History Series / LivingSingle

** "Working Nine to Nine-Fifteen", with Max about to eat crow and beg for her old job back, which she left after she was demoted from her old, more beneficial position for giving a former client bad advice regarding a prenuptial agreement. As the phone rings and she tries to figure out what to say to her bosses, she then hangs up in shame.

* DownerEnding: The episode in which the girls install a complex security system after being robbed, although for a moment is about to end with Khadijah refusing to live scared, ends with a police siren in the background and all the girls unable to sleep due to fear of their safety.

** It does fit in, however, with his love of all things from the african culture.

-->'''Khadijah:''' Tell me this is not the Greg I'm thinking of. Tell me this is Greg the mailman. Tell me it's Greg the bald-headed barber. You better tell me it's [[TheBradyBunch Greg Brady]].

Think of it as ''Series/{{Friends}}'' before ''Friends'' ever existed.

''Living Single'' is a sitcom that ran from 1993 to 1998, beginning a year before ''Friends''. It featured an ensemble cast of New York twentysomethings living in the middle-class Park Slope section of Brooklyn. The one obvious distinction is that the cast was African-American, but the audience was never hit over the head with it (too hard). The show gained points for showing Blacks succeeding in corporate America, from law to stocks to entrepreneurship.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/111254541.jpg
[[caption-width:350:Denim explosion!]]

One of the show's main draws was its realistic depiction of women. The show passes the UsefulNotes/TheBechdelTest with flying colors, the ladies have a varying range of body types, and it's never a [[HollywoodHomely plot point.]] The two male characters live next door, and while they're seen as annoying at first, they soon develop friendships with the women and eventually romance.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Kadijah and Scooter

* Overton Jones (John Henton): The building's superintendent and a Cleveland Browns fanatic. Has a sense of humor which leads to his attraction to Synclaire.

** Considering that Max is short for Maxine, this mostly applies to Kyle only.

* ActorAllusion: During a dinner involving Max's ex & his new girlfriend/fiancé, Regine comments that she looks familiar and asks her where she went to school. When she mentions that it's a small private school called [[Series/TheFactsOfLife Eastland]], Regine quips that she's 'never heard of it' and shoots a quick glance to camera as she walks away.
** Later at dinner, while telling BlatantLies to make Max seem more successful to her ex-beau, its mentioned that Max has made partner at her firm, the first African American woman to do so, "because that [[TheCosbyShow Clair Huxtable]] wasn't real."
** Melvin and Mario Van Peebles play a father and son.

* DuelingShows: With ''{{Friends}}''.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Khadijah, Regine, Sinclaire & Max are also A famous Rapper, [[Series/TheFactsOfLife Tootie]], [[Series/TheCosbyShow a Cosby]] & a feature player on In Living Colour.
** RetroactiveRecognition: One of Khadijah's serious boyfriends was played by [[Series/GreysAnatomy Isaiah Washington]] and was also a doctor.
*** T.C. Carson is possibly this for gamers as he goes on to voice [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]]. Which makes a {{Stinger}} where Overton asks him to open a Box from his aunt Pandora HilariousInHindsight.

* RealLifeRelative: Both Khadijah & Regine's moms were played by Queen Latifah & Kim Fields' actual mothers.

* JustifiedTitle: The end of the series, Overton and Synclaire are HappilyMarried, [[spoiler: Max and Kyle end up together]], Regine [[spoiler: finds her "Chocolate Ken"]], and Khadijah runs off with Scooter in the final scene of the series, the show ''literally'' ends when all of the original cast are no longer "Living Single".

-->'''Khadijah:''' Oh god - when it stops being so funny!
* NotSoSimilar: Maxine, when Khadija says she is just like Regine because of her flirting. Max says she only does it for fun while Regine is in it for the money.

* GenkiGirl: Sinclaire.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Khadijah, Regine, Sinclaire & Max are also A famous Rapper, [[TheFactsOfLife Tootie]], [[TheCosbyShow a Cosby]] & a feature player on In Living Colour.
** RetroactiveRecognition: One of Khadijah's serious boyfriends was played by [[GreysAnatomy Isaiah Washington]] and was also a doctor.

* RealLifeRelative: Khadijah's mother and grandmother were played by Queen Latifah's real mother and grandmother. Averted with her baby half sister and her father.
** Regine's mother is played by Kim Fields' real mother Chip Fields

* ActorAllusion - During a dinner involving Max's ex & his new girlfriend/fiancé, Regine comments that she looks familiar and asks her where she went to school. When she mentions that it's a small private school called [[Series/TheFactsOfLife Eastland]], Regine quips that she's 'never heard of it' and shoots a quick glance to camera as she walks away.

* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry - Khadijah & her sister Stephanie. Different in that they grew up in different households and Stephanie had the benefit of their father being around while she grew up.

* RealLifeRelative - Khadijah's mother and grandmother were played by Queen Latifah's real mother and grandmother. Averted with her baby half sister and her father.

* FakeHairDrama: To Regine's annoyance everyone seems know she is wearing a wig. But [[RunningGag they all agree]] it's a great one. Scooter later gifts her with "100% human hair" but still counts as this trope since it is still not hers.

* FunWithAcronyms: For a while Regine is involved with an organzation called E.L.B.O.W. - 'Enterprising Ladies Benefiting Our World'