episode of the series, the set of Growing Pains was used for the show.
- The season one episode entitled Hangin' with Michelle featured a guest appearance by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as her Full House character Michelle. Both Full House and Hangin' with Mr.Cooper were created by Jeff Franklin
Cast
- Mark Curry as Mark Cooper
- Holly Robinson as Vanessa Russell
- Saundra Quarterman as Geneva Lee
- Raven-Symone as Nicole Lee
- Nell Carter as Pamela Jane "P.J." Moore
- Omar Gooding as Earvin Rodman
- Dawnn Lewis as Robin Dumars (Season 1)
- Marquise Wilson as Tyler Foster