History Series / Martin

* MyBelovedSmother: Mama Payne will ''kill'' to protect her son. And she doesn't approve of Gina at all, so there's some conflict.

** As noted above, Mama Payne doesn't like Gina.
** Gina's parents, meanwhile, are snooty but mostly harmless. Martin really loves his mother-in-law, in fact.

* MyBelovedSmother: Mama Payne will ''kill'' to protect her son. And she doesn't approve of Gina at all, so [[CaptainObvious there's some conflict]].

* PairTheDumbOnes: Cole is the idiot of the group. In the final season, he ends up with Shanise, who is even dumber than him.

And then it was discovered that Lawrence was abusing drugs. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], Campbell sued him for sexual harassment. At that point, she refused to be in the same room as Lawrence, even when filming. Needless to say, the writers had a difficult time writing around this.[[note]]They basically had the couple interact by yelling from different rooms or talking on the phone with a split screen.[[/note]]

[[JumpedTheShark These events did not bode well for the series]]. In fact, they [[{{Cancellation}} spelled the end of the series in just one season]]. Still, reruns air on syndication all over the U.S.

* BottleEpisode: Season 3's "Nuttin Goin' on But the Rent" takes place entirely in Martin's apartment.

* ClusterFBomb: Done hilariously, complete with radio-friendly bleeps, on two occasions. The first involves Martin taking it out on a listener [[BerserkButton who made fun of Gina]], and the second features him [[CrowningMomentOfFunny finally cursing out the new radio station owner]], [[spoiler:which led to Martin being fired]].

* BottleEpisode: Season 3's ''Nuttin Goin' on But the Rent'' takes place entirely in Martin's apartment.

** Christopher "Kid" Reid, Lawrence and Campbell's co-star in the first two ''Film/HouseParty'' movies, guest starred in "Forever Sheneneh". He doesn't notice how much Martin resembles his friend Bilal or how much Gina resembles his character's LoveInterest Sydney.

** One episode had Christopher "Kid" Reid, Lawrence's and Campbell's co-star from the first two ''Film/HouseParty'' movies, guest star. He doesn't notice how much Martin resembles his friend Bilal or how much Gina resembles his character's LoveInterest Sydney.

''Martin'' is a {{sitcom}} that aired on {{Creator/FOX}} from 1992 to 1997. It stars Creator/MartinLawrence as [[TheDanza Martin Payne]], a Detroit disc jockey who has various misadventures with his girlfriend (later wife) Gina (Tisha Campbell), homeboys Tommy (Thomas Mikal Ford) and Cole (Carl Anthony Payne II), and Gina's friend Pam (Tichina Arnold). For about four seasons or so, it was one of FOX's most popular shows.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Tommy having a job. In the Season 1 episode, "Blackboard Jungle Fever," he works as a teacher. He even invites Martin to participate in his school's Career Day.

* IBrokeANail: Sheneneh has one of these in the hallway adding the phrase bitch in front of it.

''Martin'' is a {{sitcom}} that aired on {{Creator/FOX}} from 1992 to 1997. It stars Creator/MartinLawrence as [[TheDanza Martin Payne]], a Detroit disc jockey who has his various misadventures with his girlfriend (later wife) Gina (Tisha Campbell), homeboys Tommy (Thomas Mikal Ford) and Cole (Carl Anthony Payne II), and Gina's friend Pam (Tichina Arnold). For about four seasons or so, it was one of FOX's most popular shows.

''Martin'' (1992-1997) is a [[{{SitCom}} sitcom]] that aired on {{Creator/FOX}} during TheNineties, starring Creator/MartinLawrence as [[TheDanza Martin Payne]], a Detroit disc jockey (later TV talk show host) and his various misadventures with his girlfriend (later wife) Gina (Tisha Campbell), homeboys Tommy (Thomas Mikal Ford) and Cole (Carl Anthony Payne II), and Gina's friend Pam (Tichina Arnold). For about four seasons or so, it was one of FOX's most popular shows.

And then it was discovered that Lawrence was abusing drugs. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], Campbell sued him for sexual harassment. At that point, she refused to be in the same room as Lawrence, even when filming. Needless to say, the writers had a difficult time writing around this (they basically had the couple interact by yelling from different rooms or talking on the phone with a split screen).

[[JumpedTheShark These events did not bode well for the series]]. In fact, they [[{{Cancellation}} spelled the end of the series in just one season]]. Still, reruns air on syndication all over the U.S., and the show is still popular even today. All drama aside, the series did conclude happily, with Martin and Gina moving to Los Angeles to begin a new life.

Not EVER to be confused with the cult vampire film ''Film/{{Martin}}'' by Creator/GeorgeARomero.

* AngryBlackMan: Martin would certainly qualify.
** An ''even better'' example would be the character titled [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Angry Man]]:

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Dragonfly Jones is a minor character (played by [[ActingForTwo Martin Lawrence]] of course) who seems to have all the traits of a douchey martial artist. Subverted ''hilariously'' in that he gets his ass handed to him in every fight.
* BelligerentSexualTension: In "Crunchy Drawers", Martin is terrorized by [[EroticDream erotic nightmares]] about his [[SitcomArchNemesis enemy]] Pam. When told that dreams can indicate repressed desires, he panics even harder! Ultimately, [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope it's subverted]]; Martin forces himself to see the dreams through, and they end with him gleefully murdering Pam!]] Across town, Pam has similar dreams...

* {{I Broke A Nail}}: Sheneneh had one of these in the hallway adding the phrase bitch in front of it.
* BurgerFool: Martin is forced to take a job at Hoochie Burger during his extensive job hunt in early Season 3.

* CatchPhrase: Quite a few, most of them said by Martin.
--> '''Martin''': Get to steppin'!
--> '''Martin''': Give me love!
--> '''Sheneneh''': Oh no you didn't!
--> '''Tommy''': Cole? You stupid.
--> '''All''' ''[to Tommy]'': You ain't got no job, man!
--> '''Jerome''': Jerome's in the house! I said Jerome's in the hou-ou-ou-ouse!
--> '''Martin''': Talk to the hand.
--> '''Martin''': Save the drama for yo' mama.
* CelebrityParadox: Martin keeps a framed poster of ''Do the Right Thing'' in his living room, yet no one seems to notice how he looks so much like Cee, the character Lawrence portrayed in that film.

** Bruh Man isn't too bright either. One subplot involves him and Martin planning to sell t-shirts outside of a Whitney Houston concert. Bruh Man makes the shirts. They end up running for their lives from people who got tricked into buying shirts for the "Whitty Huton Wuld Toor."

** Shanice, Cole's girlfriend, also counts. How stupid is she? Even ''Cole'' is dumbstruck by her stupidity in the series' finale when [[spoiler:she didn't get that Cole was trying to propose to her]].
* TheDreaded: Mad Dog No Good is a notorious criminal who tracks Martin down throughout the ep "High Noon". Everyone in Detroit seems to know and fear him. We [[TheUnseen only hear his voice]] most of the time, but finally get to see him in the climax...he's portrayed by [[spoiler: Gary Coleman]], by the way.
* DropInCharacter: [[strike:Brother Man]] Bruh-Man frum tha Fifth Flo', who always entered Martin's apartment ''through the window''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Believe it or not, Tommy had a job. In the first season episode, "Blackboard Jungle Fever," Tommy works as a teacher. He invites Martin to participate in his school's Career Day.
* EnterStageWindow: Bruh Man almost exclusively used the window despite everybody else using the door. He even climbed through Gina's window once despite the fact that she admittedly didn't have a fire escape.
* FakeHairDrama: Pam's (supposedly) horrible weave makes her the butt of many jokes.

* HonestJohnsDealership: Recurring character Hustle Man (Creator/TracyMorgan) shows up now and then, offering merchandise that may or may not be plot-relevant. Either way, as he repeatedly insists, don't ask where it came from.
* TheHyena: Tommy
* IncomingHam: Martin

** Also Jerome.

* {{Jerkass}}: Sheneneh. She seems to live to pick fights with Gina and Pam.
** Martin could be selfish or stubborn to extremes. And let's not forget his habit of throwing people out of his house.
*** And his girlfriend out of his car, once.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: A whole episode is dedicated to this. It's Martin's birthday, and no one wants to show up to his party because he's...abrasive. Throughout, contrasting clips are shown of Martin's [[{{Jerkass}} meaner]] and [[JerkWithAHeartofGold kinder]] sides. [[spoiler:Turns out it was all a trick to get him to come to a surprise party.]]

* LargeHam: All of the main cast have their moments, but Martin is extremely demonstrative with his emotions, and Cole is extremely loud with his bird calls.
** Every character Lawrence played tended toward this as well.
** Tommy's loud, wide-mouthed laugh practically swallows the ham.

* LetsGetDangerous: Otis the Security Guard is out of shape and inept. When insulted, though...he gets deadly.
* {{Mondegreen}}: For the record, Tommy's last name is '''Strawn''', not '''Strong''', as so many fans initially believed.

** HypnoFool: And as a result, she ends up taking on all of Martin's {{character tic}}s because of this. The fact that she could be hypnotized this way and that Martin showed little issue with her hypnotized behavior was a hint they really did not dislike each other ''that'' much.

* MyOwnPrivateIDo: Of the Plan First, Elope Later variety. Due to their bickering relatives in general and the overbearing Mama Payne in particular, Martin and Gina scrap their plans for their wedding and abscond to the Bahamas with Tommy and Pam (it turns out Cole got on the wrong plane). They bounce just before walking down the aisle, in fact.
* NoIndoorVoice: Laquita

** And do not, by any means or for any reason, [[BerserkButton call her a "skank."]]
* ObliquelyObfuscatedOccupation: More than one episode was dedicated to trying to figure out what Tommy did for a living. Pam didn't even know even after she became his girlfriend.
** Martin says he once picked Tommy up from work at a big, black building downtown, with no windows or signs.
--> '''Tommy''': Oh yeah, we're not there anymore. We moved.
--> '''Martin''': Where?
--> '''Tommy''': That big white building across the street.
** Eventually, nobody believes Tommy has a job at all, [[YouHaveToBelieveMe despite his numerous protests]]. Tommy's frustration is understandable, since [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in one of the first episodes, he is a teacher at the elementary school he and Martin attended as kids]]. This is dropped a very short time later, presumably because [[RuleOfFunny it's much funnier to say he ain't got no job, man]].
** After many years, WordOfGod finally settled this. [[spoiler:According to [[http://www.vh1.com/news/250799/tisha-campbell-reveals-tommys-job/ Tisha Campbell]] he works as a guidance counselor at the Boys & Girls Club.]] This actually makes the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness make sense in retrospect.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: See MyBelovedSmother above. Gina's parents, meanwhile, are snooty but mostly harmless. Martin really loves his mother-in-law, in fact.
* PhraseCatcher: "Damn, Gina!"

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: That one [[ADayInTheLimelight Pam-centric]] episode seems to count, as it revolves around her, completely separate from the rest of the cast, taking on a A&R position and finding a singing talent played by Tyrese Gibson.
** The episode is also titled "Going for Mine," which at the time (when the series was doomed) might have easily had a fictional and a real-world meaning for the character and the actress. Furthermore, the episodes leading up to the series finale were heavily focused on Pam.
* SassyBlackWoman: Sheneneh. '''''Sheneneh'''''.
** And Pam, on occasion.
* [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen She Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Cole's girlfriend Big Shirley is TheGhost type of this trope.
* ShockJock: As a DJ, Martin would veer into this territory now and then. Usually when he was mad.

** The ''Do the Right Thing'' poster in Martin's living room (see ActorAllusion above) as well as a reference to the film where Martin, who's been fired from his radio job by the new manager, throws a small trash can at the window just like how [[Creator/SpikeLee Mookie]] smashes the window at the pizzeria, but with no effect. Martin says "It looked fly when Spike did it."

* SinisterMinister: Reverend [[AlliterativeName Leon Lonnie Love]], played by David Alan Grier, is a comedic example. He swindles people and has difficulty controlling his...fleshy urges.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Pam and Gina to Sheneneh, to a lesser extent Pam to Martin.

* ThisIsReality: Sort of inverted and more like LeaningOnTheFourthWall on one episode where the guys help a woman in labor deliver a baby. Not only does the baby shoot out of the womb as if the woman was a pitching machine, but the child has no umbilical cord, as [[LampshadeHanging Tommy points out]].
-->'''Martin''': Dammit, Tommy, we don't need umbilical cords! (''[[MediumAwareness turning to the audience]]'') THIS IS TV!

* WomenAreWiser: Played straight with Gina and Martin. Inverted with [[TheCasanova Tommy]] and [[HotBlooded Pam]].

''Martin'' (1992-1997) is a [[{{SitCom}} sitcom]] that aired on {{FOX}} during TheNineties, starring Creator/MartinLawrence as [[TheDanza Martin Payne]], a Detroit disc jockey (later TV talk show host) and his various misadventures with his girlfriend (later wife) Gina (Tisha Campbell), homeboys Tommy (Thomas Mikal Ford) and Cole (Carl Anthony Payne II), and Gina's friend Pam (Tichina Arnold). For about four seasons or so, it was one of FOX's most popular shows.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Dragonfly Jones. Subverted ''hilariously'' in that he gets his ass handed to him in every fight.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Gina is a magnet for physical comedy. For instance, she's been dropped down a garbage chute, knocked out by one of Cole's [[ItMakesSenseInContext toenails]], and spent an entire episode with her head stuck in a bed headboard.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Martin's radio show has its fans, but he is convinced that it's the number one show in the world. He often shouts his "WHAZZUP!!" CatchPhrase in public, expecting people to recognize him. They usually don't.

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Unlike the traditional sitcom protagonist, Martin is the furthest thing from mild-mannered. He's loud, abrasive, and belligerent--and that's how he acts towards his ''friends''. More often than not, though, his conscience makes him do the right thing.

* WomenAreWiser: Played straight with Gina and Martin. Inverted with Tommy and Pam.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Gina is a magnet for physical comedy. For instance, she's been dropped down a garbage chute, knocked out by one of Cole's [[ItMakeseSenseInContext toenails]], and spent an entire episode with her head stuck in a bed headboard.

* TheDreaded: Mad Dog No Good, as played by Gary Coleman.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: See MyBelovedSmother above. Gina's parents, meanwhile, are arrogant but mostly harmless. Martin really loves his mother-in-law, in fact.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Martin uses his popularity as a radio personality to show other people up, and convinces himself that he has the number one show in the world to the point that he shouts his "WHAZZUP!!" CatchPhrase to expect people to recognize him. They don't.

Not EVER to be confused with the cult vampire film ''Film/{{Martin}}'' by George Romero.

* EnterStageWindow: Bruh Man almost exclusively used the window unlike everyone else.